November 11, 2007
To the Vets:
Thanks for everything.
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.
Yips! from Robbo: Amen, Brutha. I tried a couple times today to come up with a suitable observance post, but it all rang hollow.
I've never served myself. Dad was Army Medical Corps for a while, but he did his Vietnam-era stint in Texas. I've a great-uncle (I never met) who was the back-seater in a carrier-based Vigilante during the Korean War and was actually shot down. And, as I've mentioned before, my great-great grandfather was a Union artilllery officer during the Civil War. But if you read through some of the WWI poetry of people like Sassoon and Graves for example, you quickly realize that pride in such antecedents is shallow and, in the end, almost fraudulent. Indeed, is it even possible for us fat and happy civilians to truly appreciate what our vets have given for us? Can we repost stirring or tragic prose and poetry attendant to the day and honestly convince ourselves that we've done any more than scratch the surface? I somehow doubt it. So I ask the LMC and all others who serve or who have served to accept my gratitude fully aware of its feebleness. I know my thanks isn't good enough, but I offer it to you anyway.
Posted by Steve-O at November 11, 2007 12:28 PM | TrackBackTo LMC, Colossus, MCPO Airdale, and all other vets who visit this blog:
In a courtyard of a rural county Virginia courthouse stands a simple memorial. The inscription says simply "For all those who serve our Country, to them We owe our Freedom".
Thanks...
Posted by: kmr at November 11, 2007 01:11 PMMany years ago, in what seems a land far,far, away; 1954 to be exact, I was a senior in high school and wrote a thesis on this poem. It moved me to tears then as it does now. I've never been there, never seen the crosses there, but I have seen them in military cemeteries here in our country. I've also done an ancestor cemetery trip and been moved to tears to see the flags on the veterans graves, some of them from as long ago as the Revolutionary war, some of them my ancestors. I have thanked my brothers, my son in law and many others for their service. My thanks cannot ever be enough. God bless them all.
Posted by: Ruth H at November 11, 2007 06:59 PMI recently got together with my Aunt and talked about our family history. I wondered why the family up and moved from Long Island where my grandfather was earning a very good living working for Robert Moses. She told me that the war dept. asked him to move his entire family to Rhode Island and to employ his talents as a civil engineer for the war effort.
That they did, so now I have photos of my urban ancestors living on what looks like a chicken farm somewhere in Rhode Island while my grandfather worked for the war dept.
I have never been asked to do anything other than go shopping for the support of our current war...
My father flew a weather plane in the Pacific theatre. My son is currently a sailor for the United States Navy. There is a huge hole in our collective memory about what it means to serve our nation, that being the tail end of the baby boom generation...
Steve and Robbo, you all can never know how much your comments mean to LMC in particular. That poem is one of his favorites and incredibly moving! Thanks for the support : ) Those of us "serving" on the home front also appreciate it!
Posted by: Mrs. LMC at November 13, 2007 06:44 AMAbstract paintings
Angel painting
animal paintings
ballet paintings
beach painting
Boat painting
building painting
Children painting
Christ painting
church painting
City painting
Cottage painting
Dancer painting
field painting
Floral paintings
Garden painting
Hunting paintings
impressionist painting
Knight painting
Lady painting
Landscape painting
Lighthouse paintings
Music painting
Nude painting
Oriental paintings
Piano painting
Seascapes paintings
Still Life paintings
street painting
sunset painting
Tropical paintings
Venice paintings
Village painting
wine paintingsalvador dali paintings
thomas kinkade paintings
pablo picasso paintings
vincent van gogh paintings
claude monet paintings
diego rivera paintings
Image courtesy of the lovely and talented 