Honour the fallen, without glorifying war

It was heartening to read of the war veteran George Evans and his postscript to “For the Fallen” at a Remembrance event (“Was it war or legalised murder?”, 10 October). A few apparently applauded, while many others were outraged at his applying the words “murder” and “stupid” to war. But why?

Other barbarities, such as slavery, torture and flogging, were once commonplace and legally acceptable, but have been outlawed in countries which respect human rights. War is a more complex issue, as it involves questions of self-defence and how to deal with international aggression, but we have the United Nations, which powerful nations deliberately keep weak, and then criticise for its weakness.

Neither Wilfred Owen nor Siegfried Sassoon, whom you quote, was a pacifist by conviction. Both were soldiers, disillusioned as they saw boneheaded patriotism prolonging and multiplying the slaughter and making a mockery of war’s mythology of noble gallantry. They might well have elected to wear both red and white poppies.

We seem to be incapable of separating respect for the fallen from respect for war itself. Isn’t it about time we tried? Sue Gilmurray Exeter

As a veteran of the Second World War, George Evans,

like all his comrades, deserves our deep respect and thanks for all that he did in that terrible conflict, and all he has to say should be listened to carefully and respectfully.

War is horrible, disgusting, murderous and ghastly. Surely we know this already? Do we not see evidence of it daily on our television screens? Do we not read about it in the works of Owen, Sassoon, and Graves? Did we not hear of its horrors from our fathers and grandfathers? And sadly, are there not young people among us today, still in their twenties, who can attest to that obvious truth?

Of course George Evans should be reinstated. But he is wrong when he says that war is always stupid. Sometimes, when all else has failed (as in 1939), war is necessary as the least worst of all the horrible remaining options.

He talks of his experiences following the liberation of Belsen. Had we not fought (and won) that war alongside our Soviet, American and Commonwealth allies, it is highly likely that places like Belsen would have continued to churn out skeletons unmolested until there wouldn’t have been a single Jew, gypsy, Slav, trade unionist, mentally disabled person, democrat, homosexual or opponent of fascism left alive in the whole of continental Europe – maybe in Britain also.

The red poppy is not a symbol of support for, or a belief in, the glory, sanctity, or even the sometimes necessity, of waging war. It is merely a symbol of support for the Royal British Legion and its charitable activities and for respect to those from home and the Commonwealth who have fallen in conflict. It is not necessary to wear a white poppy; you can be a pacifist and wear a red poppy without fear of hypocrisy.

I have seen and attended many a Remembrance Day service and have yet to see any evidence of the “triumphalism” described by Mr Evans. It’s just not there. Matt Harrison Leicester