Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest
Green Fields of France, Dropkick Murphys
Being the son of a soldier, Veteran’s Day is always difficult for me. When I think of all the young men and women who have died in the service, I can only wonder if the day comes that we won’t have to bury our young in such numbers.
I love you, Dad.
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I didn’t know that song….it reduced me to tears.
The Dropkick Murphy’s are a (I hesitate to say it) Celtic punk band and are the voice of Boston. This is in character with their writing, but not their normal sound.
As witness the typo…
Fixed.
As I watched your beautiful video I was reduced to tears as I remembered Ed’s and my visit to the cemetery at Omaha beach. He served in Korea and I received his flag in the cemetery at his funeral. Thank you.
It’s good for us to remember, Kalli. The Saint Laurent cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach is moving beyond words.
Thank you, Friend…
My pleasure, dear Rose. So sorry I missed you in Boston! So close!
Very moving. In my generation, all of us memorized “In Flanders Field the poppies grow…..”
My brother posted a Wilfrid Owen poem, Uriconium An Ode
It lieth low near merry England’s heart
Like a long-buried sin; and Englishmen
Forget that in its death their sires had part.
And, like a sin, Time lays it bare again
To tell of races wronged,
And ancient glories suddenly overcast,
And treasures flung to fire and rabble wrath.
If thou hast ever longed
To lift the gloomy curtain of Time Past,
And spy the secret things that Hades hath,
Here through this riven ground take such a view.
The dust, that fell unnoted as a dew,
Wrapped the dead city’s face like mummy-cloth:
All is as was: except for worm and moth.
Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, McCrae – it seems that their voices don’t fade but we just don’t listen.
How true!
It’s good to remember, moreso for the sake of avoiding the same mistakes than for waving the bloody flag. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori? Nah, I’ll just move to Canada.
Moving to Canada is not a safe bet. There is the best part of a Canadian corps buried at Vimy Ridge.
That is true, I believe more Canadians–or Australians, I can’t remember–stormed the beaches on Normandy than Americans.
I’ve not heard that, Nathan. I know that a US corps landed at both Utah and Omaha (2 divisions each), a British Corps at Sword. And Juno had a Canadian corps. But there were supplementary units so that may change the numbers. (Sorry, as a soldier’s son, I’m a military history geek). As for WWI, the horrors were unparalleled. When Shackleton was rescued from his Endurance expedition in 1916, the first thing he asked was who won the war. His rescuers replied “Millions have died. Europe has gone mad.”
Dennis, this is profound, both the lyrics and the photos. Thank you for sharing. No matter which army, no matter the cause, such sacrifice must be remembered. And each time we remember, they know.