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To all my fellow current and prior US service members...I'm proud to be among you...

Agreed!!!!!!!! Have a great Veterans Day all.

Here here!!!!

"In Flanders Fields"
by John McCrae

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.

To all who who have stood or are standing in harm's way, thank you.

Chez

Thanks to all who have served. We owe you more than words can say.

Here's to my Dad, my uncles and all the other fathers and uncles past and present that have served our country!!!![&o]

ORIGINAL: Kwik E Mart

To all my fellow current and prior US service members...I'm proud to be among you...

Most of us are proud to stand behind you !!!
Probably every member of this forum anyway.

Today is also the Polish Independence Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Independence_Day

St. Crispen's Day Speech
William Shakespeare, 1599

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.


Whipple

[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o]

Yep, Freedom isn't free as the song goes. But I have to confess I'm glad I fought in the first Gulf War, not the current one. Warmest regards to all who serve or have served.

My thoughts are with the troops in all parts of the world. As it was Remembrance Day here yesterday (Nov 11th) it is certainly a time for reflection on the scarifices made by many brave young men (and women too)of many nations.
"Lest we forget"


Edit:NM!

Happy Veterans day , and thanks to all who have served, and to those that are still serving.

To the rest of the world, I hope you celebrated Remembrance or Armistice Day in a suitable manner.
 
Stealing the lines from the Kohima memorial.
 [center][font=verdana]When you go home, tell them of us and say,
"for your tomorrow we gave our today"[/font][/center][center] [/center][font=verdana]These memorable words, engraved on the 2nd division Memorial at Kohima that marks those fallen in the Burma campaign during the second world war, have become quoted at the remembrance services almost as frequently as the third verse of Laurence Binyon’s poem for the fallen adopted as the RBBL’s traditional Exhortation. Many think that the words were composed by an inspired regimental padre who had officiated at the burial of a comrade on the field of battle.[/font]
[font=verdana]However their origin lies over 2400 years earlier – in 480 BC in fact.[/font]
[font=verdana]The epigram, because that is what it is, was originally composed by the Greek poet Simonides (557 BC to 476 BC) who specialised in composing poems in celebration of victories and for monuments to heroic figures.[/font]
[font=verdana]In the summer of 280 BC a small force of 300 Spartan soldiers, famous Greek warriors from the city-state of Sparta, led by their King Leonidas, successfully held the mountain pass at Themopylae, a key defense feature linking northern and southern Greece, against a large invading army under the Persian King Xerxes. The Spartan objective was to protect the Greek fleet, then engaged in battle off the nearby coast.[/font]
[font=verdana]However, due to the treachery of a local man, an enemy force was led over the mountains to attack the Spartans from the rear. Thus surrounded, Leonidas sent a warning message to the fleet while he and his gallant 300, heavily outnumbered and surrounded, fought the Persians to the very last man. By deliberately sacrificing their own lives, they enabled the fleet to make a safe retreat.[/font]
[font=verdana]This was recognised as a feat of outstanding valor, a shining example of selfless courage and devotion to duty against hopeless odds.[/font]
[font=verdana]This noble tradition of self-sacrifice to save the lives of comrades has been repeated many times in the profession of arms – not least in the traditions of the British military forces.[/font]
[font=verdana]Simonides was moved to mark this single act of heroism by composing the famous epigram under the title The Three Hundred who fell at the Battle of Thermopylae (480BC) and it was subsequently translated from the Ancient Greek into English by the distinguished classical scholar J.Maxwell Edmonds of Jesus College, Cambridge. It is this translation that is engraved on the Kohima memorial.[/font]