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x32n23nr | 5 years ago

Another famous example of how in the darkest hours there's longing for peace and friendship is the Christmas Truce during the first world war [1].

British soldiers heard German troops in the trenches singing carols and patriotic songs. They started shouting messages to each other. The next day, soldiers from both sides met, exchanged gifts, took photographs and played football.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

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oconnor663|5 years ago

The article also reminded me of a story from the aftermath of the My Lai massacre:

> In 1998, Thompson and Colburn returned to the village of Sơn Mỹ, where they met some of the people they saved during the killings, including Thi Nhung and Pham Thi Nhanh, two women who had been part of the group about to be killed by Brooks's 2nd Platoon. Thompson said to the survivors, "I just wish our crew that day could have helped more people than we did." He reported that one of the women they had helped out came up to him and asked, "Why didn't the people who committed these acts come back with you?" He said that he was "just devastated" but that she finished her sentence: "So we could forgive them."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson_Jr.

Stratoscope|5 years ago

> They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, played football, even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the top brass forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.

From We CAN Change the World via http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/60/048.html:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00311JUGK

> Across the line, still brandishing his binoculars, Old Horseflesh [a hard-liner] shoves a rifle into Green's hands. "Take a steady aim," he commands. Dodger aims well above Coburg's head, and the lieutenant dives into a handy shell hole. Catching on, the German machine gunners let loose a burst well above the opposite trenches.

From Silent Night:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00311JUGK

u678u|5 years ago

And the next day started shooting at each other again. Humans are truly weird.