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Memorial Day

The world of Dark Age Britain was a violent one, a place of constant strife and battle, nearly constant war. And in setting Twilight of Avalon during that age, I quickly realized that I knew almost nothing about warfare. Not only about Dark Age warfare, but about war itself, about the kinds of men who would be called on to fight, to give their lives for their lord or king.

I started to read the period primary sources: the old Celtic hero tales, the bards’ laments for fallen warriors and commemorative battle poems. And as I listened to the voices speaking across the many centuries between then and now, one thing became very clear: the tactics of war, the technology of battle has changed immeasurably with the years. But the emotions of war, the bonds it forges, the effects it has on the men who fight has remained very, very much the same.

So as I worked out my own fictional version of the Dark Age Arthurian world, tried to understand the many warriors amongst my cast of characters, I would watch any documentaries I could find about modern day war: many, like the PBS documentary Bad Voodoo’s War, using footage filmed by the troops themselves. And watching programs like that, regardless of your political views, it’s impossible not to come away with tremendous awe and admiration for the self-sacrifice and bravery of the men and women who serve in our armed forces. At least it certainly was for me.

On this Memorial Day, I want to send thanks out to all our incredibly courageous servicemen and women, and to their amazing families as well for all they’ve done, all the sacrifices they’ve made and are still making every day. Thanks, thoughts, prayers, and wishes for lasting peace to come.

This entry was posted Monday, May 25th, 2009 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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