I can still remember the day that my high school history teacher decided to teach us about World War I by showing my class the final episode of the classic BBC sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth.  At first, I was just happy to get a chance to watch television in class but, by the end of the episode, I was simply devastated.

There’s something very appropriate about the fact that one of the best depictions of the futility and destructiveness of war came at the end of a comedy.

And during this Memorial Day weekend, as we pay respect to the men and women who have died in the course of fighting the countless number of wars that have been waged over the course of this country’s history, it seems to me that this final scene is far more eloquent about the costs of war than I could ever hope to be.