Lest We Forget

[FlashDrive]

Gentleman ... I wish to thank the Men and Women who gave so much for Freedom and Liberty to the people of Australia . To those who never came home and to the all of our returned Diggers and Ladies.

Thank You for your sacrifice.

Flash .. EX Serviceman.

[mithrandir]

Quoting the poem in today's advert column so it won't be lost tomorrow.

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915

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.

[bmitchell82]

On the 11th hour I will observe my minute of silence for those of my family lost in war and to with hold the memory as not to be forgotten the brave sacrifice that my fellow Australians have made.

Lest we forget.

[Dennis]

Lest we forget.

Dennis

[vanwonky]

That is a very moving poem. Sincere thanks to all those very brave people.

[jjjnettie]

Lest we forget....:(

[jjjnettie]

the last post
http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs/last_post.asp

[TrevorW]

It was interesting to hear some stats this morning on the radio

at the beginiing of the 1st WW our population was only 4 million of this 300,000 Australian's volunteered to fight in a war that would never have affected our country directly.

[deejayvee]

Lest we forget.

When I visited Gallipoli a few years back, I was very moved by the words of Ataturk that are memorialised there:

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...
You are now living in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours...
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
Ataturk, 1934

[Ric]

Lest we forget.

We owe them a great debt that can never be repaid.

[xstream]

Lest we forget.

[TheDecepticon]

We must remember the lessons learned and the friends that were lost.

This is not the glorification of war , it is the rememberance of the sacrifices made for peace. Without it, our lives could have been very different or not at all.

Lest we forget.

[AstralTraveller]

Yes indeed, Lest we forget.

Lest we forget the service men and women who died.
Lest we forget the civilians who died, the collateral damage.
Lest we forget that people will die today in pointless war.




Sorry, but I have a problem with the last stanza which extorts the reader to continue the war on pain of not letting the dead 'sleep'. Although it laments the fallen it is still a pro-war poem.

I agree much more with the words of Ataturk quoted above and with this quote from him:

"Humankind is a single body and each nation a part of that body. We must never say 'What does it matter to me if some part of the world is ailing?' If there is such an illness, we must concern ourselves with it as though we were having that illness".

[AstralTraveller]

I don't know how well known it is that, of all the combatant nations in that war, Australia had the highest per capita casualty rate. Most of that was naive young men from rural Australia who had no idea what was in store for them. Later in the war, after enough bodies had returned (or not returned) the number enlisting dropped to the point that the government, under strong pressure from the British to supply more troops, tried to introduce conscription. Despite a furious media campaign the Australian voters rejected this - twice. This was our first, and some say greatest, act of self-determination.

[Kevnool]

Lest we Forget

[Osirisra]

We will remember them

Lest we forget