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Memorial Day tribute in song — 16 Comments

1. Today the pastor asked those who knew someone who had died in service to the country to stand in their honor during prayer. There were a number who did.

2. This weekend I keep hoping against hope that all of these people who died for their country did not die in vain.

   Very nice poetry.

3. 
   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.
   

4. Thank you.

5. Thanks. From Kandahar, Afghanistan.

6. Neo: Since you are interested in Vietnam, today on his radio program, Michael Medved will rerun his oral history, “The Truth About Vietnam,” an excellent program which I heard a couple of years ago. He does his research well. The final hour or so about the fall of Saigon is riveting. It is worth a listen.

7. A short skirmish with my cousin. She was saying that in her town there wouldn’t be a memorial day parade because the local vets were all so old. She transitioned to a quickie speech to the effect that while she was anti-war, had done all the peace marches, she was for some form of national service. I said pshaw, emptying bed pans and reading fairy tales to idiots is isn’t national service, but coerced social work. Small change compared to fighting and dying for this country. For some reason she didn’t wish to pursue the subject.

8. Armchair pessimist

   Haven’t heard pshaw since reading Sherlock Holmes. Beautiful!!

9. and the norks celebrated with a bang…

10. Powerful stuff. No dry eyes here. Thanks.

11. My dad served on carriers and subs in the Pacific theater. My mom delivered messages in the same war. Armed with a military issue .45, I doubt many got in her way. My dad received many of those messages. That’s how my parents met.

    My dad never spoke to his kids about what he experienced in that war, although he and my mom spoke of it often. They would clam up when one of us came to the dining room table where they always sat and talked (daily) at night for hours on end. Mom told me a few things, after numerous inquiries over the years. Dad had a box of medals that my sister has. I am not sure what they all mean. It’s a big box.

    My parents are long gone. But I am here, in more ways than one, because of them and so many like them.

    I wish to thank all of you for yesterday, for today, and for tomorrow. The sacrifices made……. God willing, at the end of each day, we won’t let you down.

12. seems obama doesn know the difference between memorial day and veterans day…

13. My pop came out of California’s San Joaquin Valley and was shipped to Clark Field. Letters show that these kids were a cocky bunch before the bullets started flying.

    He escaped from the Bataan Death March, made his way back to Corrigador where McArthur held out for weeks (before fleeing).

    Pop was eventually captured and spent over 3 1/2 years at Cabanatuan. He suffered multiple diseases, which may have saved him from the hell ships to Japan and hard labor. He barely survived, recovering for over a year at Fitzsimmons in Denver.

    He died at age 54 in 1976 due to his poor health. All his siblings are alive and well, all 80 and older. He was in the middle agewise, but they all look up to him to this day.

    I have his mother’s letters that reached him through the Japanese Red Cross. They are simple letters from Parents who barely made it past 7-8th grade. But they clearly show his Mom’s worry.

    I’m amazed that I’m older than him now (at 55). My life has seen nothing like what he saw.

14. Great song.
    Very similar to a genre of Israeli songs…

    This is my feeble (shortened) translation of a famous one:

    We two are from the same old little town
    Both the same height, same cowlicks won’t stay down
    Same slang, same clothes, same jokes, same smiles and frowns
    We two are from the same old town

    We two pass through green fields our fathers sow
    Up to our necks the grain now overgrown
    Down in the square, we meet and hang around
    We two are from the same old town.

    And late on Friday night
    When winds whip up a fright
    Through clouds of black and blue
    Then I remember you.

    I see that day of neverending hell
    How you were broken, and then how you fell
    And when dawn came again without a sound
    I brought you back to our old town.

    And late on Friday night
    When winds whip up a fright
    Through clouds of black and blue
    Then I remember you.

    You see – we’re here again in our old town.
    Not much has changed here, same old sights and sounds
    I still pass through the fields like we did once
    And you’re right there within the fence.

15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oAgv3iQn3E

16. To Whom It Would Be of Interest,

    I wrote this song to pay tribute to All Veterans and

    would be honored if you choose to post it on your Patriotic

    Web Site. I thank you and God Bless!

    A Tribute To Veterans

    In Vietnam, Korea and World Wars Past
    Our Men Fought Bravely so Freedom Would Last
    Conditions Where Not Always Best They Could Be
    Fighting a Foe You Could Not Always See:

    From Mountain Highs to Valley Lows
    From Jungle Drops to Desert Patrols

    Our Sinewy Sons Were Sent Over Seas
    Far From Their Families And Far From Their Dreams
    They Never Wrote Letters Of Hardships Despair
    Only Of Love, Yearning That One Day Soon:

    They Would Come Home, They Would Resume
    And Carry On With The Rest of Their Lives

    The P.O.W.’S Stood Steadfast
    Against the Indignities And Cruelties Of War
    They Could Not Have Lasted as Long as They Did
    If They Had Relinquished Their Hope That Some Day:

    They Would Come Home, They Would Resume
    And Carry On the Rest Of Their Lives

    Medics, Nurses, and Chaplains Alike
    Did What They Needed To Bring Back Life
    They Served Our Forces From Day Into Night
    Not Questioning If They Would Survive:

    They Mended Bones And Bodies Too,
    They Soothed the Spirits of Dying Souls

    And for Those M.I.A’S, Who Were Left Behind
    We Echo This Message Across the Seas
    We Will search For as Long As It Takes
    You’re Not Forgotten And Will Always Be:

    In Our Hearts, In Our Prayers,
    In Our Minds For All Time

    A Moment of Silence, a Moment of Summons
    Is Their Deliverance of Body And Soul
    To a Sacred Place That We All Know
    Deep In the Shrines of Our Soul:

    In Our Hearts, In Our Prayers
    In Our Minds For All Time

    INTERLUDE:
    GOLD STAR MOTHERS GRIEVE: ENDLESSLY,
    ENDLESSLY, ENDLESSLY…….

    These Immortalized Soldiers Whose Bravery Abounds
    They’re Our Husbands, Fathers, and Sons
    They Enlisted For the Duty at Hand
    To Serve the Cause of Country and Land:

    They Had Honor, They Had Valor,
    They Found Glory That Change Them Forever

    Men Standing Tall and Proud They be
    A Country Behind Them in a Solemn Sea
    So Let the Flags of Freedom Fly
    Unfurled in Their Majesty High:

    In the Sun, In the Rain
    In the Winds Across This Land

    Years of Tears Has Brought Us Here
    Gathering Around to Hear This Sound
    So Let the Flags of Freedom Fly
    Unfurled in Their Majesty High:

    In the Sun, In the Rain,
    In the Winds Across This Land

    REPEAT:

    In the Sun, In the Rain,
    In the Winds For All Time

    Jerry Calow (copyright 2003 )

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