tecolahagos.com - ethiopian related issues and commentary

As they say �old warriors never die,� but may fade a little. It was a great moment of reflection for me this last week running into so many �old warriors� who are in Washington DC for the dedication of a long overdue memorial, the National World War II Memorial. No matter who they are, old warriors have similar aura from wherever they might be. Watching these great American old warriors, I could not help but think about the aging Ethiopian warriors (patriots) whom I watched in parades over thirty years ago in Addis Ababa. Those Ethiopian Patriots were true great heroes who gave Fascist Italy a great lesson on courage and love of country for five years of unceasing guerrilla warfare even after having lost some major conventional battles where Italy used poison gas and all kinds of illegal atrocities on them. Those Ethiopian patriots finally drove the Italians out of Ethiopia in 1941. I started wondering whether we have truly honored them. Yes, we had a street named after them �Ye Arbegnoch Menged,� and a school named Arbegnoch [I am not sure whether the school is named for the Street or for the Patriots], and a generalized square and a monument �Semaetat� Monument (Sidist Killo) all in Addis Ababa. But we do not have a holiday named precisely for them. How about the Korean and Congo Veterans? Should not we build a monument for them as well?

These Veterans of the United States Second World War may be a little wobbly on their feet, but what I saw in each was the young men and women who faced their adversaries like all good soldiers with courage. If anyone deserved a memorial, these are the people who most deserve one. Tom Brokaw, with tears of love, gratitude, and admiration in his eyes, called them �the greatest generation,� and I would add also they are the greatest symbol of humility and quiet dignity. These old warriors, after having vanquished Nazism and Fascism they came back to a world transformed by their bravery and sacrifice, but they did not make much fuss about their monumental deeds and went about their lives as ordinary people. I feel the same way about the Ethiopian warriors as being the �greatest generation� of Ethiopians who stood up against Fascist Italy all alone without any help from anybody, as Tom Brokaw does about the American warriors.

The event that these American old warriors fought and lived through was the tail-end period of the Fascist Italy�s attack on Ethiopia. The American Veterans of the Second World War, as eyewitness account and the history books tell us, fought Nazism and Fascism that was spreading havoc in Europe and the rest of the World with no less than fifty million people killed. Of course, as Ethiopians we do object to the past policy of the United States or that of England towards the aggression of Italy against Ethiopia in the 1930s. As a matter of fact they sanctioned Ethiopia from getting weapons to fight Fascist Italy. I wish that were not the case. I have very little admiration for any of past United States Governments except that of President Lincoln�s and none whatsoever of British Governments through the ages. But that does not minimize my respect for these Veterans of the Second World War. After all these old warriors did not determine policy. I am sure had they been sent to fight against Italians and in support of Ethiopia in 1933, they would have accepted that responsibility with as much courage and dedication as they did in the Second World War in Europe.

My first impression when I visited the Memorial was that it was very �busy� and monumental in both its size and concept. I had a chance to talk to a few of the �old warriors� who were visiting also; they were gracious, charming, and most humane in the way they reflected on wars in general answering my questions. These old warriors are far more reflective and peaceful than the self-righteous warmongers we see on television promoting the war on Iraq, for example. Even though I heard a well known journalist�s moronic criticism of the Memorial for its location and artistic quality, as he does on very many other issues participating on a panel of �journalists� on a particularly obnoxious and mediocre television program, I believe this World War II Memorial is a great memorial, and in time will grow on people. As a matter of fact, just standing there and looking down the Reflecting Pool and at the distance Lincoln Memorial in the West, and the Washington Monument in the East, I thought that it will make much sense to rename the whole Mall from the Congress to the Lincoln Memorial as the Memorial for all warriors of the Second World War.

At any rate, no matter how one evaluates the aesthetic quality of this particular Memorial, its deeper meaning remains very significant that heroes come in all forms, in all colors, in all sizes, and in all genders as is the case through out human existence. I like to think that the Memorial is expansive and touches people from all over the World, a symbolic reminder to all of the sacrifices of all heroes who stood up against tyranny, injustice, persecution, and oppression for all time from everywhere.