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Missing Man Setting

“The Empty Chair”

By Captain Carroll “Lex” Lefon, USN (ret), on December 21st, 2004

“In the wardroom onboard the aircraft carrier from which I recently debarked was a small, round table, with single chair. No one ever sat there, and the reasons, both for the table being there, and for the fact that the chair was always empty, will tell the reader a little bit about who we are as a culture.The wardroom, of course, is where the officers will dine; morning, noon and evening. It is not only a place to eat – it is also a kind of oasis from the sometimes dreary, often difficult exigencies of the service. A place of social discourse, of momentary relief from the burdens of the day. The only things explicitly forbidden by inviolable tradition in the wardroom are the wearing of a cover or sword by an officer not actually on watch, or conversation which touches upon politics or religion. But aboard ships which observe the custom, another implicit taboo concerns the empty chair: No matter how crowded the room, no matter who is waiting to be seated, that chair is never moved, never taken.

The table is by the main entrance to the wardroom. You will see it when you enter, and you will see it when you leave. It draws your eyes because it is meant to. And because it draws your eyes it draws your thoughts. And though it will be there every day for as long as you are at sea, you will look at it every time and your eyes will momentarily grow distant as you think for a moment. As you quietly give thanks.

AS YOU REMEMBER.

The small, round table is covered with a gold linen tablecloth. A single place setting rests there, of fine bone china. A wineglass stands upon the table, inverted, empty. On the dinner plate is a pinch of salt. On the bread plate is a slice of lemon. Besides the plate lies a bible. There is a small vase with a single red rose upon the table. Around the vase is wound a yellow ribbon. There is the empty chair.

We will remember because over the course of our careers, we will have had the opportunity to enjoy many a formal evening of dinner and dancing in the fine company of those with whom we have the honor to serve, and their lovely ladies. And as the night wears on, our faces will in time become flushed with pleasure of each other’s company, with the exertions on the dance floor, with the effects of our libations. But while the feast is still at its best, order will be called to the room – we will be asked to raise our glasses to the empty table, and we will be asked to remember:

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for those who are missing. The single setting reminds us that every one of them went to their fates alone, that every life was unique.

The tablecloth is gold symbolizing the purity of their motives when they answered the call to duty.

The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones who kept the faith.

The yellow ribbon around the vase symbolizes our continued determination to remember them.

The slice of lemon reminds us of the bitterness of their fate.
The salt symbolizes the tears shed by those who loved them.
The bible represents the faith that sustained them.
The glass is inverted — they cannot share in the toast.
The chair is empty — they are not here. They are missing.

And we will remember, and we will raise our glasses to those who went before us, and who gave all that they had for us. And a part of the flush in our faces will pale as we remember that nothing worth having ever came without a cost. We will remember that many of our brothers and sisters have paid that cost in blood. We will remember that the reckoning is not over.

We many of us will settle with our families into our holiday season, our Christmas season for those who celebrate it, content in our fortune and prosperity. We will meet old friends with smiles and laughter. We will meet our members of our family with hugs. We will eat well, and exchange gifts and raise our glasses to the year passed in gratitude, and to the year to come with hope. We will sleep the sleep of the protected, secure in our homes, secure in our homeland.

But for many families, there will be an empty chair at the table this year. A place that is not filled.

WE SHOULD REMEMBER.”

Thanks To Alfa6 For Finding The Narrative Of “The Empty Chair.”

Robert Schumann – “Traumerei”
(Click)

Never Forget The Brave Men And Women Who Gave Their Lives To Secure Our Freedom!!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

MAY ALMIGHTY GOD UPHOLD AND DEFEND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

This Nation is dearer to me than my own life.
I fought for it willingly and proudly, as my ancestors have done since the American Revolution, and as members of my family continue to do to this very day.

Memorial to Battery "C", 5th U.S. Artillery at Gettysburg, PA
My 3-greats grandfather, Cpl. William Murphy,
was wounded by shrapnel at the Clump of Trees
in Pickett’s Charge, July 3, 1863.

In the Second World War my Father, who enlisted in the Navy on his eighteenth birthday, and a veritable squad of my Uncles and Great Uncles served in the Army, The Army Air Force, and the Navy, both in the American Theatre and in Europe.

My Father was called up from the Reserves for the Korean War and served on board the USS Borie, DD-704 as a Radioman Third Class in the combat zone. The Borie was part of the armada that participated in the Hungnam Evacuation in December, 1950. He earned a commission as a Medical Service Corps Officer by examination in 1951 and remained in the Navy until his retirement in 1969.

In my youth, I spilled my blood for it on the Field of Battle, in a far-off land, in a war that was scorned by many of my contemporaries, a war in which we were victorious in every major engagement on the field, and a war in which we were betrayed by a coterie of spineless politicos, by The Fifth Column that masquerades as the media, by Academia, and by the Hollywood elite.

I was joined in that cause by my Father, who had boots on the ground in-country on several occasions in the early 60’s. I was likewise joined by several cousins in the Navy, Army, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

In my old age, the jackals gather again, seeking once more to steal a victory won by another generation of Americans, seeking to change our Nation into a Socialist State in which we are all tools of the collective rather than free men and women, a State in which we will be little more than subjects rather than free and proud citizens. They seek by every artifice, scheme and fraud known to man to undo the American Revolution.

Though I am old and weak, I would willingly fight for our Beloved Nation once again, and, if necessary, give my life for it if doing so would advance the cause of Liberty.

I say this without boast or apology – I am no better or worse than the millions of American men and women who have answered the Nation’s call, and I am no hero. I am simply one of millions of Americans who did his or her duty when called upon by the Nation to do so. Many of my Comrades-in-Arms join in posting on this Forum.

The consequences of the recent election are unfolding on a daily basis. Those consequences include an intensified attack on our basic Freedoms, an increasing tax burden on the middle class and small business, and an increasingly aggressive endorsement of the Gay Agenda with its concomitant attack on traditional marriage and our dearly held family values.

Now is not the time for despair; it is not the time for surrender. Now is rather the time to reaffirm with resolve our core values: individual liberty, self-reliance and personal responsibility, the sanctity of human life, Love of God and Country, and Courage in the face of great Peril. These are the values that made this Nation great, the values that sustained it through over two centuries of wars, economic upheaval and civil unrest. These are the values that are anathema to the left, the values that contemporary society has largely abandoned, and the values that we must proclaim anew.

There are those who say they will discourage their sons and daughters from serving in our military because of the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and the advance of the Gay Agenda under this Regime. This course of action will ensure the imminent subversion and effective dismantling of our military. I will not countenance the relinquishment of our splendid military to a pack of perverts. My family has served since the Revolution, we serve now, and we will serve in the future. My youngest son, John Man, is bent on becoming a Marine, and I will give him every encouragement to stand in the yellow footprints and follow in a long and honorable tradition.

Many now advocate secession from the Union. Secession is not the answer, even if it could be accomplished. This is the greatest Nation to emerge in the long history of this planet, and it will endure the abuses of the present Regime, survive and flourish in Freedom again!

More importantly, this is MY Country – and yours! Here I am and here I stay! I am not willing to abandon it to the Leftist traitors now in power or to any other enemies, domestic or foreign. This is the oath I took when I shipped on forty-five years ago and it is the oath by which I remain bound.

"Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre,
Mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað. "

"Will shall be the sterner, heart the keener,
Spirit shall be the greater as our might lessens."

(Battle of Maldon – lines 313-314)

KNOW THIS: I will not sit idly by while Marxists, atheists, perverts and traitors work relentlessly to sabotage the heroic efforts and sacrifices of over two centuries of Patriots, to rip away our basic Freedoms, and to bring this great Nation to its knees.

May God continue to Bless and Protect the United States of America – A Beacon of Freedom shining through the darkness of a World beset by Tyranny!

May God Bless and Protect our Gallant Troops of all Services – men and women - combat and non-combat – of whatever MOS. By virtue of their service and sacrifice we continue to enjoy the benefits of Freedom!

With the help of Almighty God, may the Right and our Beloved Nation prevail!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting as we remember those who have given their all that we may gather safe and secure.