Veterans/Remembrance Day

Thank you.

I've got my flag ready to fly in the morning and I'll be taking Danny along with grandparents to the cemetery to place flags and flowers and watch our local vets present the colors and do a 21 gun salute.

Danny is excited - he remembers last year and Memorial Day.

steph

It's Rememberance Day here today.

LEST WE FORGET.

Thank you, Elvish. I am glad to see I'm not alone in appreciating that sad poem of Wilfred Owen's. To this day that phrase "dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori" reminds me of the horrors of war: although they have changed; they are still there. Thank your brother for me too........ (I'll say a prayer for him tonight).

And Grace, that was another movie with an Australian theme I didn't mention the other night; "Gallipoli". Another depiction of the horror and cost of war. Give your son my thanks as well.

Some of my favorite war themed poems are Barbara Frietchie and Charge of the Light Brigade; but the poem I'll include here is from a WWI soldier who gave that "last full measure" for others. Thank you to all who have served and sacrificed in service to their countries.

"TREES"

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.


By Joyce Kilmer.

Thanks to ALL our Veterans, as it is for THEM that we enjoy our Freedom today! and God bless the USA!

Thank you Veterans.

The Things That Make A Soldier Great
Edgar Guest

The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,
To face the flaming cannon's mouth nor ever question why,
Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,
The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,
The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:
'Tis these that make a soldier great.
He's fighting for them all.

'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;
'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;
For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam.
As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.
Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run,
You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.
What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?

The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,
The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,
Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.
The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome.
But to the spot where'er it be - the humblest spot called home.
And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there.
And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;
The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,
And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.

He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,
And only death can stop him now - he's fighting for them all.

leslie (*salutes*)

Here's a prayer I found in one of my devotionals that seems fitting for this day:

Dear God, I pray to give all of our soldiers the courage and strength to do the duty that is required of them. May they always remember our appreciation for the sacrifice they are making for us. We are thankful for the men and women who are willing to risk their lives to protect our freedom. I ask you to go with each one of them and protect them wherever they go. Amen.

Thank you, Leslie. I'd never read that beautiful poem of Edgar Guest's. I was only familiar with his poem "It Couldn't Be Done", which is a favorite of mine.

Please remember hospitalized veterans today.