Ethiopia: Honoring Our Martyrs Nurtures Our Nationhood

One of the things that I am particularly envious about the English and the Western countries in general is the way they remember and honour their martyrs of wars, and their war heroes. Every year at the beginning of November the English have 'special days' that are completely dedicated to the memory and celebration of their martyrs. They honor all those who perished in wars. They lay wreaths at the cemetery of the Unknown Soldier; and everyone has the opportunity to pay tribute to them all. They bear the famous red poppy flower on their chest and the income from the sale of these poppies is given to support the association of war veterans. They support the surviving family members of the war veterans.

It is known that millions across the world have perished during the World Wars and millions of families were anguished due to deaths and destructions. But once those sad days were finished and done with, what remains of them are memories of their deeds and ponder what went wrong and how things could have changed. The subsequent generations are called to honor them for what they did in the face of critical challenges. Often they were forced to fight for what they thought was right against dictatorship and totalitarianism.

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