Commentary by Kyle Cowan
His hand slipped on the stock of the rifle as he struggled to slide the bolt back into place.
He slammed the palm of his hand onto the bolt, and it slid home with a crunch. He was just in time. His sergeant major was shouting over the rattle and hum of bullets flying overhead. He brought the Lee Enfield up to his shoulder, and fixed an enemy soldier in his sights. His ears were still ringing as he watched the man fall to the ground. His gaze did not linger. He was already struggling to load the next round…
There is something primal about war. It seems to be hard-wired into the DNA of every man. To fight for your country or cause, the routine, the rigmarole, the discipline.
While practising for the Battle of Talana re-enactment with the Dundee Diehards, Five Cent Piece had the slightest shimmer of a glimpse into the struggle of the khaki-clad British soldiers as they fought for Queen and country against the Boers.
Although a far cry from the circumstances of war in the 1890s, reliving (even for a second) what those soldiers went through is a monumental reality check.
As a journalist, Five Cent Piece spends a lot of time sitting down, speaking on the phone, sending emails and being a general irritant. Although mentally taxing, very seldom does a journalist run around under the searing African sun, being shot at, living off minimal food.
Well, there are those days that get the adrenalin pumping…
Let us hope and pray that South African men are not called to duty again in the near future. Perhaps military service could bring back some of the spine lost among the parties and video games, but the loss caused by war is too great for us as a country to bear.
The current climate is just not equipped for conflict. We are a generation of thinkers and procrastinators. The drive, the ambition to succeed is lost upon us. We look to the West for identity, and in the dregs and crags of our social ladders, we forget who and what we really are.
It is time for us as the youth to remember, to learn, to stand fast. It is time, for us to lay down the tools of social decay, and aim the rifle of progression at the enemy that is stagnation.
Men and boys, women and children fought for the freedom we have today. Who are we to squander it on petty games and futile party tricks?
Our government says we are in a time of peace. But a war is being fought. Politically, physiologically, psychologically. On the battlefields of social media, atop the battlements of the Internet. On the streets, in our homes, in our churches. Inside our hearts.
