Lest We Forget
By: Terry Paulson (townhall. com)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
This column is the text of a Memorial Day address I was asked to give at the Field of Valor in Moorpark, California. May it again inspire us all to never forget.
War is hell. War at times is necessary. Men and women die is those wars, and on days like today, we remember those who gave up all their tomorrows to keep us free to have so many more.
What must one say in a Memorial Day speech or any speech to honor the fallen? President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was only 272 words long, and yet it has been treasured for over a century as one of the best speeches ever given.
Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women who died in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our enduring gratitude. This is not Veterans Day, it's not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom and those who bore that cost.
I never served in the military. I was born at the end of World War II when my father was quartermaster of Tyndall field in Panama City, Florida. He was a captain in the army air corp. My son and one of my grandsons have both served in the US Army. Thankfully, none of them gave up their lives in service to our land, but that may not be the case for some of you here today. it's been said that as citizens of this great country, we need to regard all of our soldiers as our children, so that as our own beloved sons and daughters, we feel deeply the loss of every last one of those who have died in service to our nation.
We not only remember; we honor them for their valor. In the words of General George S. Patton:"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived." I think we must do both.
So many mothers and wives, husbands and fathers, extended family and friends go about life every day remembering loved one no longer with us. They are reminded by pictures on mantels and mementos of a life not fully lived. At some level they understand that their Soldier chose a life of service and understood the potential of their own death. So today, we also honor you, the families of those who lost loved ones, for you bear a burden that only you can comprehend. We are grateful for the love and support you gave your Soldier.
General Norman Schwarzkopf once observed:"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." With that in mind, may we not only remember those we honor today at this ceremony, but may we keep our soldiers who are deployed defending our freedom, and their families, in our thoughts and prayers.
There is no more fitting way to end this than with the treasured final words of Lincoln on the fields of Gettysburg in November of 1863. "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
Let us echo the line from Lee Greenwood's patriotic tribute:"And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me." It's been said that our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.
God bless our great nation. God bless and embrace those who gave their all and the families who pay the continuing cost for that sacrifice. Finally, God bless each of you for taking the time to remember.
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Let us not just forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but keep in mind that we have a volunteer military. Only 1% of the population defends us and 80% of them come from military families.
Is it enough to think to-day
Of all our brave, then put away
The thought until a year has sped?
Is this full honor for our dead?
Is it enough to sing a song
And deck a grave; and all year long
Forget the brave who died that we
Might keep our great land proud and free?
Full service needs a greater toll—
That we who live give heart and soul
To keep the land they died to save,
And be ourselves, in turn, the brave!
by Annette Wynne
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.
Poem about soldiers who lost their lives in World War I by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae on May 3, 1915
My middle school English teacher had us memorize that beautiful poem.
Above their rest there is no sound of weeping,
Only the voice of song-birds thrills the air;
Unknown their graves, yet they are in God's keeping,
There are none "missing" from His tender care.
He knows each hallowed mound, and at His pleasure
Marshalls the sentinels of earth and sky;
O'er their repose kind Nature heaps her treasure,
Farmed by soft winds which 'round them gently sigh.
Bravely they laid their all upon the altar,
Counting as naught the sacrifice and pain,
Theirs but to do and die without a falter—
Ours to enjoy the victory and the gain.
They are not lost; that only which was mortal
Lies 'neath the turf o'erarched by Southern skies;
Deathless they wait beyond the heavenly portal,
In that fair land where valor never dies.
In the great heart of coming generations
Their fame shall live, their glory never cease;
Even when comes to all earth's troubled nations
God's perfect gift of universal peace.
by Elizabeth Robbins Berry
Let us not forget the veteran who was killed for protesting.
Ashli Babbitt - the only person who died at the US Capitol on 06Jan2021.
That's not true...
Rosanne Boyland , a 34-year-old Trump supporter from Georgia who died during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 , appears to have been killed in a crush of fellow rioters during their attempt to fight through a police line, according to videos reviewed by The Times.
Though the videos have circulated widely, Ms. Boyland’s presence in them had gone unnoticed until now, and the manner of her death had previously been unclear . The videos show her body on the ground just outside a door on the Capitol’s west side that was the scene of some of the day’s worst violence.
Her clothes and backpack strap in the videos match those she was seen wearing in a picture of her taken earlier that day, and two witnesses, one of whom tried to help her, gave similar accounts of her death.
That's not true either. CBS claims that as many as 5 people died that day:
Boyland, 34, was one of three people who died of medical emergencies when a pro-Trump mob, egged on by the president , stormed the Capitol as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
The key word from the Times story is "appears" since the details of her death have not been released and there have been conflicting accounts.
I thought she was the one who overdosed and collapsed and that led to her getting walked on....................??
That sounds right. She was an addict.
Yes, don’t forget about totally sane Ashley!
Oh, she was insane and that's why she was murdered!
Got it.
She was insane to think what she was doing wouldn’t get her shot. I’m still shocked more of those fucking traitors weren’t mowed down.
Why would that be?
We didn't shoot those who surrounded & set fire to police stations with people in them, so why would an unarmed woman know she would be shot?
Why would she think she wouldnt be when she was violently trying to enter the floor of Congress?
The idea that she wasnt being violent is laughable.
Read 5.2.3
NEXT
Maybe breaching a barrier into the chamber housing congress under loud chants to have them murdered wasn’t very bright, huh?
Read 5.2.3
NEXT
Riiiiight. As he was protecting congress from their impending murder he should have considered that defense at his trial.
Leftists still love defending this Barney Fife with a gun.
The Congress critters were gone. The 3 security members standing in front of the doors departed because they were radioed that there was a heavily armed SWAT team coming to clear the corridor. Only Barney Fife stood between unarmed rioters and a nearly empty hall behind him (other security members further back going about their duties). Barney never hesitated- his gun was drawn and held at ready for the entire time. He scared the shit out the SWAT team when he fired; and kept it pointed as SWAT member with a real weapon that could have cut Barney in two had to tell him twice to lower his weapon.
Barney is a hero to leftists all across the USA. They are willing to forgive his former intransigence that should have got him fired; and may have allowed Ashley Babbitt to live.
Democrats do love their criminals. Even ones in uniform.
Oh, that's a simple answer. It's because how backed the burning of police stations and federal buildings in Minneapolis, Kenosha, and other cities that rioted after a drug addict overdosed. We even had the VP calling for people to donate to a bail fund for the rioters.
Those same people didn't support the protest on January 6th.
I'm sure they supported the potential storming of the White House in 2020.