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Memorial Day Out-of-Character

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Ladies and gentlemen of the Cube and visitors to our site, sometimes it is needful to drop the barbs of satire and write in true sincerity. I feel that today, Memorial Day, is such an event.

It is a day of remembrance to honor those in the uniformed services who have died in the service of this nation. To date, some 848,000 have been killed in combat or combat-related operations, and an additional 437,000 have died of other causes while in service--primarily disease or other hardship in the days before modern medicine or logistics developed. They came from the farms and the mines, from the factories and the universities, from the docksides and from the upper reaches of high society. They spoke a variety of different languages, worshipped in a myriad of different ways (or not at all) and, if you were to trace their family trees, had roots stretching back to every inhabited continent.

The one thing they had in common was that they responded to their nation's call. Some volunteered. Some were drafted to serve. For some, it was a choice of military service or jail. Regardless of the mechanism, all donned the uniform and took the oath. Today we honor those who stood by that oath to the death.

Please take a moment today to remember these men and women. For those of you of my own faith, please join me in prayer:

Lord,
Thank you for these souls who did their duty.
We remember them today with solemn honor, and pray that they are with you now.
We ask your comfort for those who still grieve at the loss of a loved one on this day of remembrance.
We thank you for their brothers and sisters in arms who have taken the places of the fallen, and pray for their blessing and protection as they go in harm's way on our behalf.
We thank you for the nation that gave birth to these brave souls, and pray that we will be worthy of their sacrifices.
In Christ's Name we pray,
Amen.

"This We'll Defend."
"Semper Fidelis."
"Non Sibi Sed Patriae."
"Aim High...Fly, Fight, Win."
"Semper Paratus."

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Image Here Here! God Bless America! God Bless the men and women who serve & defend her. We must never forget their sacrifices for our freedom!

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Since we're posting out of character in this thread:



--KOOK

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Thank you Brain in Jar. Sincerely.
---
In Flanders Fields
by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD

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.

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Two quotes:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

- John Stuart Mill 1806-1873


And this one is from someone I know and consider a friend: Ilario Pantano, a former United States Marine Corps second lieutenant who served in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"Some people are meant to call 911; some people are meant to be 911."

- Ilario Pantano


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Image We can thank God for the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice so we have been able to enjoy the benefits of the greatest nation the world has known.

Let's ensure that what they fought for is restored for their children and ours, and for all of us.

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Prog Off: I believe the poem "In Flander's Fields" is associated with the Veterans of Foreign Wars. May peace and divine protection be upon all the uniformed members of the armed forces, where ever they.


 
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