SERVICEMAN SPEAKS OUT

Evening Star, Issue 25776, 26 April 1946, Page 5

SERVICEMAN SPEAKS OUT

PETULANT CLAMOUR OVER TRIVIA GOMMUHITY'S READINESS TO FORGET " During the years of war, the fighting man was the target not only for bullets and bombs, but for much speechifying and ' many promises," said Lieutenant J. M. Fraser. R.N.Z.N.V.R., speaking at the Town Hall. "..Most of us now are back home, and we are back with mixed feelings. Mingled with the joy of being with

our loved ones again and gratitude to God for a safe return, there is sadness and there is fear. Sadness when we think of. those comrades in arms who will not be coming back, and that all this might happen again. ." The speeches and promises had, to those of us whose fathers served in the last war, a very familiar ring. ' —a war to end wars—a world safe for democracy—freedom from want and fear—a brave new world.' That's what they said, that's what they promised. But they said all that anil promised all that to our fathers in the last war. And what happened? A few years of mad, irresponsible gaiety followed by a time of grinding and soul-destroying' depression and then war again.

"So do you wonder if we are a little reserved in our acceptance of these promises, do you wonder that we are a little cool towards these high-sounding words and phrases, do you wonder that we are not a little cynical about it all? But I want to tell you this: Deep down in his heart, underneath all this cynicism and mistrust, the soldier hns cherished a hope A hope that some day. somehow these promises might be fulfilled. A hope that, after all, a brave now world might be possible A hope that with victory and peace there will be a change lor the better in human relationships. That was the same, hope and faith In the inherent decency of our people and our way of life that kept us fight-

ing. and brought us safely and triumphantly to victory. And it was with this hope in his heart that the soldier came home and looked about him, almost fearfully, for some indication, some small sign of this change. What has he found ? . VOICES IN THE SEA. " Let me tell you of one young Englishman and what he found. He was a • young merchant seaman who had ■ experienced the usual bombing, machine-gunning, and torpedoing on convoys to Russia. He was approached by a naval chaplain, who hoped that the boy, from his experiences, might be able to help him with a sermon. The boy was unable to do so, but the chaplain persisted. ' Surely,' he said' ' there must be something .that has made a lasting impression on you, something you will remember all your life.' " The boy thought for a moment; then said slowly: ' Yes, there is something—or rather there are two things that I shall always remember. One is the voices of men in the sea at night when you can't stop to pick them up, and the other is the voices of people complaining in the shops at home.' " That was in England, where many of us' New Zealanders spent. several years, and although there seemed ample cause for it we heard comparatively little complaint,"- pointed out Lieutenant Fraser. - • " But when we returned to our own country, to New Zealand, we were dismayed and shamed by the petulant clamour of our people over trivial frustrations and largely imagined hardships. We found an almost complete lack of understanding of the events.of the last six years, an eager readiness to forget those years, an increasing desire to escape from the harsh realities of war, and an indifference to the things that make war possible. All . the symptoms of that., incipient moral decay that attacked us after the last . war. You- remember the sorry story ? War became a forbidden topic of conversation; it was linked with religion and sex as one of those things nice people didn't talk about. We—that is, my generationwere' carefully guarded from all the wanton destruction of life and property, all the degradation and sordidness, all the filth and futility of war So that we grew up knowing little of. and earing less for, the sacrifices and the cost of those four and a-half years We left the future in the hands of old and tired men, who vacillated from crisis to crisis, with each timid step undermining our manhood and prestige. It took us six years of hard and bitter fighting to wipe out the shame and dishonour of those irresponsible, irresolute days. We redeemed that manhood, but at the cost of six of the bloodiest and most terrible years in history. THE IMMEDIATE ISSUE.

" It doesn't make for pleasant recollection, does it? And the question we have to face to-day is this: Are we prepared to sit back and watch this new generation, our younger brothers and sisters and our children; are we prepared to watch them retrace that KJime old. vicious circle from fool's' paradise to bitter and costly disillusionment.? 1 don't believe we would willingly let this happen, but what are we going to do about it? What is the solution? I think we will .find an answer in these words, written by a great Allied soldier - just -before his death:

' More than an ehd to wars, we want an.end to the beginnings of all wars. We want an end of this brutal, inhuman, and thoroughly impractical method of settling differences between Governments. The mere conquest of our enemies is not enough. We must do all in our power to conquer the doubts, fear, ignorance, and greed that made, this horror pqssiblfv' "That soldier was the Commander-in-Chief of the American army and navy, President Roosevelt. He said we must conquer the doubts, the fears, the ignorance, and the greed that made this horror possible. I something think that many of us in New Zealand are far too complacent to be tormented by doubts and fears. APATHY AND IGNORANCE. "Indeed, perhaps, a little healthy fear might serve to stir us out of this complacency," he co'ntinued, "a complacency which is born of apathy • and ignorance. Apathy towards the causes of war and the terrible realities" of war itself. We must admit that the majority of our people, perhaps 75 per cent, of them, have never heard the scream of a hostile shell or bomb, they have never seen whole towns dissolve in rubble and flame under attack from the air; they have never heard the cries of, women and children trapped in the ruins of their homes; they have, never smelt the stench of a Belsen or a Buchenwald ; they have never known the constant fear and strain .of living in enemy-occupied territory; they have never felt the pangs of hunger and the anguish of watching loved ones slowly starve to death ; they have never heard the voices of men in the sea at night.

" .We thank God that they have been spared, but we must not allow them to forget that these things .have been and will be again if we persist in this ostrich-like policy of burying.our heads in the present and ignoring both the tragic lessons' of ; the past'and the'terrible possibilities of the future. SERVICEMAN'S DUTY. ' " 1 say tfyeh ■it is the .duty [of us younger • men, we who have glimpsed .something of the horror and futility of war, to tell oiir fellows what we know. We must tell our children and keep on telling them until we have conquered this ignorance, this apathy, this fatal complacency. We must tell them that they may realise' the full and awful cost of this war. . " I have no doubt but what it will be an unpleasant task. Twenty-five years ago our fathers, prompted by the same fears into giving the same warnings, were unpopular. We, as they were, will be called alternatively, warmongers or Pacifists, line-shooters or merely bores. However, that should worry us little, after all for the past six years, we have been insulted by experts. It is imperative 'and it is urgent that we tell our people what we know. We must not stop at this telling; we must go on doing and if necessary fighting. We must be prepared to take our full and rightful share in the conduct of our country's affairs in order that our people, not only as individuals but as a* people, may avoid a repetition of these grave and tragic errors " It is the duty of the older generation''to see that we are given this share, this chance. We have shown that we are capable of responsibility, of leadership and we have proved our courage. Give us this chance then and let the-clear keen breath of youth-

ful enthusiasm and drive into the fusty atmosphere of your council halls. You owe it to us, you owe it to _ our children and above all you owe it to those pals and friends of ours who died that we who survived might be given this chance. "So on this the first peace Anzac Day, this day of solemn commemoration, 1 make this appeal. I appeal to those of the older generation to grant to youth its share, the share for which it has fought so hard. And I appeal 'to youth to accept that share and bring to it those enduring qualities proved and tested in the firing line, courage, self-sacrifice and service. And may we go forward together praying that ' the great God whom we worship ' may crown with triumph our high endeavour."