Memorial Day
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Marine Sgt. Eric Hargrave saluting the American flag as he cried for his cousin, Army Spc. James Edward Marshall, who died in Iraq. At the time Colin Powell was still the United States Secretary of State. "When will it all end? The idiocy and the tension, the dying of young men, the destruction of homes, of cities, starvation, exhaustion, disease, children parentless and lost, cages full of shivering, staring prisoners, long lines of hopeless civilians plodding through mud, the endless pounding of the battle line. I can scarcely remember what it is like to be where explosions are not going off around me, some hostile, some friendly, all horrible; and exploding shell is a terrible sound. What keeps this war going?"
Donald Pearce
Canadian Infantry Junior Officer
World War II
They say we must remember in order to learn from history so as not to allow the repetition of past horrors. The lessons of the past are being ignored.
15 comments:
Wow! What a powerful post!
Your label is so painfully true. How eloquent you are.
that picture is so moving and i agree with the label comment.
Mellowlee, thanks. I think the words by Donald Pearce are amazing and they could have been written from Iraq or Afganistan or any of the other wars happening throughout the world today.
Barbara, so many of the fallen are the same age as my university students and it's just too sad and I don't see any reason for it to be happening.
668, that picture has always struck a chord with me.
Makes one think...
Great post toccata. Quite an emotional picture and words.
Great post and it's such a sad picture
Wow, such a powerful picture. Good job tc.
My cat is on my lap so any and all spelling and grammatical errors I will blame on him! :) I'm also trying to do two things at once which is never a good thing. So beware!
Whitenoise, it does and not on anything joyful that's for sure. But, I think it is good to remember and observe.
Busterp, I wanted to do something mainly because of all my American blogging buddies have made me more aware of the different holidays your way. I see today you lost another ten soldiers. It's beyond tragic.
Evelyne, that picture gets me everytime.
Deb, thanks. I kind of long for the days when it was just another holiday and we weren't worrying about our own kids off dying in some distant land for some war no one understands.
I was thinking about this recently and it will never stop really. Someone somewhere will be at war with someone else... Humans have been at war with each other since day X - They all need to grow up and get educated GRRR :[
Thanks for the great post.
I found out a few weeks ago that an old friend who is the military is recieving a promotion soon. It's partly a consequence of going to the Iraq war for a year. The good news is that the promotion means he'll probably not have to go back.
And having been over there, he's strongly against the war.
Dogga, unfortunately I think you are right. I wish you weren't but I think you are.
Johnny Yen, oh I certainly hope your friend will not have to return to Iraq. The casualties are escalating all the time.
ok tocatta ya slacker..i'll give you an easier really good lemon poppy seed loaf
Great post - isn't it time your stateside monarchy stopped enslaving the poor and forcing them into armies?
Kelly the kind? Who are you? Do I know you? Like your new moniker there Mr. Fireman. The lemon poppyseed loaf sounds perfect for my slacker ways!
Danny tagalog ??? What? Explain, please.
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