Madam, - The colourful first World War commemoration ceremonies at Islandbridge in Dublin and at Messines in Belgium are truly sad when we examine the false heroism attributed to those who died in the most useless and wasteful of wars.
President McAleese spoke of the Irishmen from different traditions "who had a common cause . . . a goodness, a graciousness, a kindness, a love, a cherishing of one another. . .it is a shared memory and we need such shared memories".
Balderdash. Most of the Irish soldiers who fought and died in that war were conned into joining up by Redmond, Carson and the Lloyd Georges of this world. The "shared memories" or myths that our President tells us we need would be better replaced by some home truths. The lies that fooled people into fighting in Flanders included fighting to "defend small nations" such as Belgium (but don't mention the Congo). This was the "war to end all wars", a war of liberty against tyranny.
Such lies have reappeared in recent times to justify the Iraq war - weapons of mass destruction, a war against terror, bringing freedom, peace and democracy to the Middle East. Tony Blair lied that the war in Afghanistan was partly to cut off the supply of drugs to the West. These wars, like the first World War, brought only death, more tyranny, torture of prisoners and crimes against humanity.
Most of the Irish soldiers who were lost in the first World War died miserably, not honourably. They went, scared, "over the top" because they would have been court-martialled and shot if they refused. The President fails to mention all the young German soldiers who were needlessly killed by Irish young soldiers. The youngest Irish "soldier" recorded as killed in action was a 12-year-old bandsman from Waterford. Surely that was child abuse, not heroism. Those who survived by deserting were the wise ones, and there were few heroes.
In order to get men in large numbers to do stupid and morally reprehensible things, you first have to find ways of getting them to switch off their minds. Imagined or invented shared memories, flags, bugles, pipers and uniforms are essential parts of this process of turning men into military morons. When war memorials are being called "peace parks", the dogs of war are being trained for unleashing. Lest we forget, again. - Yours, etc,
EDWARD HORGAN, (Commandant, ret'd), Newtown, Castletroy, Limerick.
Madam, - Your correspondent Jamie Smyth wrote well of how the Canadian experience of the first World War was a formative influence in the nation-building process of the North American state (May 29th).
He highlighted in particular how Canadian soldiers adopted the maple leaf as an emblem to reinforce their sense of national identity. Behind every such epic story there is a multitude of human stories.
Private Lloyd Bradshaw, who fought at Vimy Ridge in 1917 with the New Brunswick Battalion, 26th Canadian Infantry Regiment, was gassed in the battle. After convalescing in England he found his way to Cork where, some years later, he bought a licensed premises in Blackrock known as O'Learys.
Knowing enough about recent Irish history to judge that his own family name, "Bradshaw", might not attract a clientele in rebel Cork, he looked around for another name for his new purchase and was inspired by his Canadian military service to christen the pub The Maple Leaf - a title it bears to this day despite many changes of ownership since he sold and moved away in the 1960s.
No doubt many passers-by today are oblivious to this connection between tranquil Blackrock and the battlefields of the first World War Europe.
Lloyd Bradshaw was a great-uncle of mine. - Yours, etc,
LIAM KENNY, Naas, Co Kildare.