Honor, country, valor. These surely are worthwhile, elevated ideas by themselves, wouldn’t you agree? And nevertheless, men are dying for them. In a decidedly un-elevated way, face down in the mud, choking on blood, screaming in pain. Men that were fathers, brothers or sons to someone out there. Men that were fed, cleaned and nursed and schooled into this world by their mothers, only to fall on a battlefield far away, far from those that provoke these tragedies. Those men remain at home, untouched by blood or bayonet, their skin unpierced, their blankets warm and clean. That is what happens when ideas are pursued by fools.[to Victor]
