This Veterans Day, growing disrespect for the war-dead seems a sad symptom of our ever-widening distance from the ways of our ancestors.

Last week marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Iwo Jima. The Japanese intended to make the American cost of taking the island so severe they would reconsider invading the Japanese home islands. On this point, the Japanese condemned themselves by their very success. The shadow of Iwo Jima is arguably a mushroom cloud.