Dulce et ecorum est pro patria mori.

         When you think about life, it is a huge privilege. It can be taken from you before you even know it, it can bring you joy, and it can bring you pain, however it is valued. The war took millions upon millions of lives, this can be seen either as a waste of lives, or as a beautiful heroic act of courage. Some men and woman thought it was better to die fighting for your county rather then to die at home of old age or something else. I believe that it is more honorable to die at war, because me being who i am and having the life i have, i realize that my entire life could be different without them fighting for people like me each and every day. However, i see no shame in staying home. In fact if i was put in that position i think i would stay home, not because i don't respect my country but because i think there is more to life then violence and fright. From what i read in the book "All Quiet on the Western Front" there were times when they didn't eat, when they saw their friends die painful deaths right in front of them, when they had to dodge bombs for days on end. This is not a life that i would want to live but i respect it.
        The war dehumanized some of the men, even when they returned home they could not be themselves. Nobody deserves to have constant paranoia and be traumatized. Some of the things that the was exhibits isn't something that we should be proud of. When people die in the war that isn't just someone dying, that is a life. That was a young man that could have raised a family and made something of himself, it is deeply saddening to think of all of these young men and woman loosing their lives to what some see as a "lost cost." I personally see how people would want to loose their lives fighting for something bigger then themselves rather then rotting at home, but i think that people should also do what makes them happy.