Poppies

[wags]

D day and that reminds me of poppies. A very British Commonwealth icon.

[wags]

~ The Cenotaph ~

Rainbow Autumnal leaves have fallen,
Caped marines play largo in Whitehall.
And Nimrod fills the fall morning air.
A people surrenders to remember the dead,
A legion of those that have grown old,
Lost comrade stories, tearfully told.
Red poppies adorn wreaths & lapels.
As Big Ben bell tolls one on eleven,
The Sovereign, soldiers & all bow,
And all are still in the November chill.
Gun echoes across Parliament Square,
Wreaths of Flanders poppies lain with care.
The peoples of Albion remember all names,
Cut on war memorials, local masons of stone.

[Mikado14]

wags,

I just read an article on Yahoo whereas the French say they will never forget what the world...ahem...the US and Britain mainly in my opinion...did in WWII. I personally fail to see that in that I believe at times they may have a touch of dementia.

My Father served in the Pacific theatre in the war. He went into the Navy and was made a Corpsman. Corpsman are a group of men in the Navy that serve both as Navy personnel and Marine personnel. Depending on where my Father was stationed, he would wear either uniform. He served for a time on an LST. He would go in during and after the landing to bring out the wounded and provide triage.

I am a veteran as was he. I know and understand that some detest the military but here in the States, it is the military that protects the right of the person to dislike the military. A good definition for irony.

Yes, it is a waste of life when someone dies in war but yet sometimes it is important to stand up for principle and a belief structure. But then I am sure the Nazi's believed that as well. Depends upon which side of the battle line one stands.

Our dead should be honored for the sacrifice they made regardless of which side they stood....and remembered.

Mikado

[wags]

Part of the US national 'DNA' is the fear of 'militarism' , from the early days of the Republic. May have leant more to the politics of the time. The defeated colonial military power and the early arguments about Federal v State power. I guess it is in a long tradition. Also Isolationist as well (The x y z War for example).

[LuisP]

28 July is nearing.

"History" says it began then.
Austria vs Serbia.

Others say 1, 2 or 3 August.
It depends on perspective, and "national" books.

100 years.

Horror struck.
When "It" left, more than 65 million were dead, wounded or missing.
Homage to "its" presence.


World War I.

I will not forget it.

My wife's Great Grandfather fought in it.
Flanders murderous muddy fields.
His picture is on the wall facing this desk.

I look at him... and I tremble.

I will be writing about this.
And about Ernst Junger.

July 28.
100 Years ago.

Yesterday.

Millions of men took up arms, and decided to Murder each other.

Today
We speak about what, discuss over which arguments, erradicte whose opponents, dismiss what opinions ?

Do we remeber them ? the Dead and the Missing ?

I do.

And I remeber "Its" presence, the toll It exacted, and the mass graves It left.
Innocence lost.
Man to Beast.


July 28.

It is nearing.

[StarCat]

My grandfather served in WWI. My great-uncle Patrick died in France in WWI. Not in combat, he was hit by a train. In Hanna, WY a small monument stands near the high school. The plaque on the monument lists the names of the men from Hanna who fought in "The World War." The monument makers didn't imagine that another one would be fought. Uncle Pat's name has a star next to it. The list of names is quite an eclectic ethnic mix. Families who followed the Union Pacific Coal Company in an effort to make a better future for their children. The company owned the houses they lived in, the clothes they wore, even the food they ate. Everything was bought on credit from the company store. They owed their souls to it.

Cat