Our English Enemies

People who never travel have images in their minds of foreign countries based on what they have read or seen in movies or on television. I, too, had “preconceived notions” of what to expect when I traveled. Before going on a trip I read as much as I could about the places I was to visit. When I got there, I was always surprised.

In London, entering St. Paul’s Cathedral for the first time, I noticed an unusual monument. On a high marble pedestal stood life-sized figures of two young men in 18th Century military uniforms. Usually statues are of one person; very unusual to see two soldiers standing proudly side-by-side.

Can’t remember the date on the inscription, something like 1778 or 1780. I remember the inscription in the marble said these young men were friends who fought side-by-side and gave their lives for their country “against the rebels in the colonies.”

The date was from the American Revolution. It dawned on me: Those rebels were us! My great-great-grandfather was at Yorktown. Maybe he shot them.

How long has it been since we fought the English? Not since the War of 1812, and we’ve forgotten that. I have friends in England. Maybe they, too, forget that once we were enemies.

At 81 I probably won’t live to see peace in the Middle East. But seeing those statues in England gives me hope.