Today marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Japan.
I remember the experiences of my past generations handed down in the hope we would learn:
a)how cruel humans can be to each other and
b)never allow it to happen again.
My grandad was a ‘Dessert Rat’. Despite all of his postings he never experienced being captured.
Unlike my husband’s Uncle Joey. Captured and held in the notorious Changi prisoner of war camp. He carried the scars of that experience until he died decades later. A skinny, bent up old man with a sadness that never left his eyes who cared passionately for his birds, he just wanted to live in peace.
The human endeavour it took for that generation to fight the war and eventually end it and then to build back better – all countries, businesses and people – from the resulting devastation.
With the news chatter at home and overseas it’s clear to see peace and kindness in many areas is fragile.
When we replace ignorance and delusion with curiosity, empathy and awareness, we can build better relations, communities, families, businesses even countries.
We don’t need to wait for the next World War – we can start now.
#VJDay2025