Back to Horseback

I know that I didn’t care about it before I happened to read this article, but it’s one of those situations where you’re suddenly sad to see one of these things no longer be in existence. Sure, it’s not as if my life will be changed dramatically with this realization, but once I realized that it was no-more I began to wish our society wasn’t so progressive and that the symbols of the good ol’ days weren’t just memories.

The Twin Cities’ NBC affiliate, KARE 11, did a piece yesterday on Walt Westman – the oldest surviving member of the U.S. Cavalry. He served in the 1st Division during World War II in New Guinea, Australia, and all over the South Pacific Islands. Aside from his service overseas, he has spent the rest of his ninety-nine years in Minnesota maintaining a horse ranch in Coon Rapids. Despite his old age, his son said that Westman actually got on a horse a couple of years ago and rode around a bit. “As sharp as a tack” and proud of his repute, Westman displays the utmost class when reminiscing on his younger days.

I guess why this article struck me was because it was just a reminder of how these classic images that generations before us seem to have are in short supply in contemporary times. There is a certain nobility that accompanies the image of a courageous infantry atop great stallions before battle that today’s military counterparts don’t seem to match with their massive machines of war.

The dignified regality of a cavalry immediately triggers visions of history’s most gallant and impressive moments and figures. From Alexander the Great to the Mongolian conquest to the still-renowned Polish division, this relationship between man and horse harks back to a period that for whatever reason seems venerated and honorable beyond anything that we have today.

It’s undoubtedly the hopeless romantic in me that begs for the days of yesteryear when life was simpler – even when it came to war. It came down to two animals, a soldier and his steed, depending on each other’s abilities in these dire times and not some technological advancement hundreds of miles away.

Similar to the cavalry, symbolic representations of old such as quills, telegrams, railroads, and the local baker are all icons that had to compete with sudden “alternatives” that were more efficient and effective but much less personal and lacking in character. Unfortunately, those “alternatives” have become “replacements” and now leave us in a time where those historical marks, including Westman, are becoming nothing more than a remembrance of what used to be.