Wallowing in bed lazily on a Monday afternoon, I started watching a documentary on the Civil War by Ken Burns. While the first episode was in entirety riveting, the most poignant section was towards the end, where, to a rendition of Ashokan Farewell in the background, an actor recited portions of a letter that Major Sullivan Ballou had written to his wife Sarah a week before the First Battle of Bull Run, in which (as he had predicted / feared in his letter) he lay down his life for the cause of the Union.
Major Ballou writes eloquently about his love for his wife and their children but points out frequently that service to his nation is far more important to him than the happiness he can ever seek in their company.
Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.
It is Memorial Day in the United States, and I salute servicemen all across the globe for laying their lives down so we could continue to live and for engaging in wars no one likes to wage so we could all live in peace.
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Tags: Ashokan Farewell, First Battle of Bull Run, Memorial Day, Sullivan Ballou
How people become courageous and do those heroic deeds on the battlefield despite the shadow of death following them, has always baffled me. Though sitting in all comforts at home, I am too timid even to do whistleblowing. It is these people who brave the bullets to protect the country, who are the real heroes of the nation. In reality, they seldom receive a place under the spotlight which most of the time is, sadly, focussed on the Twenty-20 heroes.
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