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I did bethink myself to search out the first instance of a 'War Memorial', but it occurred to me that they go way-back.
"The writing is on the wall."
We have all heard that expression, I'm sure. It comes from the depiction of warfare in the deeply barbaric age of Babylon, I think though from a little further east, where the way to the throne room was by a long passageway, on the walls of which were depicted in graphic detail the fate of those foolhardy enough to defy the rule of the king. Thus all ambassadors were 'advised' on how to conduct themselves.
The next instance that springs to mind, moving forward through history, is a stone column of ancient Egypt. Which again, though more for public consumption, made much of the glory of the king (and side-stepped reality a fair bit).
It seems to me that things have not moved-on much from those days. True, these days we hear much more about the sacrifice and the "let this be a lesson to us all" stuff, but, if lesson there is, it is one we are destined to unlearn even before we learn it.
It's the 'for public consumption' aspect that is most troubling for me.
Can we imagine a father with his young son standing in front of such an edifice disclaiming, "One day son you too could have your name on this."?
Perhaps I should shut-up, and heed the writing on the wall?