WWA Info Exchange

wish all of our members here happy Veterans Day !!!!


Thank you all for your service !!!


Skyrider

Yes, a big thank you for your sacrifices so that our nation can remain free.

THANKS

Verna

No doubt, THANK YOU all--past and present.

I'm sorry but Veterans day, to me, is not a happy occasion. A day of remembrance, yes. A day to contemplate sacrifice and patriotism, yes. But not a happy day.

Note: There are some words that the censorbot changed in the following. I hope that did not impede understanding.

THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY
by Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

Through the travail of the ages,
Midst the pomp and toil of war,
Have I fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star.

In the form of many people
In all panoplies of time
Have I seen the luring vision
Of the Victory Maid, sublime.

I have battled for fresh mammoth,
I have warred for pastures new,
I have listed to the whispers
When the race trek instinct grew.

I have known the call to battle
In each changeless changing shape
From the high souled voice of conscience
To the beastly lust for tape.

I have sinned and I have suffered,
Played the hero and the knave;
Fought for belly, shame, or country,
And for each have found a grave.

I cannot name my battles
For the visions are not clear,
Yet, I see the twisted faces
And I feel the rending spear.

Perhaps I stabbed our Savior
In His sacred helpless side.
Yet, I've called His name in blessing
When after times I died.

In the dimness of the shadows
Where we hairy heathens warred,
I can taste in thought the lifeblood;
We used teeth before the sword.

While in later clearer vision
I can sense the coppery sweat,
Feel the pikes grow wet and slippery
When our Phalanx, Cyrus met.

Hear the rattle of the harness
Where the Persian darts bounced clear,
See their chariots wheel in panic
From the Hoplite's leveled spear.

See the goal grow monthly longer,
Reaching for the walls of Tyre.
Hear the crash of tons of granite,
Smell the quenchless eastern fire.

Still more clearly as a Roman,
Can I see the Legion close,
As our third rank moved in forward
And the short sword found our foes.

Once again I feel the anguish
Of that blistering treeless plain
When the Parthian showered death bolts,
And our discipline was in vain.

I remember all the suffering
Of those arrows in my neck.
Yet, I stabbed a grinning savage
As I died upon my back.

Once again I smell the heat sparks
When my Flemish plate gave way
And the lance ripped through my entrails
As on Crecy's field I lay.

In the windless, blinding stillness
Of the glittering tropic sea
I can see the bubbles rising
Where we set the captives free.

Midst the spume of half a tempest
I have heard the bulwarks go
When the crashing, point blank round shot
Sent destruction to our foe.

I have fought with gun and cutlass
On the red and slippery deck
With all heqq aflame within me
And a rope around my neck.

And still later as a General
Have I galloped with Murat
When we laughed at death and numbers
Trusting in the Emperor's Star.

Till at last our star faded,
And we shouted to our doom
Where the sunken road of Ohein
Closed us in it's quivering gloom.

So but now with Tanks a'clatter
Have I waddled on the foe
Belching death at twenty paces,
By the star shell's ghastly glow.

So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, but always me.

And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings
It was through His will I fought.

So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.

_________________
I bring to life, I bring to death:
The spirit does but mean the breath:
I know no more. (Tennyson, In Memoriam)

Thank you to all the Vets.

Take care,
Carlos

_________________
Be Happy!

On this Rememberance Day/Veterans Day, I'd like to share a couple of other poems I've found and loved over the years. The firs is by Maj. Michael O'Donnell 1/1/70 Penned when he was in Dak To RVN.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.


Another I'd read years ago, and just came across it again today. Not sure who wrote it, but I think it was an Aussie Soldier from WW II.

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the RSL,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his mates listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife..
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It's so easy to forget them,
For it is so many times
That our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,
Went to battle, but we know,

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days..

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."


My deepest respects and thanks to all who've served and sacrificed.

_________________
Frank
WWACOAUX#1
"I love the smell of Sawdust in the morning, it smells like, victory."
WWA'ers I've met: Popeye, Ed Avery, Stephen Wolf, Rockfish, Rodedon

Gene, Frank, and to all the veterans here and over there.......

I sincerely apologize if I offended you by wishing you a "happy" day.....

I certainly did not mean it it that way. I just wanted to thank you for your service and let you know that I was thinking of you.

You've both said it better than I ever could with your poems.....

Skyrider

The HyVee grocery store deli offered free breakfast to all vets today from about 7-11. I got there about 10:30 to grocery shop, boy, did they have a bunch in there.

Mostly WWII vets proudly wearing Amvet, Legion, and various other military hats etc.

They were playing all patriotic music over the loud speakers.

The biggest smile I got the whole day was when I was leaving pushing my cart, I waited for an eldery couple, she had a walker, and he was behind her with his cane, making sure that the automatic door didn't close on her. After he got her safely thru, he motioned for me to go, I said no, go ahead I'm not in a hurry, what a great gentleman.

Thank you all for your service.

Our anniversary is today, good way to remember it!

Vicki

_________________
Whoever said nothing is impossible, never tried slamming a revolving door....

No apology is needed, I wasn't offended. It just seems a little incongruous to me. I don't know of any other word(s) could be used, perhaps there are none, so rest easy.

_________________
I bring to life, I bring to death:
The spirit does but mean the breath:
I know no more. (Tennyson, In Memoriam)

Same here Sky. No worries, and believe me when I say that you weren't the first one to wish a Happy Vets day, and I know you won't be the last.

It's probably because here in the US we call it Veterans Day, and it's more centered around honoring the Vets for their service, and less about honoring their sacrifice. It seems that this has also led to most Americans forgetting that this was initially set as an international day of mourning, or rememberance for all of those who'd made that ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom, during The Great War as it was called at the time.

However, any time that we as a people can come together in celebration of our freedom, and thanks to those who've paid for it, can be a happy day. We just have to remember to temper our celebration with the honor and respect due those who've paid the ultimate price for that freedom.

_________________
Frank
WWACOAUX#1
"I love the smell of Sawdust in the morning, it smells like, victory."
WWA'ers I've met: Popeye, Ed Avery, Stephen Wolf, Rockfish, Rodedon