The battle against COVID is intense, but the next 'great war' still lies ahead
National Post, 08 May 2020
Something to ponder on the 75th anniversary of VE-Day: Should we have a Cold War with China? No one is calling exactly for that, but a constructive chill is long overdue.
The 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day had been envisioned as the last great celebration of the Allied victory in World War II, the last while some of the aged participants were still alive. Queen Elizabeth II made her first broadcast during that war, while still a young princess. An astonishing 80 years on from her radio debut, she will not preside over public VE commemorations but will address the Commonwealth at the exact time that her father, George VI, spoke in 1945.
The anniversary invites us to think about past sacrifices and future challenges in light of the present moment. The sacrifices of today are not at all like WWII, while the challenges do look like the world of 1945.
A very moving column appeared in these pages on Monday, written by Canadian war hero Capt. Martin Maxwell, an Austrian Jew who escaped Nazi occupation. Joining the Allied forces he flew over the English Channel behind enemy lines the night before D-Day in 1944. On this last milestone anniversary of VE, his generous comments about others remind us why he belongs to the Greatest Generation.
Capt. Maxwell was gracious enough to liken our current situation to the heroic sacrifices made in war time. The headline went even further than Capt. Maxwell, calling the pandemic “this generation’s great war.”
Except that it is not. Neither in terms of duration nor death toll, and certainly not in terms of sacrifice. There are many who deserve our sincere gratitude and respect. But the “front lines” of the pandemic are not the front lines that Capt. Maxwell flew over in June 1944. He was taken prisoner of war. In this pandemic, prisoners are being given prophylactic early release.
Continue reading at the National Post:
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/raymond-j-de-souza-the-battle-against-covid-is-intense-but-the-next-great-war-still-lies-ahead?video_autoplay=true