I do not believe in virtuous wars. Or glorious ones, or ones in which God is supposedly on our side. I believe only in necessary ones. And therein lies the catch; my necessity is not necessarily yours.
The plaque above lies at the site of the Ludendorff Bridge. It crossed the Rhine River, between Bonn and Koblenz, and was one of the last two to remain intact near the end of the Second World War. It’s better known as the bridge at Remagen, and it was captured during Operation Lumberjack by the US 9th Armored Division.
This is how Sgt. Alexander A. Drabik (reportedly the first to cross the Rhine) calls it:
We ran down the middle of the bridge, shouting as we went. I didn’t stop because I knew that if I kept moving they couldn’t hit me. My men were in squad column and not one of them was hit. We took cover in some bomb craters. Then we just sat and waited for others to come. That’s the way it was.
That’s the way it was.
Now, although the plaque is very appropriate on this, the 90th anniversary of the First World War (the Great War, the War to End All Wars), there is one thing else. My grandfather fought at the battle for Remagen Bridge. Only, he fought on the German side. He was a tank commander with the Wehrmacht.
That’s the way it was.
If you were a young man in Hitler’s Germany, you “joined” the army. It might have been willingly, or there mightn’t have been much choice. Certainly, this was a time of extreme nationalism, and no doubt many, if not most, were swayed by the times, by a feeling. By a very nasty and brutish man indeed, one who could sway millions by his rhetoric. (There’s a provocative scene in the part two Band of Brothers – The Day of Days – in which Easy Company runs across a German POW; he speaks accentless English, and in fact was born in Eugene Oregon. Asked why he’s fighting in German uniform, he answers “Volksdeutsche”.)
But – and this is no moral equivalency here – Germans thought theirs was the virtuous side, and fighting for the Fatherland was no less important than our own “war on terror”.
That’s the way it was.
That’s the way it is.
There is no doubt in my mind that that war, of which the Battle of Remagen Bridge is but the tiniest part – was a necessary war. Unfortunately, there have been many, and no doubt there will be many more. Such is the nature of humanity at this point in our evolution as a species.
It is for those who chose to fight the necessary battles that I take the time to write, and remember. I don’t know if I would have the courage to do so. Nonetheless, I remain opposed to the notion that war is an honourable undertaking.
It is sometimes necessary, and that is all. And those of us who disagree on the necessity from time to time are no less humbled by the sacrifice of the Greatest Generation, against whom my grandfather fought, nor any others that came since, or before.
I for one wear my poppy in this day.
An in depth article about the battle for Remagen Bridge can be found by clicking.