Hero of War

(Felix Parra, Episodes of the Conquest, 1877) 

Heroes, adventurers, warriors, conquerors, and murderers all have one thing in common: they think that they are doing something good that will bring about good.  The only thing that separates them is their point of view. 

Some of them may be doing good things in their eyes, but in the eyes of someone else they are bringing about something disastrous. They are tearing apart a way of life that has persisted for a long time. 

As I studied this painting I could not help but to think about our own armed forces who are overseas maintaining peace and order with death and destruction. I thought of the song titled, Hero of War, by Rise Against.

Please watch the video, it really helps show what I am 

trying to  get across. 

I kicked in the door, I yelled my commandsThe children they cried but I got my manWe took him away, a bag over his faceFrom his family and his friends
They took off his clothes, they pissed in his handsI told them to stop but then I joined inWe beat him with guns and batonsNot just once but again and again

I can't help but imagine that some of our soldiers don't want to kill people, they don't want to bring people under our rule, but they do it because that is what they are commanded to do. Just like our men killing and fighting, I am sure that some of the conquistadors didn't want to kill the indians. They came to love them and their way of life, they wanted to help them but could not because they were commanded to do something else (kill them). Just like the video above, these conquerors most definitely were psychologically messed up because of what they went through. 

Conquistadors and modern soldiers alike who are seen as "Heroes of War" don't want that praise, they just want to forget what they had to do to become that victor their people see. The medals and treasure they gained are not worth the sadness that accompanies them. When they started out their point of view was that they were doing something good, but as time persisted, their point of view changed and their original visions of grandeur became nothing but dross. They are sad to see that they have "bought a minutes mirth to wail a week, or sold eternity to gain a toy."(William Shakespeare)