A Simple Question

[Slack lines]

Have you got a poppy?

 

 

Today is Remembrance Day, and I wear mine with PRIDE

 

 

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the Armistice, on 11th November 1918, to signal the end of World War One.

 

At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years continuous warfare.

[Clifftop]

Didnt have a poppy but i did remember.

[DavyR]

Didnt have a poppy but i did remember.

 

Wait for it, you 'orrible little man - it ain't the 11th until tomorrow! (That was supposed to be said in a typical British Army Sar'nt Major voice, btw).

 

Did anybody else notice that risible effort by a Christian fringe group to claim that the red poppy was "unChristian" and that we should be wearing white ones instead?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6131464.stm

[Slack lines]

In Memoriam

 

 

(To Private D Sutherland killed in action

in the German trenches, 16 May 1916,

and the others who died.)

 

So you were David's father,

And he was your only son,

And the new-cut peats are rotting

And the work is left undone,

Because of an old man weeping,

Just an old man in pain,

For David, his son David,

That will not come again.

 

 

Oh, the letters he wrote you,

And I can see them still,

Not a word of the fighting,

But just the sheep on the hill

And how you should get the crops in

Ere the year get stormier,

And the Bosches have got his body,

And I was his officer.

 

 

You were only David's father,

But I had fifty sons

When we went up in the evening

Under the arch of the guns,

And we came back at twilight -

O God! I heard them call

To me for help and pity

That could not help at all.

 

 

Oh, never will I forget you,

My men that trusted me,

More my sons than your fathers',

For they could only see

The little helpless babies

And the young men in their pride.

They could not see you dying,

And hold you while you died.

 

 

Happy and young and gallant,

They saw their first-born go,

But not the strong limbs broken

And the beautiful men brought low,

The piteous writhing bodies,

They screamed 'Don't leave me, sir',

For they were only your fathers

But I was your officer.

 

 

 

Ewart Alan Mackintosh (killed in action

21 November 1917 aged 24

[Orca]

beautiful poem slack lines, makes you glad you bought your poppy and remembered.

[Clifftop]

Wait for it, you 'orrible little man - it ain't the 11th until tomorrow! (That was supposed to be said in a typical British Army Sar'nt Major voice, btw).

 

Did anybody else notice that risible effort by a Christian fringe group to claim that the red poppy was "unChristian" and that we should be wearing white ones instead?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6131464.stm

 

 

Yes Sir Sar'nt Major but begging your leave Sir it was the 11th here Sir

[Newt]

Called Veteran's Day over here but celebrated in a very similar fashion.

[Huge_Vitae]

This one allways makes me thoughtful........

 

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,

HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF

PLASTER AND STONE.

 

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY

WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO

IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

 

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,

A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,

NOT EVEN A TREE.

 

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES

OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

 

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,

AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT

CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

 

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

 

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,

SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR

IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

 

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED

A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

 

WAS THIS THE HERO

OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,

THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

 

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES

THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

 

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE

A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

 

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM

EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

 

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER

HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE

IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

 

THE VERY THOUGHT

BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES

AND STARTED TO CRY.

 

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

"SANTA DON'T CRY,

THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

 

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,

I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD,

MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

 

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,

I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

 

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

SO SILENT AND STILL

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

 

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR

SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

 

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

 

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

 

I appreciate it is aimed at the USA but I think we can all think about it this was. I lost a Friend at Warren Point. He was killed instantly. I see his Mother and Father quite often and always appreciate what it says in An Ancient Greek Proverb, translates roughly to; "The Greatest curse of the Gods' is for a Parent to survive it's offspring."

 

I also have a friend who lost his legs in the Falklands War (24 years now) I sometimes think we could do more for him.

[DavyR]

Yes Sir Sar'nt Major but begging your leave Sir it was the 11th here Sir

 

It was here, too - I think I just failed the first test question on the dementia questionnaire. Now if I could only remember the name of the Prime Minister....

[waterman1013]

The nation remembered and every night in London 1000 ex-servicemen sleep rough. Wearing the red poppy helps to bring them some relief. It is a shame on Government and the MOD that so little is now done for guys who served their country in time of need.