Veteran's Day

[warren]

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.

John McCrae Lt. Col. Commanded No. 3 Canadian General Hospital, Boulogne Fr. Died in France 1/28/18

 

[huntertrw]

The Price of Freedom
Written October 16, 1862 by Second Lieutenant Edmund Dascomb, Company G, Second New Hampshire Volunteers. Lieutenant Dascomb died July 2, 1863 at Gettysburg in a battle at the Joseph Sherfy Peach Orchard.

Lo, look on yonder battlefield, where mangled thousands lie,
A hundred forms of ghastly death, beneath a lurid sky—
And not alone the nerveless dead, but curse and groan and prayer,
Arise from wretches mad with pain, devoid of pitying care.

Yes, the soldier lives and dies, sometimes unwept; unknown,
For there be some (thank God, tis few) who travel this world alone,
The soldier’s friends in his far off home, how with fear they watch and wait,
When news of a bloody contest comes to learn of their soldier’s fate.

God's ways are just, this much we know, His purpose we fulfill,
His Children are our Brethren all, deny it though we will,
Our brethren in the right to live, to labor and enjoy,
This Magna Charta of our hopes, none shall ‘ere destroy.

 

[ssjones]

Thanks to all our veterans, past and present here.

Thanks Pap for a lifetime of service. (32 years CSM).
Vietnam 1969, 26th Infantry, Blue Spaders (call sign Dobol Six)


Veterans Day 2020 - rest in peace Pap

 

[Briar Lee]

Dulce et Decorum Est​

BY WILFRED OWEN
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 gas-shells dropping softly 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.

Xxxxxxx

Wilfred Owen, who wrote some of the best British poetry on World War I, composed nearly all of his poems in slightly over a year, from August 1917 to September 1918. In November 1918 he was killed in action at the age of 25, one week before the Armistice. Only five poems were published in his lifetime—three in the Nation and two that appeared anonymously in the Hydra, a journal he edited in 1917 when he was a patient at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh. Shortly after his death, seven more of his poems appeared in the 1919 volume of Edith Sitwell's annual anthology, Wheels: a volume dedicated to his memory, and in 1919 and 1920 seven other poems appeared in periodicals.

 

[El Capitán]

Happy veterans day to all the veterans on this forum and everywhere. Thank you for your service.

 

[trouttimes]

 

[warren]

I didn't mean to start a poetry corner, simply to post the poem which inspired "The Poppy." I believe only the Brits as a whole and in some areas of the US does the poppy mean remembrance of the War which removed nearly an entire generation of young men from the living in Britain.

The US should, in my opinion have designated a separate day for Veterans but, we only put soldiers in harm's way in a wee, tail end bit of WWI so, I suppose it's only right. We, the US didn't invest the lives the Brits did. Not to denigrate the US contribution. I apologize for trying to focus the day a bit, it's probably the Scots-Irish in me. Sorry.

So in the spirit of the day, All honor to to the vets, living and dead. But, also a special thought to the Brits, who sacrificed so many. For me, there has never been any happiness in Decoration/Veterans Day.

Veterans Day? A time to offer thanks to all who served.

 

[Winnipeger]

I believe only the Brits as a whole and in some areas of the US does the poppy mean remembrance of the War

I'd add Canada to that (though we're still part of Britain...sorta.)

Legacy - The Cost of Canada’s War | Canada and the First World War - https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/after-the-war/legacy/the-cost-of-canadas-war/

 

[warren]

Canada indeed! A faithful ally.

 

[Gimlet]

I didn't mean to start a poetry corner, simply to post the poem which inspired "The Poppy." I believe only the Brits as a whole and in some areas of the US does the poppy mean remembrance of the War which removed nearly an entire generation of young men from the living in Britain.

This is true. But we must also remember that over 3 million soldiers from the British Commonwealth and Empire served alongside our forces in WW1. Black, white, brown, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh. All shades, all colours, all faiths and none.
Some nations contributing huge numbers relative to their population size. New Zealand supplied 100,000 men. In 1914 the NZ population was barely 1 million. 10% of the entire nation took up arms to fight on the other side of the world and suffered terrible losses.
Britain at the outbreak of war had an army of only 250,000 professional regulars, 250,000 territorials and 200,000 reservists. Mass volunteering and conscription boosted the numbers to 4 million. But nearly as many again came from the colonies and dominions. Some were conscripted but many volunteered. They fought under British command. They were counted as British but they were not British and the war could not have been won without them. Many did not need to come, but they came anyway. And many, especially black Africans, shamefully were not commemorated at the time. They are now. A poppy for every one of them. It's their symbol as much as ours.

 

[warren]

I saw no point in comparing races and countries. To me, a Brit is a Brit. Troops came from across the empire and died. For me, no distinction. I'm an inclusive kind of guy. A dead trooper is a dead trooper, color or nationality is something you all can discuss if such distinctions are necessary. For me, that is simply a given. I honor the war dead as a whole, which is how they died, American, Canadian, German and so forth. Except in the US we have Memorial Day to for that. Eleventh month, eleventh day, at the eleventh hour really doesn't resonate here. I find that saddening. Lest we forget!