| | Veterans Day | |
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Abe F. March Five Star Member
Number of posts : 10768 Registration date : 2008-01-26 Age : 85 Location : Germany
| Subject: Veterans Day Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:15 am | |
| Since it is Veterans Day, I thought it appropriate to post the following poem written by Don Stephens: A Soldier died today, by Don Stephens. He was getting old and paunchy And his hair was falling fast, And he sat around the Legion, Telling stories of the past. Of a war that he once fought in And the deeds that he had done, In his exploits with his buddies; They were heroes, every one. And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors His tales became a joke, All his buddies listened quietly For they knew where of he spoke. But we'll hear his tales no longer, For ol' Joe has passed away, And the world's a little poorer For a Soldier died today. He won't be mourned by many, Just his children and his wife. For he lived an ordinary, Very quiet sort of life. He held a job and raised a family, Going quietly on his way; And the world won't note his passing, 'Tho a Soldier died today. When politicians leave this earth, Their bodies lie in state, While thousands note their passing, And proclaim they were so great. Papers tell their life stories From the time that they were young But the passing of a Soldier Goes unnoticed, and unsung. Is the greatest contribution To the welfare of our land, Some jerk who breaks his promise And cons his fellow man? Or the ordinary fellow Who in times of war and strife, Goes off to serve his country And offers up his life? The politician's stipend And the style in which he lives, Are often disproportionate, To the service that he gives. While the ordinary Soldier, Who offered up his all, Is paid off with a medal And perhaps a pension, small. It is not the politicians With their compromise and ploys, Who won for us the freedom That our country now enjoys. Should you find yourself in danger, With your enemies at hand, Would you really want some cop-out, With his ever waffling stand? Or would you want a Soldier His home, his country, his kin, Just a common Soldier, Who would fight until the end. He was just a common Soldier, And his ranks are growing thin, But his presence should remind us We may need his likes again. For when countries are in conflict, We find the Soldier's part Is to clean up all the troubles That the politicians start. If we cannot do him honor While he's here to hear the praise, Then at least let's give him homage At the ending of his days. Perhaps just a simple headline In the local paper that might say: "OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED TODAY." |
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| | | alice Five Star Member
Number of posts : 15672 Registration date : 2008-10-22 Age : 76 Location : Redmond, WA
| Subject: Re: Veterans Day Sun Nov 12, 2017 11:19 am | |
| "With every adversity there is a benefit." I prefer this quote and I prefer the person associated with the quote. |
| | | alice Five Star Member
Number of posts : 15672 Registration date : 2008-10-22 Age : 76 Location : Redmond, WA
| Subject: Re: Veterans Day Sun Nov 12, 2017 1:25 pm | |
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| | | Shelagh Admin
Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK
| Subject: Re: Veterans Day Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:49 am | |
| The poem was posted by Don, but it was actually written by A. Lawrence Vaincourt.
http://vaincourt.homestead.com/author.html |
| | | Shelagh Admin
Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK
| Subject: Re: Veterans Day Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:54 am | |
| For the FallenRobert Laurence Binyon, by artist William Strang. Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21 stSeptember 1914. 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 a glory that shines upon our tears.They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, 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 day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam.But where our desires are and our 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 that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.Inspiration for “For the Fallen”Laurence Binyon composed his best known poem while sitting on the cliff-top looking out to sea from the dramatic scenery of the north Cornish coastline. A plaque marks the location at Pentire Point, north of Polzeath. However, there is also a small plaque on the East Cliff north of Portreath, further south on the same north Cornwall coast, which also claims to be the place where the poem was written. |
The poem was written in mid September 1914, a few weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. During these weeks the British Expeditionary Force had suffered casualties following its first encounter with the Imperial German Army at the Battle of Mons on 23 rd August, its rearguard action during the retreat from Mons in late August and the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 th August, and its participation with the French Army in holding up the Imperial German Army at the First Battle of the Marne between 5 th and 9 th September 1914. Laurence said in 1939 that the four lines of the fourth stanza came to him first. These words of the fourth stanza have become especially familiar and famous, having been adopted by the Royal British Legion as an Exhortation for ceremonies of Remembrance to commemorate fallen Servicemen and women. Laurence Binyon was too old to enlist in the military forces but he went to work for the Red Cross as a medical orderly in 1916. He lost several close friends and his brother-in-law in the war. |
| | | alice Five Star Member
Number of posts : 15672 Registration date : 2008-10-22 Age : 76 Location : Redmond, WA
| Subject: Re: Veterans Day Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:20 pm | |
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| | | Shelagh Admin
Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK
| Subject: Re: Veterans Day Mon Nov 13, 2017 4:03 pm | |
| Don added his name to the poem. He wasn't well. |
| | | Abe F. March Five Star Member
Number of posts : 10768 Registration date : 2008-01-26 Age : 85 Location : Germany
| Subject: Re: Veterans Day Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:55 pm | |
| Several years ago on the day that Germany remembers its fallen soldiers, "Volkstrauertag”, I asked for Don’s permission to use the poem. I felt that it would be suitable to translate and read by Hermann Frech who would be speaking at this event. Don resonded by saying that it was not his reference, he believed it was in the category of “public domain”. He said that as far as he was concerned, I was free to use it and didn’t require his permission. When I made my post “by Don Stephens” I failed to mention that it was a poem I received from Don. It is something I believe Don could have written as it was meaningful to a Veteran such as he. Today, in doing a search, I believe that the credit goes to A. Lawrence Vaincourt, as indicated by Shelagh. Any further post concerning this poem will include this reference. |
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