| houston1127
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If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Reply #21. Nov 12 12, 11:19 PM
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| Shiningstar7
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Thanks for 'Taps', shiningstar!
You're welcome alexis722.
Reply #22. Nov 12 12, 11:35 PM
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| Greatguggly
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Suddenly, somehow, someone who thanks soldiers for their sacrifices is a fan of war. Wouldn't someone who felt that those soldiers were sent to fight for an unjust cause be even more troubled than the war monger and, if anything, honor them with even more zest?
Reply #23. Nov 13 12, 7:09 AM
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alexis722 
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Houston 1127, that's an emotionally stirring poem - and so true at the end. Who wrote it?
Reply #24. Nov 13 12, 11:47 AM
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flopsymopsy
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It's Wilfred Owen, taken from "Dulce et Decorum Est". His "Anthem for Doomed Youth" is probably his more famous work. Most of his poems were publish posthumously - he was killed in 1918, a week before the Armistice.
Reply #25. Nov 13 12, 12:49 PM
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Jakeroo
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People here are obviously well-read, so presumably they also realise that soldiers gave their lives and limbs for the dubious "privilege" to decry the battles they fought and for the privilege of a good education (being born in certain parts of the world is merely a lucky coincidence lol). I don't think anyone here is supporting "war" in and of itself, but rather the people who sacrificed for the rest of us because they believed they were doing the right thing.
If anyone should thank the military of the "western world", it should be the protestors, because without the former, the latter wouldn't be able to vocalise their indignances. There are 362 other days to get on a soapbox and I'd be quite willing to listen on any one of them and might even agree with a few points. But Remembrance Day, Anzac Day and Memorial Day are 3 days on which folks should be solemn and thoughtful about. To do otherwise is, quite simply, disrespectful and inappropriate.
I'm not an American, but I'd like to repaste part of the post I made in the forums, a "poem" by US Army Vet Clarence Province:
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.
Reply #26. Nov 13 12, 1:38 PM
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flopsymopsy
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Which reminds me of a time many years ago when I worked in a university and the students were protesting about something or other. (I don't think it matters what, I can't remember the things I protested about when I was a student but I know they were many and varied - and would have changed the world! ;) )
Anyway, these students were protesting and decided to burn the American flag (sorry). A porter rushed out and told them to stop, they "musn't burn that flag here". The students bristled, who was this guy and how dare he tell them they couldn't protest? They demanded to know "why not? We'll burn the flag if we want." "Oh," said the porter, "you can burn it, but not here - you'll scorch the grass, go burn it over there..." And so they did. I laughed until I cried - and I told the porter I wanted him to guard my office the next time the students wanted to occupy it. He was ex-Navy and I'm pretty sure he would have thought the poem Jakeroo quoted was written for him. :)
Reply #28. Nov 13 12, 3:16 PM
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| Greatguggly
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They sound like the Vietnam protesters who were screaming for peace while they threw bricks through windows and brandished knives.
Reply #29. Nov 13 12, 4:36 PM
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