May 30, 2010

On an Old Friend from High School

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Sam Yates' War

Once in the summer,
He played a blue guitar,
Drove a fast car....

         Life was a whirl.
         He got the girl.
         Kissed her once
And sailed off into the sun.

Now he's just a name on that wall.

        Cut into stone.
        Cut to the bone.

Long gone.
        That's all.

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Posted by Vanderleun at May 30, 2010 11:49 PM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

May God watch over each and everyone of you for an eternity. Thank you for the ultimate sacrifice, your lives.

Posted by: Cilla Mitchell, Galveston Texas at May 31, 2010 6:08 AM

"They shall not grow 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." ~ Laurence Binyon

Posted by: Mizz E at May 31, 2010 6:20 AM

One can argue in some cases whether the sacrifice should have been made, but:

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam;
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Honour those who died to make men free.

Posted by: Fletcher Christian at May 31, 2010 1:34 PM

There's a friend of my youth whose name is on The Wall. He played jazz, and loved fishing, and spent every minute he could with his family, especially with his sidekick little brother. He left his treasured old jalopy behind with his shy, curly-headed girlfriend when duty called. They never got to have the sons they wanted, although she did; and she and her husband named their oldest Brian in his honor.

I think of him almost every day, and of my grandfathers, father, uncles, cousins, brothers, son and friends who put it all on the line so I could wake up today as one of the luckiest people in the history of the world: a free woman at home in America.

Those who would debase and shame our country, destroy our constitution and disarm us before our enemies will have us and the memories of our dead to contend with. They do not understand the furies they are awakening!

Posted by: raincityjazz at May 31, 2010 1:44 PM

My attempt at remembering my tours in VN and the loss of dear comrades:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_k10fnnaLeUQ/SRIum33UqlI/AAAAAAAAAJA/OeIKbSePnYw/s1600-h/DSC01393+VNWM+Resized+5.jpg

Posted by: Hugh Smith at May 31, 2010 3:41 PM

5 of 11 were killed in the 101st?

Band of brothers indeed.

Posted by: Eric Blair at June 2, 2010 11:18 AM

I keep forgetting that you grew up in my hometown, and then I get a reminder like the high school you attended...

Posted by: B. Durbin at June 7, 2010 9:00 PM
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