The Cellar - For Memorial Day..the World Over

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For Memorial Day..the World Over

Wilfred Owen

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Owen Seaman's "Pro Patria"

Is that what you are celebrating this weekend?

Yep, it is tomorrow.

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother

:us: :thankyou:

Sorry if the word "celebrating" was out of place - I was genuinely ignorant of the fact. We have ours in November - a most sombre month.

A Larkin poem for you. It may too specifically English and specifically WWI (written after WWII) to resonate, but I read it every Remembrance Day and it moves me to tears every time.

MCMXIV
Those long uneven lines
Standing as patiently
As if they were stretched outside
The Oval or Villa Park,
The crowns of hats, the sun
On moustached archaic faces
Grinning as if it were all
An August Bank Holiday lark;

And the shut shops, the bleached
Established names on the sunblinds,
The farthings and sovereigns,
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day--

And the countryside not caring:
The place names all hazed over
With flowering grasses, and fields
Shadowing Domesday lines
Under wheat's restless silence;
The differently-dressed servants
With tiny rooms in huge houses,
The dust behind limousines;

Never such innocence,
Never before or since,
As changed itself to past
Without a word--the men
Leaving the gardens tidy,
The thousands of marriages,
Lasting a little while longer:
Never such innocence again.

Philip Larkin (1922-1985)

For many, it's a day to decorate with red, white and blue, have a parade and open the outdoor pool. And it becomes OK to wear white again ;) And all the stores have a sale. That lasts for two weeks, when it's time for the father's day sales...

Nov 11th is Veterans Day here, but not so widely "celebrated" because everyone's all gung-ho into Thanksgiving by then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl (Post 456866)

Sorry if the word "celebrating" was out of place - I was genuinely ignorant of the fact.

No, no, celebrate is right. We celebrate their heroism, their dedication, their accomplishments and their sacrifice.

Here's another way to honor them, on a more personal level.

http://americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/VALLEY2.GIF

In 1777:

Quote:

A week before Christmas '77 Washington's army took up winter quarters at Valley Forge on the west side of the Schuylkill. Although the General's choice of location was sharply criticized, the site he had selected was central and easily defended. Then came a cruel race with time to get huts erected before the soldiers, barefoot and half naked, froze to death. Hundreds of horses did in fact starve to death, and for the army starvation was a mortal danger. "No meat, no meat!" was the constant wail. Improvements came about after Nathanael Greene assumed the duties of Quartermaster General on March 23rd. Yet, despite the ever-present fear of mutiny, no real dissaffection occurred. As Hessian Major Baurmeister conceded, the army was kept from disintegrating by the "spirit of liberty." Men and officers accepted their tragic plight with a sense of humor and extraordinary forbearance, but it was an ordeal that no army could be expected to undergo for long. Nathanael Greene wrote to General Washington, "God grant we may never be brought to such a wretched condition again."
-The Spirit of 'Seventy Six

know this history. realize what George Washington and Nathaniel Greene and Sam and John Adams, and Ben Franklin, and all the rest did in those years. recognize that we (not just Americans) would be much worse off, but for their efforts and sacrifices.

Thank you, old dead guys!

And thank you young dead guys also.

Their families shouldn't have to morn alone.

http://productshopnyc.com/htdocs/sol...q_war_2007.jpg

and that's really nothing compared to the Iraq war pictures available for viewing. They are quite disturbing in the way of the troops and the Iraq civilians.