{"id":34403,"date":"2023-01-30T18:10:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T18:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier"},"modified":"2023-01-30T18:55:18","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T18:55:18","slug":"to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier","title":{"rendered":"To live, love, die for a cause \u2013 eulogy for Rwanda\u2019s Unknown Soldier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Rwanda will on February 1 mark Heroes Day, a day on which the country pays tribute to its nationals who demonstrated the highest values of patriotism and sacrifice for the well-being of the country and its citizens.<\/p>\n

The national heroes are in three categories \u2013 Imanzi, Imena, and Ingenzi, according to the Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decorations of Honour (CHENO). Imanzi are supreme heroes with outstanding achievements occasioned by supreme sacrifice, outstanding importance and example. Only two people; the late Maj Gen Fred Rwigema and the Unknown Soldier, were awarded posthumously.<\/p>\n

The Unknown Soldier represents all the fallen soldiers of the liberation struggle that ended in 1994 with the stopping of the Genocide against the Tutsi. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is at the National Heroes\u2019 Mausoleum in Remera, next to Amahoro National Stadium, in Kigali.<\/p>\n

It is a way of honouring the thousands of soldiers whose remains could not be identified after the liberation struggle.<\/p>\n

Eulogy<\/b><\/p>\n

Wars are as old as history. Over two thousand years ago, Herodotus, a famous Greek historian and geographer, wrote: \u201cIn peace, sons bury their fathers; in war, fathers bury their sons.\u201d The Unknown Soldier will forever remain a son to Rwanda.<\/p>\n

If death is a debt we all must pay, he or she paid it before owing it.<\/p>\n

We do not know whose son or daughter the unknown soldier was.<\/p>\n

We do not know his or her name.<\/p>\n

We do not know if he or she was a parent by then.<\/p>\n

We do not know if his or her mother received the sad news of the passing.<\/p>\n

We do not know what he wished to be doing after the war.<\/p>\n

He or she could have been a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer or still serve in the army.<\/p>\n

Was he or she someone who loved music?<\/p>\n

There is a lot we don\u2019t know because the story of an unknown soldier is not just about one person. It\u2019s about many sacrifices of those that paid the ultimate price to liberate Rwanda.<\/p>\n

As Rwanda honors the unknown soldier, the only certainty about him or her is that they strongly believed in a united Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Had they lived, they would be happy with what Rwanda has become today.<\/p>\n

The unknown soldier could have been better than many. By honouring him or her, we agree to the cause they fought and died for.<\/p>\n

Rwandans give thanks to those who were willing to sacrifice themselves and who sacrificed their youth, and their future, so that the country could live in peace.<\/p>\n

With their lives, they ransomed Rwanda\u2019s future. Rwandans have a wealth of witnesses who fought alongside the unknown soldier to tell the new generation what the cause was about and how it must, jealously, be protected.<\/p>\n

In reality, it is a frightening thing for human beings to think that we could die and that no one would know to mark our grave, say where we had come from, say when we had been born and when exactly we died.<\/p>\n

In honouring this unknown soldier, through a national event, Rwandans are saying that \u2018because we do not know him or her and we do not know what he or she could have become, he or she has become more than one body, more than one grave. He or she is a model, a symbol of all sacrifice. They are every victorious soldier in all our wars.\u2019<\/p>\n

The veterans and all those still serving soldiers know what it is to have been in battle and to have seen their friends and comrades in arms die in the very flower of their youth.<\/p>\n

That is why remembrance and honoring is so necessary and yet so difficult. It is necessary because Rwandans must not forget. It is difficult because the pain is never forgotten.<\/p>\n

And the sense of loss that this soldier’s family must have felt. Ultimately, the unknown soldier gave Rwandans a bright future. And for that, Rwandans are eternally grateful.<\/p>\n

Whatever dreams Rwandans have, they were shared in some measure by this unknown soldier who is only unknown by name but is known in the hearts of all Rwandans by all the virtues that they hold in the highest regard – his or her selflessness, honour, courage, and commitment.<\/p>\n

The unknown soldier reminds Rwandans that a sacrifice can never go for nothing; it cements a foundation for a true nation, a nation united in spirit for a high cause and humane purposes.<\/p>\n

The unknown soldier, in sacrificing himself, or herself, totally through duty, commitment, love, and honour, became part of the nation\u2019s life, forever.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda will on February 1 mark Heroes Day, a day on which the country pays tribute to its nationals who demonstrated the highest values of patriotism and sacrifice for the well-being of the country and its citizens. The national heroes are in three categories \u2013 Imanzi, Imena, and Ingenzi, according to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":34402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,761],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-34403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nTo live, love, die for a cause \u2013 eulogy for Rwanda\u2019s Unknown Soldier - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rwanda will on February 1 mark Heroes Day, a day on which the country pays tribute to its nationals who demonstrated the ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To live, love, die for a cause \u2013 eulogy for Rwanda\u2019s Unknown Soldier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rwanda will on February 1 mark Heroes Day, a day on which the country pays tribute to its nationals who demonstrated the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-30T18:10:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-30T18:55:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1675089660.29.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"579\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"To live, love, die for a cause \u2013 eulogy for Rwanda\u2019s Unknown Soldier\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-30T18:10:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-30T18:55:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier\"},\"wordCount\":795,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1675089660.29.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/to-live-love-die-for-a-cause-eulogy-for-rwandas-unknown-soldier\",\"name\":\"To live, love, die for a cause \u2013 eulogy for Rwanda\u2019s Unknown Soldier - 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