Memorial Day

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Steven F

Joined
Oct 12, 1999
Messages
1,237
Since Memorial Day is coming up, I thought it would be appropriate to post this poem that I recently picked up at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Taos, New Mexico:


LOSS OF INNOCENCE

We were children,
Patriotic, brave children.

All too soon
We were forced to grow up,
To face danger and bloodshed.
Terrors real and imagined
Waited there in the dark.
But grimly determined,
We stood our ground,
Though the reason got lost
In the fight.

And we were proud!
Then we came home ....
Some of us whole and some of us not,
And no one cared.

All these years we've stumbled along,
Bewildered and lost, remembering,
And lonely ....

Scorned, ridiculed and ignored,
For something out of our control.
And now we're men,
Hardened and inside ourselves.
But it's not too late,
Won't you try to understand?
We were just children.
 
At the end of Desert Storm, I saw the young men from the reservation welcomed back and their sacrifices acknowledged. Oddly, veterans are esteemed on the Indian reservations. Why there and not elsewhere I can't say.

But most people don't want to admit that there's a price to pay, and you have paid it - continue to pay it in your nightmares and in the knowlege of mankind that you wish and pray to forget. You and not them, and that they remain in your debt in spite of their disavowal of it.

"... Bewildered and lost, remembering and lonely.

" Ridiculed and scorned, ridiculed and ignored.

" For something beyond our control.

" And now we're men, Hardened and inside ourselves.

" But it's not too late, won't you try to understand?

" We were just children. "

And we are all still just children, to be held, our pain comforted, and our beauty encouraged once again to blossom for each other. Refuse to hate, for love cannot enter a heart full of fear and resentment. And commit daily to finding joy and wonder in each day. Post traumatic stress disoder? Substance abuse as self medication to forget what you can't handle remembering? Children dying of abuse, nelect, and exploitation? Right here in River City folks? Anyone who says such a thing ought to be locked up for their own good, folks. Let me tell you, sometimes the bars are there to keep the bast***** outside and the folks on the inside safe.

Rant mode off

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My job today is to enjoy life , whether I like it or not!
 
I learned to love the US military in 1942 and never stopped. If everybody alive today had lived thru WWII this place would be very different than it is.

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Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 05-28-2000).]
 
I believe that the country would be in better shape if every young man were required to serve a year or two in the military (the way the military USED to be) or in the Peace Corps. Not only has our country grown soft, our military has grown soft -- too much emphasis on political correctness, IMHO.
 
I was 4F at the time so I didn't have to make a decision to serve or to run to Canada. I like to think I would have served, but hope I could respect those who dissented and went to Canada.

Today with Clinton as the most sociopathic and unprincipalled and honorless president of my nation's history, Woody Guthrie's immortal lines remind me why it is a absolute patriotic duty for our citizens to maintain their arms for a militia:

"They asked would I fight for my country?
"I answered the FBI yea!
"I will point a gun for my country - BUT - I won't guarantee you which way."

In some ways I feel as if Memorial Day is becoming to Americans what Columbus Day is to Native Americans. A day of mourning, and not of celebration of our to be honored forefathers.
 
Rusty,
I guess it's just that I know too many names from way too many wars that are no longer among the breathing to be real up-beat. BUT, the thing that agrivates me
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is this "Holiday" business!!!!!
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Just forget all of that unpleasant stuff, let's party. This is why we now have Memorial Day on the last Monday of May instead of 31May!
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Blood pressure up and rant mode off.
Dan
 
Steven, I was going to mention something about the difference between today's military and that of a half century ago but then didn't. Nobody likes to hear "how tough it was back when I was......" But, damn it, it was tough. About half the crew I served with on the USS Warrington during the Korean War were survivors of WWII Pacific duty and that makes you get tough in a hurry and they were tough.

Dan and Rusty, that's one of the problems. People forget -- but some of us do NOT forget, mostly those who have been there and done that. That's why I keep putting this back to the top for this weekend.

Lest we forget.

------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
 
I'm too young to remember WW2, and I've never been a soldier (thank God); but I know that I owe my freedom (or what's left of it) to the American servicemen who came to our rescue in two World Wars.

It's very unfashionable over here to say so these days, but Britain owes the USA a debt it can never hope to repay. So, from this side of the pond, a very big thank you to all the WW2 vets. Some of us still remember.
 
And thank you, Tom, for a very meaningful post.

I can very well remember the hell you Brits lived through during WWII -- I heard about it on the radio and saw it in newsreels and papers. I don't think most folks in this country realize just how lucky we were and continue to be.

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Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
 
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