Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day 2008




Remember.


.

7 comments:

Stushie said...

Memorial Day Sonnet

If Liberty means anything to me,
I will remember what my freedom cost,
By those who gave their all to keep me free,
Whose lives were sacrificed, but never lost.
I will remind myself of what they did,
And keep them dearly cherished in my heart;
Their honor never from me shall be hid
And I will know they always did their part
To save our nation and its people here,
To pledge their lives in defense of our ways,
To show that freedom always outlives fear,
And sacrifice is hallowed all our days.
If Liberty means anything to me,
I will remember those who kept me free.


© John Stuart 2008
Pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church,
Knoxville, Tennessee

Audio at:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/stushie/Memorial_Day.mp3

Sendarius said...

I remember the ANZACS at Gallipoli
I remember the soldiers at the Somme
I remember those that fell at Arnhem
Who are never coming home

I remember the mountains of Korea
I remember the jungles of Vietnam
I remember the deserts of Iraq
A long, long way from home

I remember and I am grateful
For the lives spent not in vain
For the blood and sweat and sacrifice
That kept us safe at home

To all those men and women who fought the battles that kept us safe - I remember
To all those that carry the fight today - thank you.

Anonymous said...

Because of the men and women in Uniform today:

I don't worry about IEDs when I drive to the store.
I don't see "checkpoints" of guys with AK-47s and RPGs on my way to work.
I don't have to stay awake at night waiting for my door to be kicked in because I am not the "right" religion.
I don't live a life of fear.

Remember every day.

Anonymous said...

Joseph,
Sadly, I take issue with what you have written.

While we do not have the things that you mentioned, we do have:

Checkpoints manned by people with AR-15s to make sure that you are wearing your seatbelt and have not been drinking.

We all run the risk of our doors being kicked in, our pets shot and our families endangered. While this is not a result of differing religions per se, there is an element of differing beliefs. OTOH, it also could just be a wrong address, or a snitch needing information to sell so they make something up. No knock warrants are an abomination and their misuse moves us closer to the world that you believe our soldiers are protecting us from.

Our men and women in uniform are making heroic sacrifices and are being ill used currently. However, while they are helping to secure the blessing of freedom for the Iraqi people, whether the Iraqis want it or not, they are not necessarily protecting us.

Yes, I know that the Islamic terrorists are a ptential threat. However, the likelihood that we would see jihadists manning roadblocks with AKs and RPGs, not to mention the specter of IEDs, is vanishingly small. CAIR, and various other NGOs would not allow it. They have more lattitude to operate currently. With the advent of IED attacks in major US cities, and jihadist roadblocks, the anti-discrimintation laws would go away or be ignored. At the very least the bias against racial profiling would end up disappearing.

Please think about these things. Look at what is happening critically and engage your brain before spouting off propaganda.

Anonymous said...

Tam,
Poignant as always.

Anonymous said...

I love that photo. Picture worth a thousand words and so on. I hope I told you that last year as well.

the pawnbroker said...

"Our men and women in uniform are making heroic sacrifices and are being ill used currently. However, while they are helping to secure the blessing of freedom for the Iraqi people, whether the Iraqis want it or not, they are not necessarily protecting us"

"engage your brain before spouting propaganda"

gregg, you would do well to heed your own words as you spout your own propagandized opinions...

jtc