To the Last Man...

Image by law_keven via Flickr

Today seams like any other day, the sun comes up, we get up, we go to work and the birds are singing. We all go about our daily lives in the routine that we have set for ourselves. However, there is something different about today although most people wont notice or even care.

No one felt when it happened, there was no awareness, there was no major fan fair or media frenzy or earth shattering announcement. What is different about today than just a few days ago is that the last Combat Veteran of the First World War has passed away.  Claude Choules has completed the role call and the last man is now present. All the ranks are now filled.

Lets think about that for a minute. There is no one left alive that can say that they fought in the Great War.  That conflict, more than any other shaped the world we live in today.  For the most part it was a war of empires, but for the common man, many believed on both sides that it was a duty and an honour to serve a nation. That war gave rise to the nuclease and causes that started the Second World War and once again many of the same soldiers went to war again. Just like Claude Choules.

I am not suggesting that any war is just or good, but the ideals that drove these men and women to the fight are things of the past. Things like duty, honour, respect, dignity and the simple belief that they were doing the right thing. These are the things that are the true loss with the passing of this great generation.

I am not really sure what to feel about the passing of a person I have never met. I am sure there are those that ask why  I should feel anything at all. I have to say that the indifference that is shown or even the lack of indifference is troubling to me. Indifference would imply that some thought was given to the subject, but even the thought is absent.

I suppose that is the fate if important people and events, to fade into obscurity with the passing of time. However even with time passing are the emotions and feelings that were expended almost 100 years ago any less important? Is the heart breaking lose of a loved one any less valuable today then it was then? Is the pride in victory and the despair in defeat any less important 100 years on? These are the types of questions that plague my mind. If these simple things have no relevance then the act of remembrance has no meaning. 

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• To the Last Man... (thetrenchline.blogspot.com)
• Claude Choules, 1901-2011 (theawl.com)
• Claude Choules, World War 1's Last Combat Veteran, Has Passed Away (rightpundits.com)
• RIP: Claude Stanley Choules (thedailywh.at)
• RIP Claude Stanley Choules (news.icanhascheezburger.com)
• Claude Stanley Choules, Last World War I Combat Veteran Dead At 110 (inquisitr.com)
• Claude Choules: a place in history (telegraph.co.uk)
• First World War hero Claude Stanley Choules dies at 110 (mirror.co.uk)
• Last British veteran of WW1 Claude Choules dies - Telegraph.co.uk (news.google.com)
• R.I.P. Claude Choules (neatorama.com)