Some thoughts for this weekend

[bigears]

“Who kept the faith and fought the fight; the glory theirs, the duty ours.”
- Wallace Bruce


“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy


“They fell, but o'er their glorious grave floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.”
- Francis Marion Crawford


“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling,
which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight,
nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free
unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”
- John Stuart Mills

[JonFairhurst]

"There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell."




-William Tecumseh Sherman, June 19, 1879

[schneb]

“War then, is a relation - not between man and man: but between state and state; and individuals are enemies only accidentally: not as men, nor even as citizens: but as soldiers; not as members of their country, but as its defenders” - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell

"...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." - Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg

[LFO]

The tulmult and the shouting dies,
The captain and the kings depart,
Still stands thy ancient sacrifice
A contrite and an humble heart
O Lord of hosts be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget.

Sorry if a word or two is off, I'm writing from memory. My dad was career army and he taught me how first to be a patriot and second to respect the sacrifices performed by servicemen the world over.

O Lord of hosts be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget.

-Kevin

[bigears]

Thanks for sharing the additional quotes. I don't know if there are similar occasions in the rest of the world to honor the fallen. I don't mean to exclude our members from around the globe. This is the time that has been set aside in the U.S. to honor our military personel who have given their lives. Interesting History here:

http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

I was thinking about the melody used in "Taps", and wondering if there is any other melody that is quite as emotionally compelling as that simple 24 note piece. It is made up of the simple triad of a major chord and it couldn't be much simpler.

We had a full military honor guard ceremony for our family patriarch in March and the memory of that is still vibrant for me. The image of old men turning out to honor one of their "brothers" was incredibly moving. One gentlemen spoke of their dwindling numbers (WWII vets) and their commitment to always be there until the last of them are gone.

Another personal thought that I guess I am stuck with forever, is of my own father. On his 19th birthday, he was on a small South Pacific Island with a body full of scrapnel. He is long gone now, but our memories are sometimes full of surprises. Please take a moment this weekend to think of our fallen men and women, and the families they left behind.
Regards, John

[buckshead]

Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori - Horace

[Rhap2]

John:

Yesterday, I experienced the greatest, single instance of patriotism and sacrifice by viewing a funeral of a fallen Army hero from Shelby County, Texas.

My wife's sister lives in that area and she sent pictures of the funeral which
was attended by hundreds for a fallen son in a nearby town. There was a
parade in his honor and the cemetary where he was buried after the funeral
service was 18 miles away. As the motorcade made its slow, deliberate
way to the cemetary, the roads, highways, and streets were lined with
people holding American flags on both sides of the motorcade..... THE WHOLE WAY......all 18 miles in order to pay tribute to a young man from their area. He wasn't an important figure at all, just a young lad that fought for his Country and made the supreme sacrifice for all of us. The people cared.

There are many young men and women like him that are giving their all
for us overseas, but this particular respectful, pictorial tribute is one that I will remember for a long time. Almost like a WWII flashback........

But, that's the kind of support you get in Texas from Texans......
"Hook 'em Horns."

Jack

[JonFairhurst]

The eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the live long day.
The eyes of Texas are upon you,
You cannot get away.
Do not think you can escape them,
At night, or early in the morn'.
The eyes of Texas are upon you,
Till Gabriel blows his horn!



-John Sinclair, 1903
University of Texas at Austin alma mater
Sung to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" without the originally intended irony.

[Garritan]

To All of Those Who Served and Sacrificed...Thank You

[jmpaquette]

At 3:00 p.m. I stood on my porch and played "Taps." No one called the police. None of the passers-by stopped, either . . . but that doesn't surprise me. (No, I'm not a trumpeter, but I play it well.)

My next-door neighbor on one side is a WWII vet, and if he weren't stone deaf (not a surprise at 96) I'm sure he'd have stood at attention.

One of my closest friends of years gone by was a surviver of the Death March of Bataan. Twenty some-odd years after that experience he still looked like one of the survivors of the European "death camps." I was reminded of him today when I heard an NPR interview of the last known survivors of WWI.

Whatever the politics of the current hostilities, there are those who have given their lives--in many meanings of the expression--for the well-being of others. I echo Gary in this: Thank you.



Joe

[schneb]

My father, who died in 2003 (http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2003/08/22/obits/index.html), was one of the pilots used in the Berlin Airlift. The story of the Berlin Airlift was featured on PBS and was a great tribute to the "can do" spirit and humanitarian generosity of the United States.

[bigears]

I'm sure you are rightfully proud of your father. The airlift was our reaction to the Soviets attempt to gain control of West Berlin by starving the populace and cutting off their ability to do business. I understand the runway at Tempelhof, which was under American control, was a horrible mess when the airlift began. It was also surrounded by tall apartment buildings, so landings and takeoffs were dicey, especially in bad weather. The daily landings of supplies and food lasted for over a year, until the Soviets yielded and abandoned their blockade.
The Airlift and the Marshall Plan that followed, were all a part of the chess game with the Soviet Union, but are still seen by most as beneficial acts that allowed Germany to stabilize and begin rebuilding.

One more quote I ran across:

A great war leaves the country with three armies - an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves.
~German proverb

[PaulR]

My father, who died in 2003 (http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2003/08/22/obits/index.html), was one of the pilots used in the Berlin Airlift. The story of the Berlin Airlift was featured on PBS and was a great tribute to the "can do" spirit and humanitarian generosity of the United States.


My grandfather did that too coincidentally. He also did the Holland drop, where they had dispensation to parachute food supplies.