Warriors Lament

[helicom6]

We are too old for war. And Old men should stop war.

The Duke...

Not to put us out of jobs. Would love too see different for our children.

Robert

[Q]

Can't seem to delete this.

[helicom6]

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men may stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 41:30-31

Sorry, the Duke quote was not good. Delete at will!!

Hope this is of better service. It is for me when I am climbing in the mountains and training.

[PeteyMcPete]

I dont know if you guys have heard this but its the ANZAC creed and part is quoted at each ANZAC day ceremony.

For those to lazy to read the whole thing the quoted part is the 3rd and 4th stanza. Oh, and Q great work on those Laments im going to throw them up for inspiration.
Thanks again.

FOR THE FALLEN

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children
England mourns for her dead across the sea,
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again,
They sit no more at familiar tables of home,
They have no lot in our labour of the daytime,
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires and hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the night.

As the stars shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are stary in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Author: Laurence Binyon (so people dont think i wrote it).

A particularly moving song is "I was only 19" by Redgum is basically an account of the vietnamese war from the ground.
Well worth a check out if you can get your hands on it. Dont get the version by the herd unless you want a bunch of shockingly done rap inbetween the good parts.

Im sure half of you dont care, but its worth a look anyway.
Thanks.

[Q]

This is good stuff. We keep this up and one of you guys that can write might want to publish!!!!??? Petey....excellent. And I wasn't trying to delete your stuff Bob. I had written a rather drunken poem on extraction and when I sobered up I decided to delete it. Damn Mexican brews will do it to you every time. But I love' em. "Q".

[LibraryLady]

Q,

I think this is the song to which you refer. A Soldier's Silent Night

The site is incorrect on the origins of the poem, though. It was written by a Marine in 1986. The song is the soldier's version and there is also a sailor's version circulating. Snopes has the scoop on all the versions.

Thank you for putting your words out for all of us to see. I've a 62 yo 'Nam vet friend who's finally learning to do the same. I am in awe of you men and all that you do/have done and sacrificed along the way.

LL

[Q]

Yeah thats the one. I'm sorry that I may have misquoted or misstated. The essence was still there and it came from the heart. We remember those cold nights.....alone. We remember those hot nights.....alone. We remember the deadly nights .......alone. Not that we were by ourselves....just alone in fear. As it flashes past. And we continue to move.......move on to the next ........ and to the next....swallow hard....and the next.....and its over. For now. As I live for the next. We all live for the next.......for that is who we are....forever. "Q".

[Spartan12]

FreedoM isn't free.

In a dark, mysterious, and far-away land,
A soldier is fighting on his own....but not alone.
There are many others like him out there,
Protecting this country, protecting your home.

He is prepared to lay down his life,
For whatever the cause maybe.
He protects and honors for the principles of freedom,
Which allow you to become who ever you want to be.

He is often unappreciated,
And often misunderstood.
Very few can withstand the challenges he overcome,
Very few have....very few would.

A wise man once said,
"Nothing in life is free".
There has been a sacrifice for every dollar you have made,
And for every breath that you breathe.

Some will be torn from their families,
In order to protect yours.
Some will die and leave behind their family,
All because of another man's WAR.

Unfortunately blood will be shed,
And there is no way America can avoid it.
"Kill or be killed", a bold statement indeed, but....
That is the thought they are deployed with,
FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

Author Unknown.

[helicom6]

Originally Posted by Q

This is good stuff. We keep this up and one of you guys that can write might want to publish!!!!??? Petey....excellent. And I wasn't trying to delete your stuff Bob. I had written a rather drunken poem on extraction and when I sobered up I decided to delete it. Damn Mexican brews will do it to you every time. But I love' em. "Q".

Know the feeling Q....I usually get to write lat at night when the boys and wife are asleep and I can sit back and enjoy a bourbon or Tecate and limes!

Taking a few moments from working on my basement to relay this story....

I was stationed at Ft. Eustis, VA. in 2000...Took some weekend leave to check out the battlefields at Jamestown. Had a quick look around the museum and made my way out to the fields (killing fields?). I found a place in the middle of the embattlements and laid down in the grass...closed my eyes and listened.

The images of these men going to battle, the sounds of war, the smell of gunfire surrounded me. I realized after an undetermined amount of time that I had tears running down my face.

This was the moment that my decision to fight and protect this land we call free...America...had become more than I thought. It has been won by countless and unknown faces. Call it an epiphany or just my fate, but this would change and shape my heart forever.

I truly knew that I was a soldier and soldiering took on a whole new meaning.

This is my lament to those that have come before me and have given everything for the right to have a free Republic.

Courage and knowledge are nothing unless you are willing to share it with the world.

Adios

[Richard]

In Flanders Fields (WW1)
J McCrae, MD, CAN Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

[helicom6]

What do I thirst for?
maqettaH. DebDaq maqettaH ’ej bIQ manejtaH.
’Iwmaj pubtaH Hov.
bIQ vIjatlaH. So’lu’pu’ lan peghDaq,
’a pegh vISov.
bIQ nejwI’ ghaH may’wI’:
may’ teH ghaH may’wI’ tIqDaq.
teH Dunbej law’qu’ ’ach lutmey Dunlaw’ puS.
jImay’’eghtaHchugh,
jIchargh’eghtaH je.
Qapla’! We run. Through the desert we run, and look for water.
The sun boils our blood.
I can taste the water. It is hidden in a secret place,
but I know the secret.
Who seeks the water is a warrior:
the true battle is in the warrior’s heart.
Legends are said to be great, but truth is greater indeed.
If I am battling myself,
I am conquering too.
Success!

boqwIj ’oH Hal boqmaj.
Sov’eghbogh HoS,
’ej tammoH Qo’bogh tun.
DaH pungbe’ ’Iw chuS QoywIjDaq
yuv tammoH ’ej chuSDaq jIQoy.
tujtaHbogh SuS ’ej tomtaHbogh qemtaH jev,
’ej jI’ojtaH. bIQ vIneQtaHbogh ’oH ’Iw.
yIn Hegh je SuvDaq jIlegh’egh.
may’ rInbe’qu’.
’oH wIjeylaHbe’bogh maSuvtaH.
boqvamDaq che’bejtaH roj,
’ej veSmaj maSuvbejtaH poHpu’ poHDaq.
Qapla’! My alliance is the source of our alliance.
There is strength in knowing oneself,
and softness in refusing the silence.
Now silence pushes unrelenting
against the rush of blood in my ears
and in the roar I hear it.
The storm brings a wind which is hot and quiet,
and I thirst. The water I want is blood.
In life and death’s struggle I see myself:
The battle is unending.
We fight the undefeatable.
In this alliance peace will reign,
and our war will go on forever.
Success!
Michael Everson
Los Angeles, 1988-04-04

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

Originally Posted by Q

We keep this up and one of you guys that can write might want to publish!!!!???

Okay, Sir! I have been on a "mini-vacation" for a month here, so when I am starting to get back in physical shape or still find fitting words, I will write something. Right now I am leaning back and taking pleasure in the little things, in family and of having few projects on my hands.
Also taking time to pick subject, as I told you I do not want to speak too strongly about things that I may feel, but may not be equally well supported by experience or knowledge.

However, from the e-mail sent to you:

It Takes Courage, by Nick Cavallaro*

It takes courage
To be the parents of a promising lad,
The pride and hope of his mother and dad.
To sacrifice him with a brave farewell,
To suffer the pangs of a warring hell.

It takes courage
To leave the home he loves so well
To face the battle shot and shell.
With bullets flying 'round his head'
And about his feet the dying and dead.

It takes courage
To answer the call for a new recruit
To jump from a plane with a parachute,
He sweats it out to the cannon sound,
While the enemy awaits him on the ground

It takes courage
To fly a plane and high in the sky,
To fight to victory, or fail and die.
To pilot a ship to the depths of the sea,
And do it all just for you and me.

It takes courage
For the bravest and the best who go to the front,
To lay down their lives, to bear the brunt,
To be poisoned with gas, to tread the pike,
with others at home on a sit down strike

It takes courage
Friends, when we salute the American Flag
We are not just saluting a beautiful rag,
For she unfurls, on her towering mast
There's courage of the future and courage of the past.

Now the privilige yours, the duty mine,
To show our courage behind the lines,
To give, to work, to preach, to pray,
until God grants Old Glory a peaceful day.

Then this world will be a paradise,
and we'll reap the reward of sacrifice,
For Christ shall be known as prince of peace
When this hell on earth, these wars shall cease.

*Nick Cavallaro, Anmoore, WV. Original member of 82nd Abn. Fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, Holland, and was killed in Belgium, January 3, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge. (as printed in the Clarksburg Exponent/Telegram, Clarksburg, WV., 11 Nov 2000)

[airbornediver]

extremely well written and touching writings that are in this thread.

over here, they're helpful in understanding things.


thanks.

[Diablo]

Thanks "Q" for starting a gret thread. The statement re: type A and our unrelenting silence is not missed on us, but the words here convey meanings we may not speak of, but do understand.

[MolonLabe]

Grim and tattered, pissed stained and blood spattered

Marching on to the beat of the drum, the hum, of off shore guns

No one can mistake the fire and ache as anything less then from the lives they must take

Marching on to the beat of the drum, the hum, of off shore guns

Not just the breath and blood of the enemy is spilled from the chest,

Propaganda from the inky black sky, to far flung lands,

Catching another young mans eyes, he will clench it and claim it as his own,

Until it's stolen, far far from his home.

Marching on to the beat of the drum, the hum, of off shore guns