Lest We Forget

[GordMay]

Silence @ £1.00

At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the Two Minute Silence is observed on Armistice/Rememberance Day, the day which marks the end of the First World War.

For this year's Poppy Appeal, The Royal British Legion has released a single into the UK charts. All of the proceeds from the single will go towards furthering our work in supporting serving and ex-Service personnel and their families.
Purchase your copy now at Silent Single or from iTunes.

The Legion has also produced a Two Minute Silence DVD for use over the Remembrance period. It features The Last Post played over a selection of Remembrance images, followed by 2 minutes of silence for reflection and concludes with The Reveille.

More ➥ Two Minute Silence - The Royal British Legion

[High Heels]

Thank you GordMay...Reposted on my facebook page...

[Tellie]

Thanks Gord. Lest we forget indeed.

[MarkJ]

The photos below from ANZAC Day in April this year in Galipoli, Turkey site of the First World war battles.

The poppies grow wild and look, as the soldiers noted, like little splashes of blood...

[zopi]

Sorry for the al caps... 's the way is came.

NOW...LISTEN TO THE MESSAGE IT BRINGS YOU. AS OLD GLORY SPEAKS
I AM THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I WAS CONCEIVED IN THE DREAMS OF LIBERTY AND IN THE HOPES OF FREEDOM. THOUGH I WAS NEVER AN ORPHAN. I WAS ADOPTED BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IN 1777 AND PROCLAIMED THE NATIONAL EMBLEM OF A NATION NEWLY BORN ON THIS CONTINENT, FIGHTING VALIANTLY FOR SURVIVAL AND DESTINED TO BRING TO ALL MANKIND A NEW CONCEPT OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

I HAVE BEEN MANY PLACES AND WITNESSED MANY EVENTS IN OUR AMERICAN HISTORY. I WAS THERE WHEN THEY FIRED THE SHOT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD, AND WHEN GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON BECAME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, I WAS THERE IN THE LATE TWILIGHT AT FORT McHENRY AND INSPIRED FRANCIS SCOTT KEY TO WRITE "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER".

I SAW MOLLY PITCHER TAKE THE CANNON SWAB FROM THE HANDS OF HER DEAD HUSBAND AND HELP CARRY ON THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM: I FELT THE BITING COLD AT VALLEY FORGE AND GAVE COMFORT TO THE TIRED AND HUNGRY CONTINENTAL ARMY: I RODE WITH ETHAN ALLEN AND THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS AND SAW THE SIGNAL THAT STARTED THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF PAUL REVERE.

I WAS FLOWN ABOVE THE DECKS OF OLD "IRONSIDE", AND THE MASTS OF THE "YANKEE" AND THE "CHINA CLIPPERS"; I BLAZED THE TRAIL WEST WITH DANIEL BOONE AND DAVEY CROCKET AND STOOD BESIDE THEM AT THE ALAMO.

I WAS CARRIED THROUGH THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA AND THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI; I FELL TO THE GROUND AT CUSTER'S LAST STAND AND THERE WERE NO FRIENDLY HANDS LEFT TO PICK ME UP. I GALLOPED UP THE SLOPES OF SAN JUAN HILL WITH TEDDY ROOSEVELT AND THE ROUGH RIDERS: I STAYED WITH THE BOYS UNTIL IT WAS OVER, OVER THERE, AND WAS WITH THEM ON BATTLEFIELDS OF THE MARNE, CHATEAU-THIERRY, ST. MIHIEL AND THE ARGONNE FOREST. I SAW MANY OF THE YOUTHS AND MANHOOD OF OUR NATION FALL AND LIE STILL IN DEATH. THEY HAD-GIVEN THEIR LAST FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION. THE WAR WAS OVER FOR THEM FOREVER, BUT I HAVE KEPT MY LONELY VIGIL OVER THEIR GRAVES AND HAVE STAYED TO WATCH THE POPPIES GROW AMID THE CROSSES, ROW ON ROW, IN FLANDERS FIELD.



I WAS RAISED BY FIVE BRAVE MEN DURING THE "HELL" OF Iwo-Jima. I WAVED FAREWELL TO THE FOUR IMMORTAL CHAPLAINS WHO WENT DOWN ON THEIR SHIP TO HONORED GLORY. I PROUDLY WAVED OVER OUR TROOPS FIGHTING TO KEEP THE PEACE IN KOREA AND THE JUNGLES OF SOUTHEAST ASIA. I HAVE BEEN CARRIED TO THE SOUTH POLE, THE NORTH POLE AND THE MOON.

THEIR PURITY IS REMEMBERED IN MY WHITE STRIPES;

THEIR BLOOD HAS GIVEN ME STRIPES OF RED;

THEIR SOULS ARE CRADLED IN MY STARS;

AND THEIR COURAGE EMBEDDED IN MY BLUE.

I AM MANY THINGS TO MANY PEOPLE, I AM AN INSEPARABLE LINK IN THE CHAIN THAT BINDS MEN TO GOD AND COUNTRY. I AM THE, "RED, WHITE AND BLUE", "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER", "THE STARS AND STRIPES", BUT I AM MOST COMMONLY KNOWN BY A NICKNAME GIVEN ME BY A SEA CAPTAIN, WHO CALLED ME-"OLD GLORY".

AT THIS MOMENT, WHILE I FLY AT PEACE IN TURBULENT TIMES, MEN AND WOMEN FROM AROUND THE WORLD ARE STILL STRIVING TO REACH MY SHORES, TO TOUCH AND STAND BESIDE ME, A SYMBOL OF LIBERTY, A LIGHT OF HUMANITY; AN EMBLEM OF MAN'S FAITH:

A BEACON SHINING INTO THE DARKNESS;

AND HERE I WILL ALWAYS BE, FOR I AM THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER...

.......I AM OLD GLORY : :

( From speech by COL. HAROLD SHEAR, copyrighted by National Sojourners Inc.),

[jmo64]

Hear....Hear

[hummingway]

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.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
3 May 1915

[David M]

I have been watching a series on the History Channel about WW2, in color. It's excellent.

Watching this series makes me appreciate even more our veterans of past and present. Without our veterans of past, we might possibility have been slaves today had we lost WW2.

Without our soldiers of present, we could lose the freedoms we sometimes take for granted.

Freedom is never free.

[Lodesman]

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

- Charles Province

[Cormorant]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The photos below from ANZAC Day in April this year in Galipoli, Turkey site of the First World war battles.

I visited Gallipoli back in the 1980s, in my post-college hitchhiking days. (As a runner, I was a big fan of the Peter Weir film.) I took a swim at the beach there, and in any handful you grabbed up from the bottom was a batch of rusty shrapnel. It was so thick, even after 70 years of sitting and rusting away, that it literally covered the bottom. Makes you imagine the hell of battle, all those deadly metal shards flying around, and what those young men faced.

Us peace-living, peace-loving civilians probably can't ever imagine it completely. Very grateful for all who made the sacrifice, in all the wars that got us to where we are today. Now, if we could just figure out how not to have any more. . . .

[swagman]

We all owe them.
I sometimes think this should replace our current Aussie National Anthem.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VktJNNKm3B0

JOHN

[boatman61]

I salute my father, his comrades and brothers in arms.... past, present and future

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57Rj-wODHNQ

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Cormorant

... Us peace-living, peace-loving civilians probably can't ever imagine it completely. Very grateful for all who made the sacrifice, in all the wars that got us to where we are today. Now, if we could just figure out how not to have any more. . . .

I wouldn't blame our current state of affairs on the veterans (especially the casualties) of previous wars.


When I posted the link to the Royal British Legion's 2 min of silence for £1.00, I was undecided as to whether such a thing was an creative fund-raising idea for a worthy cause, or trivialized remembrance day.
I'm still undecided.

[swagman]

Gord,
I do not think anything could trivialise the event.
And for sure every £1 that can be raised so this charity can help servicemen all helps (in a very small way) towards what we owe these guys.
Cheers
JOHN

[MichaelC]

GordMay - I don't think that Cormorant was blaming wars or current state of affairs on veterans. I often encounter the confusion between working for peace and belittling vets. I am a vet and I work for peace [Veterans for Peace]. I am a strong supporter of our vets, our soldiers [my son is in the Navy] and a strong military, without which we all better learn ... some other language ... My immediate family of 6 brothers, ten nephews and two nieces have given over 80 years of service to this [USA] country. My son's service will bring it close to 90. But I am very critical of what our government does, misusing our military. And I do so wish, as do many other vets, that no young man should ever have to go to war. We who have carried arms [or subjected ourselves to same] in service to our countries [USA, Canada, Australia, etc] appreciate the honor our nations do us on this day.