I am declaring today Memorial Day. I may be only a lowly reporter, but Dadra, who has declared himself Provisional President of Blitzgan, surely has what he considers to be more important things on his mind. The civil war, the most recent and most destructive of this planet’s bloody history, has ended, mostly because there are not enough soldiers and not enough military hardware remaining to continue the fight.
So I, Pika RN2378, dedicate this day, Rava 43 of the year 6247, to the one and half million people who died in the last six risings of our moon. The once-proud fleet of a thousand interstellar battleships lies in a ruined minefield of debris throughout our solar system.
Why have we ripped our own world apart in such dastardly fashion? For a dream. The hope that this will be the last of Blitzgan’s wars. A chance to dismantle a history based on the subjugation of an entire species, training our offspring from childhood to be subjects willing to dedicate their lives to the direction of their superiors, designing our educational system to promote conformity and acquiescence. For thousands of years we have exported war, sending our finest youth off to distant battlefields. Always we were told by our trusted leaders that it was for our benefit, to protect us and to further security for others with whom we traded. How is the slaughter of our children to our benefit?
No, that insanity must end forever. Let others fight their own battles. We can protect ourselves without a suicidal dedication to alien wars. For the sake of our children to come, we must build a better world.
So, to all who have given their lives, through all the ages past, to the pursuit of war, go to Badalla in peace, peace everlasting. To you I dedicate this Memorial Day, to honor you and to mark the beginning of a new way of life.
