Off Topic Lest We Forget

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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.
 
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The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
 
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I always think that not enough recognition is paid to all those who did not go overseas & lost their lives in conflict but instead those who remained home & lost their lives in the war effort.....the police, firemen, fire watchers, ARP etc...and of course those working in the factories producing the tanks, aircraft, munitions etc.......without them we would never have won the war & the combatant casualties would have been much worse
 
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I've said it before but the older I become the more appreciative I am of people who sacrificed their lives in the defence of this country.

Young men. 18, 19, 20. They didn't want to do it, but they did.

And they died.

And their families grieved.

And continue to grieve.



Reflect on that.

Then tell me that the poppy is a political symbol.

RIP.
 
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Ernie Shackleton said:
I've said it before but the older I become the more appreciative I am of people who sacrificed their lives in the defence of this country.

Young men. 18, 19, 20. They didn't want to do it, but they did.

And they died.

And their families grieved.

And continue to grieve.



Reflect on that.

Then tell me that the poppy is a political symbol.

RIP.
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Of course the poppy is in some ways a political symbol....it is a symbol that we live in a country where people are willing to give their lives to protect our country, it's values, the lives of it's people & the lives of people from the countries of our allies......it is a political symbol we should be proud to wear......what it is not in any way shape or form is a religious symbol
 
NorthFerribyTiger said:
Of course the poppy is in some ways a political symbol....it is a symbol that we live in a country where people are willing to give their lives to protect our country, it's values, the lives of it's people & the lives of people from the countries of our allies......it is a political symbol we should be proud to wear......what it is not in any way shape or form is a religious symbol
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To me it's not political in the slightest.

It's a symbol to recognise and remember those that lost their lives on both sides.
 
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The General
'Good-morning; good morning!' the General said
When we met him last week on our way to the line.
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of 'em dead,
And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine.
'He's a cheery old card,' grunted Harry to Jack
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.
But he did for them both by his plan of attack.
. . . . Sigfried Sassoon
 
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Walter Sobchak said:
The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Click to expand...

Soldier is a song written and recorded by Harvey Andrews in 1972.

The song was inspired by an event in Belfast,Northern Ireland. In 1971 Sergeant Michael Willetts of 3 PARA cleared a room inSpringfield Road RUC Police Station of civilians because a bomb with a short burning fuse had been planted by the Provisional IRA. After the room had been cleared, an Inspector who helped local people flee then slammed the door to the room which contained the bomb, but realizing the door was not strong enough to absorb the blast, he pressed his body against the door, shielding the people on the other side. The charge exploded, and he was seriously injured.

Sgt Willetts whose post was actually down a hall heard the screams, instead of saving himself he choose to run toward the bomb after shouting orders to another soldier to evacuate upstairs. He was left with a man and woman with their two children. He pushed them into a corner and stood between them and the bomb. A chunk of metal from a locker was blasted into the back of his head and he died on the operating table two hours later.

As his and other bodies were carried out Irish Republican supporters clapped, jeered and sang rebel songs to the disbelief of other soldiers and police.[1]

Harvey Andrews was so struck by the incident that he wrote the song to highlight the senselessness of violence and to make the point that soldiers, too, are human, and that Sgt Willetts had laid down his life for people who considered British soldiers to be nothing more than "murderers." (The incident of the soldier embracing the bomb was poetic licence.) Broadcasts of Andrews' record were banned for some time by the BBC lest feelings be exacerbated in the nationalist community of Northern Ireland, or the British public be incited to attack innocent Irish people. TheMinistry of Defence advised (and still advises[citation needed]) British soldiers not to sing the song in pubs where it may incite strong emotive behaviour. Some have interpreted this as a ban.

Harvey Andrews' authorship is not always widely known, and many incorrect stories about the song's origin circulate. Harvey Andrews intended the song to transcendsectarianism, but some have wrongly interpreted it as the glorification of military heroism.
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Any life given, or taken, selflessly and bravely is worth remembering.

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