MEMORIAL DAY--Thread Five--"The Luckiest Boy in the World"

5/28/04 | redrock

[U S Army EOD]

That sure doesn't look like the picture on Winter Soldiers does it Sam?

[SAMWolf]

When I'm Gone

When I come to the end of my journey
And I travel my last weary mile
Just forget if you can, that I ever frowned
And remember only the smile

Forget unkind words I have spoken
Remember some good I have done
Forget that I ever had heartache
And remember I've had loads of fun

Forget that I've stumbled and blundered
And sometimes fell by the way
Remember I have fought some hard battles
And won, ere the close of the day

Then forget to grieve for my going
I would not have you sad for a day
But in summer just gather some flowers
And remember the place where I lay

And come in the shade of evening
When the sun paints the sky in the west
Stand for a few moments beside me
And remember only my best

Lyman Hancock

[redrock]

Memorial Day....

redrock

[redrock]

Memorial Day....

redrock

[redrock]

Memorial Day..

redrock

[Peach]

A Memorial Day bump to you, and to your dad, and to our beloved soldiers.

[Lady Jag]

[AuntB]

Hey, redrock, your offering was wonderful, as usual. Just a thought about the Long Beach Vet’s hospital. My son’s father (a Viet Nam combat vet) was recently in an auto accident, busted up foot, cracked ribs and sternum. They transported him to LA County, where they let him lay with no medical help, except kept him drugged, for over a week, until someone finally found out where he was. He couldn’t call out. Finally a friend took him to the Vet’s hosp in Long Beach, where they told him there was no room for him. So they casted the foot/ankle...that has to be operated on and sent him home. Well, he almost died, was there all alone. He was never able to get into the Vet’s hospital. Something is badly wrong here with the way our vets are being treated. I also know some who have suffered agent orange and other problems but can’t get the SSA to approve benefits for years. It’s not right and really ticks me off.

I’m not in a good mood today. Just got a “humor” piece from a liberal relative that was so vile and distorted.....he sent it to just tick me off, and it did!! You wouldn’t have wanted to see what I told him. Oh, well, scratch another relative!!! LOL!!!

[onyx]

That's a truly touching post (#54).
I love it.
Thanks for the ping to this thread, Brian.

[wagglebee]

Been out of town all day just read this, it is truly touching, as they all have been. Thanks.

[LisaMalia]

What a beautiful story. My dad, who we buried today, was a Navy vet. Happy Memorial Day to all who have served out great country, and those are still serving.

A special thanks to my relatives who have served:
My brother Rick
My brother-in-law Bill
My late Grandpa George who "fibbed" about his age, so he could join up early at 16 and served in WWI and WWII
My late Uncle Joe who was on the beaches at Normandy
My late Uncle George
My late Uncle Norman
and my dear friend Billy, who gave his life for our country in Vietnam.

God Bless you Veterans, today and everyday.

[FBD]

"I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play,
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free."
........

God Bless our troops, and their famlies.
Thank you for your service.

[FBD]

'In Flanders Fields'
By John McCrae

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.

---

-The most asked question is: Why poppies?

"Wild poppies flower when other plants in their direct neighborhood are dead. Their seeds can lie on the ground for years and years, but only when there are no more competing flowers or shrubs in the vicinity (for instance when someone firmly roots up the ground), these seeds will sprout.

There was enough rooted up soil on the battlefield of the Western Front; in fact the whole front consisted of churned up soil. So in May 1915, when McCrae wrote his poem, around him bloodred poppies blossomed like no one had ever seen before.


But in this poem the poppy plays one more role. The poppy is known as a symbol of sleep. The last line We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields might point to this fact. Some kinds of poppies can be used to derive opium from, from which morphine can be made. Morphine is one of the strongest painkillers and was often used to put a wounded soldier to sleep. Sometimes medical doctors used it in a higher dose to put the incurable wounded out of their misery."-

- Rob Ruggenberg

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the great poems and Thanks to those who sacrificed so that we are here for this Memorial Day.

[redrock]

Memorial Day Bump!!!

redrock

[redrock]

Beautiful!!!

Thanks.

redrock

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Molly Pitcher]

My family and I will never forget...

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. G'mornin' ! :^D

[FBD]

mornin backatcha, Meek!
Thanks for the ping to the Memorial Day thread.
Hope you and yours have a great weekend.
Regards