… I attended a lecture on US history at Cambridge years ago when the professor said something that I still think is profound and insightful about the differences between Europe and America. He said that the inscriptions on the headstones of fallen soldiers in Europe invariably appealed to the sacrifice of the individual for Queen/King, or country, or Mother/Fatherland. It was, in other words, about dying for something physically tangible: “Died defending French soil”; “Died for the Russian Motherland”; “Known only unto God” for the Brits*.
In contrast, in an Amercian cemetery we find inscribed more often than not “Died for democracy” or Died for freedom” on the headstone. It seems that most Amercians die for a concept and a worthy ideal.
We Europeans do not understand how profoundly fundimental this is to Amercians. They believe it so intently that today in American cemetaries mothers will proudly see their sons buried with that epitaph on the gravestone. It is at its best, a movingly unselfish statement by a nation, and an honourable view of its role in the world.
As a Brit, I respect that.
* The epitaph “Known only unto God” whilst is seen on many British servicemen’s headstones, is reserved for those whose bodies who could not be identified."---
