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USA - On this Memorial Day

Thanks for that, Anne - very nice indeed

And yes - I've been to The Wall

:salute:
 
They shall not grow 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.
 
Great post Anne.  As others have done, I have been to the Wall as well and it is very moving to say the least.  There's a great book called "Offerings at the wall" which has pictures of many of the items left at the wall by visitors.  It is an extremely emotional read and well worth having in one's collection.  The National Park Service actually collect, catagorize and preserve all the items left at the wall.

As for Memorial Day, last night I attended the National Memorial Day cocert held on the west lawn of the Capitol Building.  It was a great concert and there were thousands of people in attendance.  I had watched the telecast on PBS for years and only this year was I able to attend.  Worth going if anyone is in DC for Memorial Day.  Great pageantry.

Thanks for that great re-run of that poem paracowboy.

Semper Fi

PJ D-Dog
 
Anne I did not forget your fallen and never do.

Why? You ask,because we have Nov. 11th,you have Memorial Day which is a 180 of how we remember and I always like to see how you remember as it differs year to year from State to State.
The only given is the President laying the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

We have a lot in commen when it comes to Conflict,many a Canadian served in Viet Nam,survived and died.
We Canadians remember your and our loss this Memorial Day. :cdn: :salute:





 
The first verse is well known, the following two are often forgotten (especially the third, my bold text):

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 muffled drums sad roll has beat
                        The soldier's last Tattoo;
                    No more on life's parade shall meet
                        That brave and fallen few.
                    On fame's eternal camping ground
                        Their silent tents are spread,
                    But glory guards, with solumn round,
                        The bivouac of the dead.

                  by Theodore O'Hara 1847
 
Acorn said:
The first verse is well known, the following two are often forgotten (especially the third, my bold text):

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.
not to hi-jack, but you've got your poems confused. I posted a verse from For The Fallen. You've posted verses from In Flander's Fields.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

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.

-- Lt Col John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall not grow 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.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
- Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943)
 
I know what you posted. I didn't intend to suggest In Flanders' Fields was what you'd posted, only to observe that the verses of IFF beyond the first are usually forgotten, especially the third verse.

I can see how it might be seen differently than my intent.

Acorn
 
Anne:

Thanks for the link.  I've visited the wall on many on occasion over the last 15 years.  It is a monument that envokes an emotional response from all.

I pray that my wife's cousin's husband, who is currently a SAW gunner in Iraq, doesn't get his name added to a future wall (hopefully all can come home safe).

FDL  :cdn:
 
PJ D-Dog said:
Great post Anne.   As others have done, I have been to the Wall as well and it is very moving to say the least.   There's a great book called "Offerings at the wall" which has pictures of many of the items left at the wall by visitors.   It is an extremely emotional read and well worth having in one's collection.   The National Park Service actually collect, catagorize and preserve all the items left at the wall.

As for Memorial Day, last night I attended the National Memorial Day cocert held on the west lawn of the Capitol Building.   It was a great concert and there were thousands of people in attendance.   I had watched the telecast on PBS for years and only this year was I able to attend.   Worth going if anyone is in DC for Memorial Day.   Great pageantry.

Thanks for that great re-run of that poem paracowboy.

Semper Fi

PJ D-Dog

Thank you PJ,

I was last at The Wall  in 2001.  I had the honor and privilege of going back late at night with a member of the Corps and we stood there, in silence, with his names.. (1/1/1).

and it was truly an honor and a privilege.  A sacrament of a kind.  Never forgotten.

Regards,

Anne
:salute: :cdn:

 
On July 15, 2005 PBS USA will screen a film biography on the career of famous Hollywood Director
George Stevens ("Shane" - "Giant"  "Diary of Anne Frank") During World War II George Stevens
was the Commanding Officer of the US Army's First Motion Picture Unit (1 MOPEC) which landed
in Europe shortly after D-Day, and accompanied many US Army Units through Normandy, the
Liberation of Paris, and the liberation of the notorious concentration camp, Dachau, in Bavaria
near Munich. Dachau was liberated by the 45th Infantry Division, one of General Patton's originals
from Africa, and all the way from France to Germany - a first rate fighting division. When the
troops from the 45th liberated Dachau, the front line soldiers were shocked and appalled by
what they saw, and decided, on the spot to execute all the SS "waiting to surrender" - which
they did - much of the action was filmed by Col Stevens Film Unit who were there on that fateful
day. There were complaints, which resulted in an investigation, which by the end of the War in
Europe some weeks later, were presented to General George S. Patton - who promptly threw
the complaints in his waste basket for destruction. But some photographs survived, and were
featured in a colorful documentry on Director Stevens by his son. Stevens applauded the US troops
none of whom had ever seen a concentration camp, or were aware that they existed. One of the
US soldiers who served in Col Stevens Unit was author Erwin Shaw, who wrote "The Young Lions"
- the final scenes from that famous World War II film were based on what Shaw saw at Dachau. MacLeod
 
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