The Cost of War

I understand Canadian students were in Europe commemorating Canada’s war dead, including a massive ceremony on April 8 at Vimy Ridge. I would like to remind the students that Pierre Berton, a Canadian soldier, an officer, and also a renowned author, describes the battle of Vimy Ridge in gruesome detail in his book, Vimy. In conclusion he asks, “Was it worth it?” The battle had cost thousands of limbs, eyes and lives on both sides. Even relatives had been pitted against each other in this terrible slaughter. Long after the war, as an old German soldier and the son of a Canadian soldier talk about this, they agree that the war had been “a terrible waste of human life brought on by greedy people and tolerated for too long by silent majorities.”

To the question, “Was it worth it?” the answer is very clear: “No.” This is a bitter lesson we should never forget.