Epitaph Template: Fill & Download for Free

All to blame? I don’t think so.China is resilient beyond the machinations of a global community looking for the whipping boy to scurge, flail and hold to account [1][1][1][1].I’ve no doubt China’s isolation in this matter isn’t in question. While they and we can never be fully isolated from miscreants; viral or otherwise; however they arrive or got into this place.We can all do more to protect others and ourselves. Right now and in the future with honest epitaphs and responses to each tragedy. Sadly there will be many more as they occur in this sorry time of pandemic.While popular pundits, consultants and their gurus continue to ply pandemonium, panic and tolerance in the same breath.Footnotes[1] How closely is China's template for dealing with the coronavirus being copied by the rest of the world?[1] How closely is China's template for dealing with the coronavirus being copied by the rest of the world?[1] How closely is China's template for dealing with the coronavirus being copied by the rest of the world?[1] How closely is China's template for dealing with the coronavirus being copied by the rest of the world?

This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.Throughout the history, the slow, gory task of disposing of thousands of dead bodies fell to surviving soldiers and local peasants, who dragged and dumped them into huge pits. Dead were stripped of their valuables and dead horses had their metal shoes ripped off for re-selling before being arranged in vast pyres and set alight - more out of fear of diseases from their rotting corpses.Reverence for soldiers’ bodies is a relatively new historical development. Through centuries of warfare, little concern was paid to them.Only the aristocracy observed bodies being taken home and buried with marches and monuments, but few bothered about the troops.The first major change in attitude towards dead of the wars came in 19th century during American civil war. As a war fought between neighboring citizens, rather than foreign enemies, it may have increased the obligation to take care of the dead in a better way. The huge armies raised were largely volunteers whose families expected to bury them when they died, and the new rail networks simplified sending bodies home.Most battles were fought in the warm South where bodies decomposed fast. This forced the authorities to look for ways to preserve them, and industrial production made available chemicals for embalming. Additionally, Civil War was one of the first media wars, with reporters and photographers documenting all aspects, like stories of soldiers’ bodies going home, and this helped set the template.The British, fighting colonial wars abroad weren’t ready to repatriate remains, but found another reason to require respect for soldiers’ bodies. It became a way to distinguish their ‘civilised’ way of war from the uncivilised habits of opponents.World War I was the next major event which saw an organized handling of the war dead. As with the Civil War, the scale of the dead was staggering, but the relative proximity of combatant nations in Europe made sending home the bodies possible.During World War II it almost became a military custom to show utmost respect to the remains of those who have died in the course of military duty to assure such fatalities do not threaten the proper functioning of units and to guarantee the wider public’s continued support of the military.In modern times, respect for the military dead comes instinctively to most of us, not least because the dead were usually young and brave. The epitaph at the War Cemetery in Kohima gives all the reason we need: “When you go home tell them of us and that - for your tomorrow we gave our today.”Recently, a proposal from the Indian army was sent, via the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, to all airlines. It suggested that passengers should observe 30 seconds of silence on planes carrying the remains of military personnel who have died in combat.