Happy Veterans Day

[andyt]

To all who serve or have served, Happy Veterans Day.

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.

 

[ThinIce]

Very nice tribute, Andy.

 

[andyt]

Very nice tribute, Andy.

Thanks, but that poem was written by a Canadian doctor in 1915 to honor a fallen friend and comrade in arms. I post it every Veterans Day.

 

[jeffbear]

Anthem for Doomed Youth

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Wilfred Owen

Beautiful. Painful, brutal, stark bare beauty from perhaps the best war poet the English language has ever produced. In tribute to the 100th anniversary of what SHOULD have been the war to end all wars. Which tragically, was nothing of the sort.

If you truly want to dive into the emotion of this Remembrance Day/Veterans Day you could invest an hour and a half to experience Benjamin Britton's War Requiem. A symphony of anguish that sets the words of Owen to music. Painful but worth it.

 

[dwind]

Thanks Andy and JB!

 

[andyt]

The Blues brought a WW II vet in a wheelchair onto the carpet before the anthem. David Backes came over and wheeled him out to the blue line to join the players for the anthem. Very cool.

 

[*AH*]

That was very cool indeed. The Canes presented several WWII, Korean War and Nam vets last night. The first two were Marines then Army, Navy and the fifth was shown as Air Force but he was wearing a Marine Dress Blue Jacket, uh, blouse.

I'd like to be able to wear mine - then I weighed 160 lbs. and had a 28" waist.