Srilanka, Feb. 5 -- His speech, is best known for its final lines in which he quoted an old army ballad: 'Old soldiers never die -they just fade away'. MacArthur spoke of the reality faced by military people who served their country. When soldiers ceased being important and relevant, they were pushed into 'Old Soldiers Homes' to wait for the grim reaper.
In our country, at different times we sang hosannas to the military men and women who served during the ethnic war. Many have been forgotten. Many others can be seen begging for a living on the streets of Colombo. In fact the general under whose command the LTTE terrorist organisation was defeated, ended up in prison for political reasons.
He made efforts to capture power via the ballot,...