At the 11th hour…
The real world intervened and I have been late in getting this post up.
To all who have worn the uniform of our country, thank you. You have our love and our respect.
Here are a few things for all of us to think about.
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tom Paine
He stood, a soldier, to the last right end,
A perfect patriot and a noble friend,
But most a virtuous son.
All offices were done
By him, so ample, full, and round
In weight in measure, number, sound,
As, though his age imperfect might appear,
His life was of humanity the sphere.Ben Jonson
Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He’s the chap who makes it possible for civilised folk to despise war.
Allan Massie
How red the rose that is the soldier’s wound,
The wounds of many soldiers, the wounds of all
The soldiers that have fallen, red in blood,
The soldier of time grown deathless in great size.Wallace Stevens
Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause—honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.
Abraham Lincoln
In war a man kills not because he hates what is in front of him but because he loves that which is behind him.
G. K. Chesterton
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
My 2004 Veteran’s Day reflection is here.
