Today is Veteran's Day in the U.S.

I thought, it is tomorrow - November 11th?

Oh, my C.J. I've never been a time keeper.

Well, I'm sorta glad that I was a day early. Gives us more time to give them a salute.

on the 11th day of the eleventh month of 1918.

at 11.00 am

http://www.geocities.com/~worldwar1/default-poppies.html

I'm wearing my poppy.

Sending props to all of our vets, especially the one whose dog tag I carry.

My BIL's uncles both died in the air war over Holland in WWII. I love the way Canada has named two lakes in their honor. I hope to visit them some day.

Nice site ehbeth

Ah, ehBeth. Thanks for the link.


G Am7 G/B C C/B Am7 G
Life is a book that we study,

Em Am Am7 Am Em
Some of its leaves bring a sigh.

C C/B Am A9 A7sus4 Am7
There it was written, my Bud - dy,

A9 Em7 Gdim A7 D7 D+5
That we must part you and I.


G Fdim Am7 D
Nights are long since you went away,

G Edim Am7 D9
I think about you all thru the day,

G E7 C A7 D9
My Buddy, my Buddy, no Buddy quite so true.


G Fdim Am7 D
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,

G Edim Am7 D9
Just long to know that you understand,

G E7 C D9 G
My Buddy, my Buddy, Your Buddy misses you.


Bridge:

G Am7 G/B C C/B Am7 G
Bud - dies thru all of the gay days,

Em Am Am7 Am Em
Buddies when something went wrong,

C C/B Am A9 A7sus4 Am7
I wait alone thru the gray days.

A9 Em7 Gdim A7 D7 D+5
Missing your smile and your song.


G Fdim Am7 D
Nights are long since you went away,

G Edim Am7 D9
I think about you all thru the day,

G E7 C A7 D9
My Buddy, my Buddy, no Buddy quite so true.


G Fdim Am7 D
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,

G Edim Am7 D9
Just long to know that you understand,

G E7 C D9 G
My Buddy, my Buddy, Your Buddy

Your Buddy misses you.

This song was inspired byThe Buddy Poppy. It has to do with the buddy who was the companion in the fox holes of WWII.

For those of you who know chord changes, try it sometimes. Fantastic tune.

It's hard to believe that one year has passed since I last did this thread, and now the face of war has changed.

Bliss Carmen and John McCrae. Two of my favorite poets. I was supposed to read that poem at a memorial in Virginia. I was late to that function, too.

Panz, Amazing. Give us a link to those lakes. I'll be back later.

I sat with a group of people in their 20's at a wedding on Sunday night. One of them was quite distressed that Remembrance Day is no longer a national holiday in Canada. She told us it's the most important day of the year for her. She feels strongly that it's important to take the time to reflect about the meaning of war. There was agreement in the group. It was heartening to be part of that discussion.

My buddy. I'm quite fond of that song. I didn't know it's connection to the poppy. Thanks, Letty.

Sincere thanks and much respect to all who served -- and who are serving now.

Had a bit of trouble getting back in.

I know that Walter's dad was a vet.

and perhaps some of the Brits will weigh in.

My God, in googling Rupert Brooks, I found an old thread featuring Setanta and other folks.

Post: 432058 -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, Freedom. A wonderful thread, and here is the Rupert Brooks' poem that I love:

The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English

Refuse to say deja vu.

Snood; Mysteryman?

will have to shake Gentleman John awake, I guess

You're right Letty, this was a good idea. Now everyone
can read the wishes and poems by tomorrow

My heart goes out to all the soldiers and their loved ones.
May they all return safely to their families and don't become
the unknown soldier.


THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

There's a graveyard near the White House
Where the Unknown Soldier lies,
And the flowers there are sprinkled
With the tears from mother's eyes.

I stood there not so long ago
With roses for the brave,
And suddenly I heard a voice
Speak from out the grave:

"I am the Unknown Soldier,"
The spirit voice began,
"And I think I have the right
To ask some questions man to man.

Are my buddies taken care of?
Was their victory so sweet?
Is that big reward you offered
Selling pencils on the street?

Did they really win the freedom
They battled to achieve?
Do you still respect that Croix de Guerre
Above that empty sleeve?

Does a gold star in the window
Now mean anything at all?
I wonder how my old girl feels
When she hears a bugle call.

And that baby who sang
'Hello, Central, give me no man's land'
Can they replace her daddy
With a military band?

I wonder if the profiteers
Have satisfied their greed?
I wonder if a soldier's mother
Ever is in need?

I wonder if the kinds, who planned it all
Are really satisfied?
They played their game of checkers
And eleven million died.

I am the Unknown Soldier
And maybe I died in vain,
But if I were alive and my country called,
I'd do it all over again."

Billy Rose

It's Remembrance Day in Oz, Letty. We wear a red poppy for the occasion. A minute's silence at 11 am, just passed ...

Ah, CJ, and yes, some would do it all over again.

Have A Rendezvous With Death
I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade,
And apple-blossoms fill the air-
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.

It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath-
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.

God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.

-Alan Seeger

I remember reading letters from my brother to my dad. It was on strange paper with the signal corps insignia. He spoke wistfully of the hand made pipe organ in the mountains of the Philippines. I am certain that music was on his mind when he died.

Thank you, Ms Letty, for keeping up a tradition you started a couple or three years ago on Veterans Day. I'm sure, I mean I think I'm sure, that there are other A2Kers who should be on the list of US vets and the list should of course be expanded to include men and women of other countries who served their nations. I hope that they will be appropriately be recognized.
Which is a build up to this minor rant: johnboy brought in the mail today which included sale fliers from various grocery stores along with this one-
Huge Veterans Day Mattress Sale Blowout. I reckon I'm too old to be jaundiced, but I did mention to the 20-something year old black lady who runs my retail floor: "Just wait, Lisa, it's only a matter of time before someone has a 'Dream Sale' to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday."

Letty compiled her list from things we've posted. If anyone wants to be added, please pm her or me. Thank you. -johnboy-

MsOlga, you and I both know all the songs of WWII, don't we. Remember and pray for peace.

I love Randall Jarrell's "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"...but I'm too caught up to post it.

The sad part is that there seems to be no songs for the Vietnam War.

Ah, Gentleman John. I think a moment of silence is far better than a Sale, but that's capitalism for ya.

Thanks, my Virginia friend. I know that Kelly Vinal is a young man in uniform, and a poet at that.

Was Billy Rose, who wrote Unknown Soldier, a veteran. His perspective seems, hmmmmm, different.

Letty, there are any numbers of songs about/for Vietnam. The ones I can think of are either extraordinarily sad or angry. Much like the young people who served in that war - and the adults they became.