The True Cost Of War

Black And White Photography, Joseph, Photography

HighPrice

1/600 @ f/6.4

“Never has there been a good war or a bad peace” – Benjamin Franklin

I frequently drive past this National Cemetery every week on my way to somewhere.   It is almost one mile long by at least as deep of perfectly spaced white marble grave markers and beautifully manicured green lawn.

It is a very hard place to not be conscious of while driving past. Today seemed a little different and I was compelled to go in.  It seemed fitting to pay my respects to these young men and women to whom I have never met, but yet had felt a deep sadness that all of them had lost their lives at too young an age.

More of my images can be seen at – The Visual Chronicle

24 thoughts on “The True Cost Of War”

  2. You’ve captured the sombreness of these cemeteries very nicely here. Those symmetrical rows of headstones remind me of the WWI cemeteries in Belgium. We found the grave of my father’s uncle, who died at age 19 — 17 years before my father was born. It was quite an emotional and thought-provoking episode for all of us.

    Like

    1. Thank you very much Elizabeth. After all is said and done and all the wars are over, the sadness of loss of young life is still very real. Have a nice day 🙂

      Like

  5. It is a sad thing thinking about all those who have lost their lives so young knowing how you’ve been granted the privilege to live on for their sacrifice. I served with a few people who had that undeserving fate. One of whom lost their life from friendly fire. What’s even more saddening is when some people survive multiple tours in a war zone just to come back home and lost their lives due to an accident. Two people from my unit had this happen to them. One of them was riding her horse and something spooked it and it fell on top of her. She was in her younger 20’s and was just newly married. Another one was pulled over on the side of the highway helping out another motorist near midnight when a driver not paying attention rammed into the back of his truck which hit him and sent him flying over the overpass. He too was in his younger 20’s. Everyone should deserve the right to have a long and happy life.

    Thanks for the great photo Joe!

    Like

    1. I agree Justin everyone deserves the right to a long and happy life. It is horrible to hear of such tragic accidents after surviving war to fellow members of your unit, and at such a young age. My wish would be for the people in charge of sending young men and women in harms way to not be so quick to make decisions with other peoples lives. I also wish that politicians who send people to war not worrying about any budget restraints would be as generous with putting the same amount of money into these wounded warriors healthcare, but that will never happen because they are too busy patting themselves on the back for being so patriotic. Have a great evening 🙂

      Like

    1. Very fitting lyrics to this post Ray, thank you very much 🙂 By the way I am a big fan of Stephen Stills, great CD by CSN Daylight Again 🙂

      Like

  12. This is powerful in it’s simplicity and focus on one headstone, yet at the same time revealing the rows of others.
    Love that you added the quote. Such a great post, Joe.

    Like

Tell us what you think