Post Cemetery, Ft Sheridan, Illinois.

Let us Pray


Father

Today, though we are not worthy, we remember those who died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that he has no greater love than he who gives his life for another.

We ask You grant:

Eternal rest to those who have died, and that your perpetual light shine upon them.

Strength and comfort for their families.

That those missing and captured may soon be returned to their families.

That the wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.


We thank you for those who have retuned safely home.


Lastly
we ask that we will never need to add to those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.

We ask this through our Lord and Savior, your Son Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Memorial Day

Post Cemetery, Ft Sheridan, Illinois.


Let us Pray


Father

Today, though we are not worthy, we remember those who died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that he has no greater love than he who gives his life for another.

We ask You grant:

Eternal rest to those who have died, and that your perpetual light shine upon them.

Strength and comfort for their families.

That those missing and captured may soon be returned to their families.

That the wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.


We thank you for those who have retuned safely home.


Lastly
we ask that we will never need to add to those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.

We ask this through our Lord and Savior, your Son Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Memorial Day - Taps

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on Life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents to spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.



Bivouac Of The Dead
By Theodore O'Hara

Memorial Day

Post Cemetery, Ft Sheridan, Illinois.


Let us Pray


Father

Today, though we are not worthy, we remember those who have died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that he has no greater love than he who gives his life for another.

We ask that you grant eternal rest to those who have died, and that your perpetual light shine upon them.

We ask for strength and comfort for their families.

We ask that those who are missing and captured may soon be returned to their families.

We ask that those who are wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.

We thank you for those who have retuned safely home.

Lastly
we ask that we will never have to add to the list of those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.

We ask this through our Lord and Savior, your Son Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Memorial Day: "The Sinking of the Reuben James"

On 31 October 1941, a little more than a month before Pearl Harbor a U-Boat torpedoed the Destroyer U. S. S. Rueben James escorting merchant ships to Great Britian. The Kingston Trio plays Woody Guthrie’s classic in their honor. The video answers Woody Guthrie’s “What were there names?”





Requiescant in pace

Veterans Day

The First World War nominally ended on November 11th. First celebrated as Armistice Day, it became Remembrance Day for the Commonwealth to honor those who had fallen. In the United States where Memorial Day already commemorated those who died defending our country it became Veteran’s Day to also honor the veterans who came home.


Lord Grey, the British Foreign Minister described the beginning of the war as "The lamps are going out in Europe". The immediate costs in dead and treasure of this ultimately pointless war were horrific. The horror of the trenches scarred the psyche of the Western world. The resulting despair allowed political movements to come to influence and power, which have changed for the worse Western culture, the holocaust and gulag being just the tip of the iceburg. Too many of the lamps are still out.

It is a hard truth that this is an especially appropriate day to remember our veterans living and dead. One of the very few bright spots were the solders and sailors whose dedication, loyalty, and valor shamed the politicians and “statesman” who sent them to war. They should always be remembered.

But also we need to remember that in other wars it was this same dedication and valor that bought our Freedom and Liberty, certainly against the forces released as a result of the First World War.


Enjoy the holiday, but remember to think of and pray for those who served.




In 2007 David Duff objected to the war being called pointless. El Jefe Maximo responded. Their interesting and informative discussion is a must read..

Related posts:

Le Soldat Americain dans Afgaistan
Soldiers are People, too
The Last of the Light Brigade.
The Bivouac of the Dead
Roy Nickerson




Labels:WWI and Veterans Day posts

Memorial Day 2009

Post Cemetery, Ft Sheridan Illinois.


Let us Pray


Father : Today, though we are not worthy, we remember those who have died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that he has no greater love than he who gives his life for another.


We ask that You take those who have died into the warmth of Your presence.

We ask for strength an comfort for their families.

We ask that those who are missing and captured may soon be returned to their families.

We ask that those who were wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.

We thank You for those who have retuned safely home.

Most of all:
we ask that we will never have to add to those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.


We ask this through our Lord and Savior, Your Son Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit.


Amen

Memorial Day Let us Pray

Post Cemetery, Ft Sheridan Illinois.



Father


Today, though we are not worthy, we remember those who have died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that there is no greater love than he who gives his life for another.


We ask you to take those who have died into the warmth of your presence.

We ask for strength an comfort for their families.

That those who are missing and captured may soon be returned to their families.

We ask that those who were wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.

We thank you for those who have retuned safely home.

Most of all we ask that we will never have to add to the list of those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.


We ask this through our Lord and Savior, your Son Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Memorial Day

Memorial Day originally commemorated those who died in the Civil War and now all wars. It is their blood and sacrifice that has protected our liberties, even the liberty to disparage their sacrifice. Theodore O'Hara served with the Second Kentucky at the Battle of Buena Vista, his eulogy to those who died there is found on plaques at Civil War cemeteries for both sides. Let us never forget their sacrifice or dishonor their memory.


The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on Life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.

On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents to spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

Rest on embalmed and sainted dead!
Dear as the blood ye gave;
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave;

Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps,
For honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps

No rumor of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind;
Nor troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind;

No vision of the morrow's strife
The warrior's dreams alarms;
No braying horn or screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.
The Bivouac of the Dead


Worth Reading:
Roy Nickerson’s favorite Memorial Day memory


Photos: Sheboygan Wisconsin War Memorial.

Memorial Day

Let us Pray


Father

Today, though mindful of our faults, we remember those who have died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that there is no greater love than he who gives his life for another.

We ask you to take those who have died into the warmth of your presence.

We ask for strength and comfort for their families.

We ask that those who were wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.

We thank you for those who have retuned safely home.

Most of all we ask that we will never have to add to the list of those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.

We ask this through our Lord and Savior, your Son Jesus Christ, and in union with the Holy Spirit.

Amen







The muffled drums sad roll has beat
The soldier's last Tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
But glory guards, with solumn round,
The bivouac of the dead.

No rumor of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind;
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved one's left behind;
No vision of tomorrow,s strife
The warrior's dream alarms;
No braying horn nor screaming fife,
At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shivered swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed;
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow;
And the proud forms, by battle gashed,
Are free from anguish now.

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shouts are past;
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal,
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that never more may feel
The rapture of the fight.

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood you gave,
No impious footstep here shall tread
The heritage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While fame her record keeps,
Or honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell
When many a vanquished age hath flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight,
Nor time's remorseless doom,
Shall dim one ray of glory's light
That gilds your deathless tomb.


"THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD" By Theodore O'Hara

Memorial Day

.

Let us Pray


Father

Today, though mindful of our faults, we remember those who have died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that there is no greater love than he who gives his life for another.

We ask you to take those who have died into the warmth of your presence.

We ask for strength an comfort for their families.

We ask that those who were wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.

We thank you for those who have retuned safely home.

Most of all we ask that we will never have to add to the list of those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.

We ask this through our Lord and Savior, your Son Jesus Christ, and in union with the Holy Spirit.

Amen

The Horror of the Trenches.

We just commemorated the 60th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

A lot of comment of differing quality has been posted on this event. (Two of the best, pro and con, come from R J Rummel
II and Dean Esmay (The Links have died 4/13/11) But it seems that an important piece of background information is being overlooked across the board. Namely the total horror of the trench warfare of the First World War.

In 1914 the armies in France quickly developed a line from Switzerland to the coast. Both sides dug trenches to fortify their positions. Any attack was a suicidal frontal assault against a well dug in enemy. At the time there was no way to break the stalemate. Eventually the French tried a strategy of attrition at Verdun. Once I visited that battlefield. The guide, apparently referencing a known incident, said this is where the XXth Division died in 15 minutes. An area that was barely two square kilometers. The whole tour was one incident after another like that. We saw a bunker where several buses of elderly Germans were stopping to pray and remember. An annual trip to the grave of a nine hundred of their relatives. Members of a regiment that was in bunker when French artillery closed all the exits. On and on and on. The Somme, I’m sure, was the same way. The big American battle was the Muse Argonne, many of the same stories. The 35th division was effectively destroyed in four days. Over a quarter of the infantry were killed, like numbers of wounded or stragglers wandering around the battlefield looking for a safe place.

One result of the trench warfare was there was a firm commitment that this would never never happen again. To the point that normal judgment was warped.

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

The advent of the airplane in WWI as a weapon promised a way out of the trap. There were three schools of thought on the use of Air Power.

The first is tactical. Use aircraft as long-range field or naval guns to support ground or naval operations.

The second is strategic. Use aircraft to destroy factories, supply dumps, and similar targets that support the war effort.

The third was terror bombing. Bombing civilians to break the will of the enemy and force surrender. If you have any questions about the horror of the trenches in WWI, consider that the promise that terror bombing could be done so that only the enemy was hurt was persuasive.

To put it another way, military targets strictly defined, military targets loosely defined and often near civilian areas, and terror bombing of civilians.

The first option was held mostly in services that could never afford large bombers, or the services air section would have no purpose if it was not tactical.

The third option came to dominate the thinking of the RAF with the approval of most the involved civilian leadership accrues the board.

US Army Air Corp thought they could win with the second option, though there was a minority of officers and civilian leadership support in favor of the third option.

Neither the RAF, nor the Army Air Corp put much pre-war effort into tactical bombing.

So when the US and UK entered WWII there was a strong commitment to strategic and even terror bombing in parts of the Air Forces and in the Civilian leadership. Massive amounts of resources were committed to this at the governmental level. The Manhattan project was simply an extension of this program.


The terror bombing option was the result of what happened in the trenches in WWI. The memory burned so hard that even terror bombing looked like proportionally less evil than going back to the trenches. An attitude that would have been unthinkable before WWI and is becoming more so again. When we look at things like the RAF de-housing campaign in Germany or Gen LeMay’s fire bombing of Japan or the decision to use the Atomic bomb, it was made in a context where they saw a far greater evil. (Ironically the targeting of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was made with much more reference to military value than General LeMay's firebombing.) Captain Truman was an officer in the 35th Division noted above. When President Truman was looking at the decision to use the atomic bomb, he was comparing a known horror burned in his memory that would have been repeated when Japan was invaded, against an abstraction of the results of an unproven weapons system. Something that I’m sure weighed on his decision in a way we can’t comprehend.

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

Looking through hindsight, it was the tactical operations that proved the greatest contribution to the war effort; and it seems that the tactical element has consistently proven of greatest value.

The strategic bombing was really beyond the technologies of the time, but did make some contribution to victory, but some commentators have suggested the assets would have been better directed into a few more ground divisions and tactical air support. The development of smart bombs that can actually hit the target, and consistently avoid nearby civilian targets is giving this option more promise.

The terror bombing was always counter productive, creating no real change in war production but galvanizing enemy determination. It does not seem to been applied by any major power since then, and WWI being a memory long superseded by the memory of Hiroshima it will probably not be tried again, though every now and they you hear some fool advocate it.

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

A thought.

What in the name of "Hiroshima - never again" will we accept?

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

Note 1: The point of this post is not to justify or condemn, just explain. Much comment is pro and con is devoid of solid knowledge of the events in 1945. The issue is to important for the ignorant comments that come from both sides. This is, I hope a minor contribution to informed discussion.

Note 2: The decision has to be evaluated on the information available to the decision makers and a reasonable evaluation of the consequences of all options. It seems to me that, in August 1945, and at the end point of a number of poor decisions, based on the best information available, using the Atomic bomb appeared to be the option that would end the war fastest with the least additional loss of life. Including information not available to them reinforces this conclusion.

Personal note: When US troops landed in Japan, they were not sure what to expect so they landed in assault formation. My father led a rifle platoon in the first wave. In the normal course of these events, if the landing was opposed, he would have died five years before I was born.

Update: 7 September 2005, 13 April 2011

Dr Rummel considered some new information and modified his position (Link Dead)

Memorial Day

.

Let us Pray

Father

Today, though mindful of our faults, we remember those who have died in the service of their country, for it was your Son who taught us that there is no greater love than he who gives his life for another.

We ask you to take those who have died into the warmth of your presence.

We ask for strength an comfort for their families.

We ask that those who were wounded have a speedy recovery and a long and happy life.

We thank you for those who have retuned safely home.

Most of all we ask that we will never have to add to the list of those we remember this day.

Thy will be done.

We ask this through our Lord and Savior, your Son Jesus Christ, and in union with the Holy Spirit.

Amen