Sunday, November 11, 2012

Those who served


cp 1855

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

^5 to them all.

"There are as many wars as there are soldiers that fought them."-Tim O'Brien

RJ

Kirk said...

It's common to say "lest we forget" on these occasions, but it's easy to remember the big picture. It's the little details that get forgotten.

Good post, Erin

Anonymous said...

Veteran's Day, November 11, was originally a celebration of the end of fighting in the First World War. The Armistice-a cease-fire, really, not a peace treaty-was signed on November 11-at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and that's why the date was chosen.

My maternal grandfather, James A Patterson, was a sergeant with the American Expeditionary Force in France. There were several incidents along the way which would have altered my genealogy, or prevented my existence. Two bullet wounds, one narrowly missing his jugular vein, and poison gas.

When the eleventh hour arrived, and the guns finally fell silent on the most horrific butchery the world had ever known, many men and women on both sides of the line experienced the silence as the voice of God on earth.

And so there were men and women who in my lifetime heard the voice of God.

May a loving and merciful god watch over all our veterans and our men and women in uniform who are at this very moment in harms way. May God bring them home quickly and safely.

MR

Erin O'Brien said...

Hello gentlemen and thank you for the thoughtful post, Mike.

People seem compelled to post something on days such as these. Sometimes such entries feel as though they have more to do with the person posting than they do about the subject at hand: See? I'm a good patriotic American. I posted a photo of a flag on Veterans Day.

I don't care much for that sort of thing, but when I saw this photo, it really gave me pause.

Anonymous said...

BTW, Erin, Corporal Scott literally was your 'Buffalo Soldier' from Friday's post...

MR

Bill the Wrenchbender said...

Powerful photograph there...some things haven't changed much,enough.

Al The Retired Army Guy said...

Erin,

I would simply say this - here's to absent friends (as I hoist a cold one to those who can no longer do so).

V/R,

Al
TRAG
Veteran