Memorial Day

[strollingbones]

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In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.



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McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:
Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime.

As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men -- Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans -- in the Ypres salient.

In Flanders Field, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae



the taps at President Kennedy funeral:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2h3z3Jqqo0]YouTube - Taps at President Kennedy Funeral[/ame]


triva fact: the taps were played wrong and have become even more moving for that error

may we remain free no matter what ruling party may we remember we are Americans.

 

[del]

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate... we can not consecrate... we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government : of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

 

[ABikerSailor]

Happy Memorial Day to all my fellow brothers and sisters in arms, both living and dead. May your families be visited by your spirit, may you enjoy this day.

PN1 Rob Murphy,
USN (Retired)
ABikerSailor

 

[del]

Happy Memorial Day to all my fellow brothers and sisters in arms, both living and dead. May your families be visited by your spirit, may you enjoy this day.

PN1 Rob Murphy,
USN (Retired)
ABikerSailor

same to you, Rob, and thank you for your service.

 

[strollingbones]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsOsdGtBBTg]YouTube - In Flanders Fields - Lest We Forget[/ame]

the song is haunting

 

[del]

A Reflection on Memorial Day by Sen. Bob Kerrey

I stand on a bluff in Normandy, France, overlooking the English Channel. The beach below was called Omaha. 9,387 white crosses mark the remains of young Americans killed here or in other places in France following the June 6, 1944, invasion. They're all dead. Another 1,557 names are on a wall here but their bodies could not be found. They're all dead, too. They did not come home to kiss their girlfriends or wives. Their children grew up without them. They did not enjoy the GI Bill. They did not build a new house. They did not see their commanding officer elected President twice. They never heard rock and roll. They didn't grow old.
Try to remember them today. Try to hear their youthful laughs. Try to know their fear. Try to feel their promise realized in your life, through your actions, your humility, your respect.

 

[strollingbones]

this is haunting....main post ft bragg nc

 

[Annie]

A Reflection on Memorial Day by Sen. Bob Kerrey

I stand on a bluff in Normandy, France, overlooking the English Channel. The beach below was called Omaha. 9,387 white crosses mark the remains of young Americans killed here or in other places in France following the June 6, 1944, invasion. They're all dead. Another 1,557 names are on a wall here but their bodies could not be found. They're all dead, too. They did not come home to kiss their girlfriends or wives. Their children grew up without them. They did not enjoy the GI Bill. They did not build a new house. They did not see their commanding officer elected President twice. They never heard rock and roll. They didn't grow old.
Try to remember them today. Try to hear their youthful laughs. Try to know their fear. Try to feel their promise realized in your life, through your actions, your humility, your respect.

My dad was seriously would that June day so long ago. While he 'landed' around 7 am in the 2nd or 3rd wave, he was grateful that he survived. He died 2 years ago this August, he was so happy to have seen the WWII Memorial built and enjoyed that trip more than any he'd take before. Seems he wasn't alone:

Chicago WWII vets moved by memorial trip - UPI.com

Chicago WWII vets moved by memorial trip
Published: May 24, 2009 at 2:26 PM

A group of elderly Chicago-area veterans say their journey to Washington for a ceremony at the National World War II Memorial was a moving event.

The group of veterans aged 78 to 98 made an 18-hour plane-and-bus trip this month courtesy of the non-profit organization Honor Flight Chicago, which was established to allow WWII vets, who are dying at a rate of 1,200 per day, to get a chance to see the memorial, The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday.

Lorraine Egan, 85, of Crystal Lake, Ill., a former U.S. Navy nurse, said the sight of fellow veterans reciting the Pledge of Allegiance while the mournful strains of taps were being played brought her to tears.

"I'm just thinking about all the boys who didn't make it," Egan told the Tribune. "They were just so young."

"I've never experienced anything like this," added Patric Rastall, 84, of Northbrook, Ill., who said he was impressed by the number of young people who came over to congratulate him during the ceremony at the Memorial. "All these bright, young faces … it's overwhelming," he said.

Same sentiments as my dad, he thought of all those he knew that died at Omaha or other battles. So too did young people come up to him in his wheelchair and said, "Thank you." It was extremely moving.

 

[tigerbob]

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen.


War is not honorable, but those who make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the rest of us deserve to be honored.

War is not heroic, but there is no greater heroism than to put oneself in harm's way while being fully aware of the risks.

War is not rational, but there is no more rational action that to be prepared to sacrifice all that one has in order to defend all that one holds dear.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we shall remember them.

 

[Annie]

There are historic situations in which refusal to defend the inheritance of a civilization, however imperfect, against tyranny and aggression may result in consequences even worse than war.
Reinhold Niebuhr

 

[Annie]

and take a moment from grilling and remember those who are honored today. National Moment at 3 pm.

 

[del]

 

[trobinett]

I salute all who have served, and those that are serving now.

 

[strollingbones]

the stats on what it takes to become a guard at the tomb of the unknowns are amazing.....you have maintain strict physcial and moral standards

 

[del]

the stats on what it takes to become a guard at the tomb of the unknowns are amazing.....you have maintain strict physcial and moral standards

when my son went to the boy scout national jamboree a few years ago, the members of the Old Guard put on a precision drill show in revolutionary war era dress-freaking amazing.

 

[tigerbob]

A British soldier who was killed on active service in Northern Ireland left a poem in an envelope addressed to his parents that was to be opened only in the event of his death. The poem is called "Do not stand at my grave and weep". At the time nobody knew who wrote it, but the popularity of the poem in Britain led to the discovery in about 1998 that the author was Mary Elizabeth Frye, a Baltimore housewife.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

 

[submarinepainter]

We started or day at the Veterns Circle and then Marched to The Grave site of Stephen W. Manchester , he was the first Westbrook, Maine resident to be killed in WW I . We Then packed up and went to the Legion Hall. After some coffee and doughnuts We loaded up the Flatbed with Vets and got ready to Parade . I helped the Seniors from Fallbrook Woods set up. It makes tear up to see the fun my 93 year old Grandfather has waving at the kids and saluting the Flag!! Our Mayor Bruce Chuluda gave an excellent speech , the Ladies Aux. said a prayer and Our Chapain REV. Ralph Green told a nice story and Prayer. Members of the City council spoke , then final prayers and Taps , damn song is just like Amazing Grace , makes me cry every time!! Everyone then sings God Bless America, off the the legion for clean up and more doughnuts

 

[ABikerSailor]

Decided to wear my Navy ballcap, and Navy t-shirt, and to go down to Southlawn Park in Amarillo TX to teach telepathy for free.

I'm there from 5-6 pm, Monday through Friday.

What makes it special for Memorial Day? Usually I wear tie dye down there.

 

[ABikerSailor]

I also remember a story that a friend of mine named Ned told me once (used to be in AA, and he was my sponsor).

He told me of a letter that they'd found on a dead soldier who landed on the beaches of Normandy. The letter said.............

"God, come. Come now. Don't send your Son, as this is no place for children".

That story has haunted me since I first heard it.

So, remember...........there are people who VOLUNTARILY go out of this country in the furtherance of it's ideals and goals, leaving the rest of you here to be safe and free.

If you see a vet (homeless or not) this Memorial Day, go up, shake the person's hand, buy 'em a beer and maybe a meal.

It means a lot to us.

 

[Sinatra]