TopFeatured.com

Remorse is a pernicious fusion of regret and guilt. Once it takes hold, there is no escape. Soldiers frequently suffer remorse. Too often they are compelled to do things that haunt them for what remains of their lives. Consider the following. A young man enters military service, goes through basic and advanced infantry training, and is thereafter assigned to a unit in a combat zone. Before he arrives in-country, the soldier suspects the war he is about to enter is both immoral and illegal. After arriving, he is certain of it. In the field, the soldier and his comrades conceal themselves in the brush alongside footpaths. They lay sweating as they wait for men to walk by, talking amicably among themselves. They ambush these men. Claymore mines announce the slaughter. Immediately thereafter, the soldier and his mates open fire with fully automatic weapons, M-60 machine guns and M-16 assault rifles. In a matter of minutes, the ambush is over. In the aftermath, there are torn bodies strewn about the killing zone, bits and pieces of bodies splattered against tree trunks and dangling from branches, and trails of blood leading off into the dense underbrush. Men lay dead. Others moan as the life oozes from their torn flesh. Still others limp off to die mere yards away. The day’s work is done. Let fifty years go by. If you assume the soldier has forgotten the images of those ‘bits and pieces’ festooning the trees, or that he has forgiven himself for what he had done, you would be wrong. Some images once seen are never forgotten – some acts once committed are never forgiven. Beseech the gods to grant you peace. All 10,000 of them remain silent for an eternity. Thank you for your service.