TubeNet

On Armistice Day / Remembrance Day

For the Fallen
Robert Laurence Binyon,

Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21 September 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.

LEST WE FORGET

I will commemorate by blasting away on some awesome German marches.

Happy Veteran’s Day!

I am proud and humbled to have performed in a Veterans Day ceremony at a local high school on Friday. I found the commemoration and participating celebrants refreshingly positive and inspiring. Most were attached to our local AFB, but other services were represented. The program also included the swearing-in ceremony for a new recruit, highly unusual to be conducted in public like that.

The ensemble played the service marches recognizing each branch... 'cept one. So accordingly I gave the director grief about not programming Semper Paratus. We're in the heart of Flyover USA, so to a certain degree I can understand why the US Coast Guard doesn't immediately come to mind.

The program seems to have been organized by a senior officer from the AFB. I was fascinated by the upbeat contrast to local Memorial Day ceremonies organized by VFW and Legion posts, which tend to be maudlin. I prefer the respectful pride and remembrance of Friday's observance.

TheGoyWonder wrote:I will commemorate by blasting away on some awesome German marches.

Of course the US is different in that most states had a well established Memorial/Decoration Day by 1918, so we honor our veterans on November 11. I played yesterday at a retirement village. Attending were four WWII vets and six Korea vets. I was amazed to see so many in such a small community. And yes, we remembered the Coast Guard.

I would bet Nobody made any mention of the USMS (United States Maritime Service) aka Merchant Marine, who took higher casualties in WWII than anyone except the US Marine Corp. They are truly the forgotten service. We would have lost in 1941 without them.