For those who fought, so we didn't have to.
Thank you
Remembrance Day
For those who fought, so we didn't have to.
Thank you
Amen to that.
For the Fallen
They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam
Signature created way-back-when by Goofy
Muddy (11-12-2013)
Nice gallery from today about a 99 year old recently deceased Veteran getting a proper send-off - http://imgur.com/gallery/D07Ib
Tank (11-11-2013)
It's too bad that they don't list more people like this guy. I'm sure there are a lot of veterans that pass away without surviving family members to attend.Originally Posted by Goofy
I know Remembrance Day is a day to honor all of the vets, but having strangers show up for a specific funeral is so touching
Quite a powerful set of GIF's -
http://blog.tedx.com/post/6667486441...ergeant-andrew
That judge sounds like a jackass! These Boys need more help getting back to 'normal'.
I have a friend that has left the army Twice since he was 17, each time he's failed to re integrate back into society, the last time he came out he managed 2 years before he couldn't handle the mundaneness of a normal 9-5 office job.
He too talked about a Rage building in him, and decided before he let it take over him he'd re enlist and spend it on situations that warranted it, instead of the poor office idiot that frustrated him daily.
Last I heard off him he was going in for the SAS selection process, his Facebook has been inactive since (during normal duty he'd update his page weekly) so I can only assume he's been successful.
he confided in me the last time he came out of the army that he would never touch alcohol again, as he knew if he got too drunk he'd lose control of his sense and he couldn't bear to think of the things he could do.
___________________________________
apologies for teh poor spelling and grammar. Engrish isn’t this users strong point!!!
The most poignant story for me was reflected in a movie....guy was stationed in Vietnam at a firebase that was constantly being attacked, day and night. He went on something like 60 patrols in 8 months.
Then he was given a 2 day leave and went home for his daughter's birthday. He said - One day I'm scared of everything that moves, the next I'm eating cake with my family. I went shopping with my wife and never noticed all of the Asians that lived stateside (before his tour). My wife had to help me out of the store.
I'll never be able to imagine that constant inborn threat alert that these guys go through... thank God
My nephew's friend and I quickly became friends. His fiancée had just broken up with him, and over that Christmas I spoke with him and gave him some perspective. He got back with her, and was called up to duty.
In the past 4 years, he's endured a tour of duty in Afghanistan, 2 failed engagements (the previous one did it again, and another relationship), his mother died suddenly at 62 and the next year his father died. At 26 he's endured more than most of us in our entire lives.
He's doing great and we have 3 hour phone conversations usually once a month. I am proud to say he has called me his mentor.
i think of him on Remembrance Day as a survivor, and my dad too. Also I think of my grandfather, who lost 1 and a half lungs to mustard gas in WW2.
Last edited by Noilly Pratt; 11-11-2013 at 10:23 PM.
Signature created way-back-when by Goofy
My family history is chock full of vets, from the civil war up to desert storm. I served, but thankfully never in a combat posting. My best friends are all vets. Perhaps the common experiences we share have helped us bond.
Goofy (11-12-2016)
At precisely 11:11 a.m. on Veterans Day, the shadows of the Memorial pillars will align perfectly to cast one, long shadow across the circle of pavers. At the exact same time, the sunlight projecting through the elliptical openings in the pillars will pour through onto the mosaic at the foot of the pillars. The sunlight cast through the elliptical openings will become a circle that will perfectly illuminate the mosaic of the Great Seal of the United States.
The significance of this Memorial design represents the unity of all five military branches, serving steadfast together for us all. Our military heroes have worked together throughout history and continue today to keep our country safe. This unity is symbolized in the Memorial as each part must work together to illuminate The Great Seal of the U.S.
Additionally, the brick pavers within the Circle of Honor will be inscribed with the names of U.S. servicemen and women, symbolizing the ‘support’ for the pillars. The pavers are red, the pillars are white marble, and the sky is blue to represent America’s flag. The circle represents an unbreakable border.
Renee explains, “The objective of the Anthem Veterans Memorial is that the sun will illuminate every Veterans Day the glory of the American eagle mosaic which lay at the heart of the Memorial that is forever surrounded, loved and protected by our veterans.”
that's a beautiful piece of work
http://www.futilitycloset.com/2013/1...ristmas-truce/
As Christmas approached in 1914, a number of impromptu cease-fires broke out on the Western Front in which German and British troops exchanged greetings, song, and even food. Rifleman Oswald Tilley of the London Rifle Brigade wrote to his parents on Dec. 27 regarding an incident near Ploegsteert, just north of the Franco-Belgian border:
In subsequent years the authorities tried to discourage such truces. Apart from reproving the breakdown in discipline, they had trouble getting the war started again. In late 1915 Ethel Cooper, an Australian woman living in Germany, met a soldier home on leave from the XIX Saxon Corps who told her that his unit had fraternized extensively with a British battalion for two days beginning that Christmas Eve. She wrote, “The trouble began on the 26th, when the order to fire was given, for the men struck. Herr Lange says that in the accumulated years he had never heard such language as the officers indulged in, while they stormed up and down, and got, as the only result, the answer: ‘We can’t — they are good fellows, and we can’t.’ Finally, the officers turned on the men, ‘Fire, or we do — and not at the enemy.’ Not a shot had come from the other side, but at last they fired, and an answering fire came back, but not a man fell. ‘We spent that day and the next day,’ said Herr Lange, ‘wasting ammunition in trying to shoot the stars down from the sky.’”On Christmas morning as we had practically ceased to fire at them, one of them started beckoning to us so one of our Tommies went out in front of our trenches and met him halfway amidst cheering. After a bit a few of our chaps went out to meet theirs until literally hundreds of each side were out in No Man’s Land shaking hands and exchanging cigarettes, chocolate and tobacco etc. … Just you think that while you were eating your turkey etc. I was out talking and shaking hands with the very men I had been trying to kill a few hours before. It was astonishing!
(From Marc Ferro et al., Meetings in No Man’s Land, 2007)
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