There is a huge disparity in what happens in the aftermath of life when it concerns those killed in war and their civilian counterparts. In most western cities there are burial grounds that have long ago reached capacity and fallen into neglect. That situation is causing thought of limited tenure so that constant reburial can renew cemeteries and make them capable of serving their communities.
War cemeteries are very different. The graves of Australians killed in France during the first world war are meticulously honoured in well preserved graveyards that even today are constantly visited by people from overseas seeking the final resting place of their forebears.
The Australian War Graves Commission is similarly active in preserving and maintaining war graves from the second world war. The American dead from that war who were killed in the Pacific theatre are buried in Hawaii and the rolling hills seem to go on forever. The effort to maintain that massive cemetery is constant and the cost is rarely questioned. The lives of young men who died defending their country deserve recognition in perpetuity.
It is often said that politicians find their remarks coming back to haunt them, and American president Donald Trump is accused of a slur on the American war dead when a weather event stopped his helicopter journey to a war grave several years ago. It is alleged Trump said " Why do I need to visit a war grave ? ". " The people buried there are losers - and suckers " !
Trump is just weeks away from an election which will decide if he serves another four years in the white house. That remark will probably lose him the election, coming as it does after he disparaged a US Senator who survived torture during the Vietnam war when his aircraft was shot down and he served time in the notorious " Hanoi Hilton. " Trump had little time for those captured by the enemy.
Considering that it is seventy-five years since the end of the second world war Trump probably feels the ranks of survivors is thin and his remark will not draw attention., but in todays conflicts both genders serve in the armed forces and today many still put their lives on the line at the behest of their country.
As a boy, Trump was partly educated in a military school but did not go on to serve in a military unit. It is rare for anyone to serve the post of American president without the tenure of time in the armed services. The fact that Trump is also ignoring the " Black lives matter " issue of police shooting unarmed black men in the streets while taking a " law and order " stance is distancing his presidency from a major section of the population.
Trump is suggesting that if he does not win it will be because the election had been rigged. That includes the suggestion he might not recognise the result. That is a very dangerous gamble that might easily misfire. His rallies have been low on support numbers and if the media are convinced he will lose, a surprise win might not be recognised by his opponent.
The way this election is shaping up, the final outcome may be decided by a vote in the American High Court !
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