"THOSE WHO SERVE: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE" Topic

NOVEMBER 11TH is about to roll around again, and it seems like when it does a lot of folks, more each year, forget exactly what it is we are celebrating.

it goes beyond the end of THE GREAT WAR, actually, and serves as a reminder to all of us who are safe at home with loved ones and friends, that somewhere, a "soldier" (airman, sailor, marine, or coast guard) is serving in some place far from home to keep us all safe. and that this same "soldier" serves US, assuring our freedoms and safety, willing surrenders his/her own freedoms, time with loved ones and friends, at great personal risk to life and limb. they stand between US and the WOLVES of the world, loyal unto death, overlooked, sometimes slighted by fellow citizens and even the government.

this is how we pay our respects to them, who ever they are, where ever they are, regardless of the uniform they wear, arm or corps of service, these men and women are our best, they are "our soldiers"!

let us never forget them or what it is that they do for us daily.

now i want to say something, a simple prayer, that i learned far from home during my war; i first heard it while waiting in the red dust beside a chopper strip, while preparing to make an air assault. it was written hundreds of years before then, and by a soldier from another country. it was relevant for me and mine, it is relevant today, and will always be relevant for those going in harm's way.

"OH LORD, THOU KNOWEST HOW BUSY I MUST BE THIS DAY. IF I FORGET THEE, DO NOT THOU FORGET ME."

THE SOLDIER'S PRAYER, written by SIR JACOB ASTLEY (1579-1652) during the ECW of the 17th Century.

DAWGIE

Amen

YouTube link
This seems very appropriate.

Saaaaaa-lute! Amen!

YouTube link

Here's one from Canada.

wrgmr1
Thankyou for that link

Yes … Amen to that brother … Great Prayer …

I'm taking my dad to Washington, D.C. to attend a gathering of WWII veterans that day. I'm hoping my kids will remember to put out the flag while I'm gone. Thanks for this post, Dawgie. And to GarnhamGhast and Wrgmr1, thanks for your links. And for more than that.

I think that with all the troubles in the world at the moment it makes the 11th Nov. as relevant today as it has in the past.

I'll remember them.

I will always remember and NEVER forget!!!! Thanks Mike Adams

OK. At the risk of becoming the most unpopular person on the board ever, I cant say I agree with all of Dawgies post.

I certainly dont believe that Armistice Day Remembrance (plus the Poppy, which has become in the UK something of a national fetish, suborned by people for their political ends )is to remember service personnel who "stand between US and the WOLVES of the world".

I personally think that this sort of sentiment plays into the hands of those who would politicise Remembrance Day, and use it as a means to protest against some of the current, and illegal, foreign wars that we are currently involved in.

When I wear my Poppy, or observe a silence, I am not recognising that any of the current conflicts we are involved in are legitimate, or genuinely do keep any wolves from the door. I would be upset if someone who saw me do this formulated that thought of my motivation.

Instead, I remember the service personnel themselves – and to that extent I agree with Dawgies sentiments.

I also offer up a prayer that one day they will not be needed anymore, or at the very least, their political masters wont use their lives so profligately and to no clear purpose (as opposed to murky parliamentary gain).

But Dawgie, I recognise that many good men and women, servicemen and civilians, died so we can speak freely about our opinions. So I salute yours, and know you will respect mine.

For clarities sake, The bleep covers up this word:

Sierra
Tango
India
Foxtrot
Lima
Echo

Computers do the funniest things.

Most Soldiers in Western Armies especially, don't really get involved in the politics … only in the survival of their comrades … then themselves …

pointyjavelin wrote:

OK. At the risk of becoming the most unpopular person on the board ever, I cant say I agree with all of Dawgies post.

It might be useful to recall that the 11th of November is marked for slightly different reasons on each side of the pond.

It's Veterans' Day in the US of A, and it is therefore entirely appropriate in that context to offer gratitude for both former and serving members of the Armed Forces (and as an aside it seems to me that Americans are in general much better at expressing their thanks to the Armed Forces than we are in the UK). I would suggest that it is also not inappropriate in that context to say what one is thanking the Armed Forces for, and that is, at bottom, protection from those in the world who would do you harm.

The equivalent day in the UK -- launched as "Veterans' Day", now re-branded as "Armed Forces Day" -- is an extremely recent innovation, with nothing like the same depth of resonance. The 11th of Novemeber for us means Remembrance Day, a rather different occasion, and one for which Dawgie's term "celebration" would be grotesque -- although it seems to me fine for Veterans' Day.

Remembrance Day in the UK is intended for exactly that, remembrance of the dead, and the Legion's poppy appeal provides assistance to those who still bear the scars of war.

I hope there is not going to be an argument about this. I enjoy a good argument as much as the next man, and probably rather more. But argument is not the right way to mark the 11th of November. Silence is.

"Stand in silence – just two minutes doesn't seem too much to give.
Stand in silence and remember that they gave their lives for you.
Stand in silence for the innocents who have lost the chance to live.
Stand in silence for a chance to start anew."

All the best,

John.

Here in the US, November 11 is a bittersweet day. We remember all our veterans on that day, both the dead and the living, so you do tend to have some events that are quiet and somber, and others more like an Irish wake. Memorial Day, in May, is a much more subdued event, dedicated to those that have sacrificed in the service of the country. "All gave some, but some gave all" is the quote of the day, but even then, how can you not enjoy what those sacrifices have allowed you to do? There's always some kind of party (helps that Memorial Day is often one of the first good days in summer).

Of course, a lot of people I know actually start their veteran's remembrance on Nov 10 (USMC Birthday), and carry it over onto the 11th.

I, however, have a more simple rule: Every formal meal, one of us offers a toast to absent companions. Those who are not with us now, and also those who have gone on ahead of us.

As long as the sun rises and sets, we shall remember them.