To those that serve/served we thank you
To those that payed the utimate price .. we remember
Jim
Amen.
Redwolf
Thanks Jim:
I am a 10 year veteran of the United States Navy Medical Corp. I proudly served two tours in the first Gulf War. I saw combat and I pray that our guys return home victorious and safe.
This latest war reminds me that for every soldier is a peacemaker who hates war. It seems like an endless universal condition, to have them both on the planet in a symbiotic paradigm. Mothers cry and soldiers die. I am certain that the inevitable civilian deaths penetrate the heart of most American soldiers, leaving permanent scarring, and I hate that this happens.
To me, the soldiers in Iraq are the new Best Generation. They will have seen the reality and horror so many times over of the consequences of of ruthless injustice practiced for so long in the Middle East. They will know the difference between that place and this place, even if many at home continue to equivocate and complain.
I mourn every loss and pray for their safety daily. But my bigger concern is that those who hate this war will repeat the Vietnam vet thing, by making them feel wrong and awkward for having served. I am continually assured that it won’t happen again, but I remain unconvinced because I remember vividly the awkwardness of the young and hip towards the weathered vets as they re-entered society here. Many of you frequently disagree with my opinions, but I swear on every account that it was so in those days and Kerry’s testimony before Congress contributed to that. We were conditioned to think they were all dangerous nuts and to some degree, we made it so by not opening our arms and hearts to them.
This generation will only be the new Best if we honor their service and love them for their sacrifice. I do.
Hear, hear!
as the daughter of a WWII vet, and the mom of a soon to be Navy aircraft mechanic (he reports to Great Lakes basic August 15, 2005) -
Thank you to all who served / are serving / and will serve. No matter your thoughts about the particular “engagement”, it’s important to keep in mind that without these individuals, our country could not survive as it is today.
Missy
Thank you. I don’t remember anyone ever saying that to me when I returned home 34 years ago.
I’m sure that my friend Charlie would thank you also.
“Honour the warrior and not the war; For they were engaged in acts not of their own making.”
Peace,
Will O’Ban
Thank you.
…A vet (1980-88, USA)
Can’t be said enough!
Susan
Thanks, from a 20 year now retired Navy vet.
Tom
Many thanks to the Weekenders!
As a Vietnam Veteran, my arrival back in the States was met with an individual spitting on me and ranting about how many babies I killed. Could not wait to get home to my family!
tom
Eisenhower said that he hated war worse than most pacifists
did, having seen it close up; but he hated Nazism more.
I am so very happy that in all my life I never had to
run at a machine gun. Thanks to all those who were
in peril–a debt that can never be repayed adequately.
At the going down of the sun,and in the morning,we shall remember them.
Lest we forget.
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915
"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.”
Over here in the UK, ‘Rememberance Day’ is a much bigger thing (I think) than Veteran’s Day in the US. You see a lot of people wearing poppies in the week running up to 11/11. Today I’ll be going down to Dundee city center for a commemorative service at 11 AM.
It’s sobering to contemplate the horrific sacrifices Britain herself endured in WWI (especially). By the end of 1914 her professional army had been bled to nothing by the summer and autumn battles. By 1915 the meatgrinder was in full swing. In 1916, on one terrible day, she suffered 57,000 casualties in order to gain–a mile of ground, or roughly ten men for each foot gained. Think of it: take a double pace, and think ‘50 men fallen to gain that much’.
I don’t think Britain ever really altogether recovered from the horrendous cost. On this day, I like to read Kipling’s ‘The Gardener’ in remembrance.
–A Yank in Scotland
A lot of Navy people here. Hospital corpsman '77 to '83.
Here’s to the people now “in harm’s way” and those who went before.
WWI Fun facts.
The armistice was went into effect on 11/11/18. Though fighting stopped the war didn’t officially end until June 1919.
An interesting note. July 1, 1916 remains the bloodiest day in military history for a single “battle”. In addition, the slaughter at Verdun continued unabated as well as fighting on all the other fronts.
Most people aren’t even aware that France and Germany played an important roll in the Somme battle. I’ve only found one source for French and German casualties for that day and I don’t have them with me but it brings the total up to well over 100,000.
British total casualties (killed, missing, wounded) for July 1 were higher then total deaths for US troops in all of Vietnam.
By the end of the battle in November there’s been over a million casualties from all sides.
Here’s an interesting note. The British suffered more casualties per day and higher percentages on a unit by unit basis during the Normandy campaign then they did during the Somme battle.
The British were the first to use tanks. They were used first at the Somme
on September 15th.
During 3rd Ypres the 36th Ulster and the 16th Irish divisions, enemies at home, fought side by side. Many who survived would return home to be denounced as traitors.
While I’m at it, can any French speakers give me a phoentic pronunciation
of the words: Ypres, Somme and Verdun?
I went over to the battlefields in Flanders and the Somme last June,it was a very humbling experience.
I actually stayed in Ypres,although now it is called Iepers and it is pronounced ee-pers.
Cool Whistling Willie,
Was it called ee-pers then? The British troops stationed there printed a newsletter called the “Wipers Times”. Is that a clue?
Today is the day when I see the faces of those who served with us and of friends lost. From my mind’s eye, the memories of seeing the names of friends from Basic Training and from high school engraved in the black granite of the Vietnam Memorial chokes me up greatly.
At 11:00 this morning I will be at the State Capital to hear Taps played and to shed a tear.
US Army, 9/68 to 6/70
A soldier’s song of the time had the lines:
Far, far from Ypres
I long to be,
Where German snipers
Can’t get at me.
Most French names and phrases had a squaddies version of the pronunciation.
I went into downtown Dundee shortly before 11 today.
In the city center, at a square in front of a majestic hall, a Church of Scotland pastor held a short memorial service. A lone trumpeter played ‘Last Post’ as the Union flag, the Saltire, and the regimental banners of the Black Watch (the local regiment), the Argyll and Sutherlands, and the KOSB were dipped. A lone piper played ‘The Flowers of the Forest’ from the balcony. Two minutes of silence followed: busses had pulled over, cars were halted, the entire city came to a stop. Only the gulls cried overhead.
Poppy wreaths are everywhere.