He said, “The war put its indelible and unmistakable stump
On me [and] my contemporaries. But it wasn’t
So much the spectacular horror of the battlefields
Or the suffering in the hospitals that marked us, as
It was the agonized perception of the lasting and wasteful
Consequences of the war: the disabled soldiers . . .
The families deprived . . . – dead for the welfare of all.”
He would not accept the idea that ‘solidarity’
Meant limiting a nation’s response merely to ‘charity’:
He founded war veterans’ organizations to influence
Global initiatives in many social and political arenas,
And fought against the idea that a sovereign state
Had absolute control over humans in its jurisdiction.
For the “inherent dignity” of all humans, he sought “recognition.”
June Edvenson 