⌛ Lest We Forget

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you ?
Have you always turned the other cheek ?
To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well..
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'

Author Unknown.

To-day the 11 hour-11th day- 11TH Month 1918. formerly ending the WORLD WAR 1, To the commonwealth countries.

 

Thank You!

Thank you Jim! That is good to read again, I was in Hong Kong this morning, attending a Remembrance day service to honour those fallen heroes of that Tragic War. Whilst the cemetary is for the fallen of the 2nd WW this day is never forgotten by the comission.


Jack P.

 

A very touching poem, thank you. It is very unfortunate that Heaven is filled with so many young soldiers

 

........and will probably continue to have a stream of new applicants for as long as people in high office play at armchair generals. It is rare for nation to argue with nation. It is government that argues with government - and when governments argue, they call upon the sons and daughters of the nation to fight their squabbles for them.

In the UK this weekend, it is Remembrance Sunday, often referred to as "Poppy Day". It is always held on the nearest Sunday to November 11th, and the Flanders Poppy is worn as a symbol of respect. Throughout the country remembrance services are held, the largest of which is in central London. At 11 a.m. GMT (7 p.m. Philippines time) the nation falls silent for two minutes. This silent two minutes is a simple act of remembrance, of respect, of acknowledgement and to honour the memory of all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in times of conflict. It is not about victor and vanquished, or friend and foe; it is to honour the Fallen of all nations, regardless of race, nationality, colour or creed.

On Sunday morning I will be in central London and will march with thousands of other veterans along Whitehall to the Cenotaph. I will symbolically represent anyone else, veteran or not, regardles of nation, who wishes me to do so. There are 525,600 minutes in a year. To give just two of those is not too much to ask of the living - the Fallen gave so much more.

The Kohima Epitaph.

When you go home, tell them of us, and say
For your tomorrow, we gave our today.

 

Broadside, hear hear! In support of your views on gov't vs gov't, the Vietnam War resulted in the following opinion:

Winning & Losing:
82% of veterans who saw heavy combat strongly believe the war was lost because of a lack of political will. Nearly 75% of the general public (in 1993) agrees with that.

The gov't brings you into a war but then dictate constraints that prevent you from winning it, and are not held responsible for the deaths of the fighting men.

England had strong respectful allies, I am sure some will be with you to observe the 2 min. remembrance.
Peace on earth.

 

Ggwy!

Broadside! God go with you,

Jack P.

 

Yes sirs and maams , my old army buddies just loaded up face book photos from our days at the tomb of the unkown soldiers whom we rendered our highest honors to for they died in such a way that that left no face or name or even enough body to say any more than,they died and they were most likely of that nation and so they rsted named "unknown".

 

Good that these remembrances still exist.
Surely there will come a time that people will forget what sacrifices have been made by so many brave people and will end certain remembrance days.
I hope however that that will take many generations before happening.
It's soo good to realise that we are only still able to do what we can do all today BECAUSE all those who stood up to fight for their (so ours) freedom.
I was born just before WW II was ended.
I will NEVER forget what soldiers of many nations have done to liberate us from again a man who believed he was 'driven/choosen by a higher level' to make "a better world".
Purely driven by the power-feeling of "being able to control the world", becoming a kind of a God. We know them from many countries over the world.
Let's NEVER forget the ones who DID act for those living after them.
Broadside..... I salute you and all your brother/sister participants there.