Memorial Day!

[Irishcat922]

Soldier, Rest!
Thy warfare o'er
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking.
Dream of battlefields no more.
Days of Danger,
Nights of waking.

Sir Walter Scott


I thank God for all the noble men who have fallen on the battlefield, so that my family and I can enjoy the freedoms we have today.

 

[fredtgreco]

Sean,

Thank you for beating me to the punch.

I thank God for those who have sacrificed their lives, time and pain for me, that I might be free.

 

[Mary]

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That marks 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.

-Lt. Col. John McCrae

 

[blhowes]

I too am thankful for those who have risked or sacrificed their lives for the freedoms I at times take for granted.

Today I drove 2+ hours to visit my sister's grave. On the way, I was blessed to see various parades along the way with veterans in uniform proudly marching along.

While at the cemetary, I visited the grave of my grandparents. There was a flag next to my grandfather's grave with a little sign acknowledging that he was a veteran of the world war. I never knew. He had never mentioned it and I had never asked. Makes me even more proud of him knowing this.

Bob

 

[Mary]

Bob,

Which world war?

My granddad was WWII vet...Looking back through the family history (which is a major hobby of mine) I find relatives that fought in pretty much every war we've ever had in this country, possibly even (this isn't for sure yet) the Revolutionary War.

I'm feeling poetical tonight, so bear with me...

Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said:
"This is my own, my native land"?
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned
As home his footsteps he hath turned,
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored and unsung.

Sir Walter Scott

 

[blhowes]

[b:c7e512912f]Mary wrote:[/b:c7e512912f]
Which world war?

I'm leaning towards saying WW1, but I'm not sure. I'm a little rusty on US history, but wasn't WW1 from 1914 to 1918, or something like that? He was born in 1898, so he may have just been old enough to be in some of it. I'll have to ask my dad.

That's a neat poem you quoted. He sure had a way with words.

Bob

 

[FrozenChosen]

Bob,

U.S. involvement in the Great War lasted from 1917-1918 I believe. It's entirely possible that our armies were looking for me right at your grandfather's age group.

Mary,

[i:13128f39fb]In Flander's Fields[/i:13128f39fb] is perhaps my most favorite poem.

The story behind it is very interesting. McCrae was a medic, and after a particularly long-drawn battle he said:

"Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done."

He was impacted by how much death he saw on the battlefield and in the medical tents, but one death in particular affected him. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst one day, and in the absence of a chaplain, McCrae had to recite some verses from the Church of England's "Order of the Burial of the Dead" from memory.

The next morning he was seen sitting in front of Helmer's grave, writing the famous poem, but after that he actually threw it away. Another officer picked up the wad of paper and asked McCrae if he could publish it.

And so it was published.

<EDIT>

I would be remiss if I did not mention that today is a very important day, and I'm thankful for all those who have defended our liberties, past, present, and future.

[Edited on 6-1-2004 by FrozenChosen]