Monday, May 28, 2007

The sun was slowly sinking o'er the hilltops far away...

Memorial Day, 2007.




National World War II Memorial website (click it and add your loved ones who served in the war)

Lyrics courtesy of The Carter Family....

(and another website for you to check out: http://www.carterfamilyfold.org/)


The Dying Soldier

The sun was slowly sinking o'er the hilltops far away
The land was endless beauty where the dying soldier lay
Tears were streaming down his face as he slowly raised his head
And these were the dying words he said

Oh carry me back to old Tennessee
Let this be my last repose
Lay my feet beneath while I lie
Lay my head beneath the rose

Take this message to my mother for I know she's old and gray
At home I know she's waiting for her boy's return some day
Oh my mother I've come through for my country and for you
And I'm dying for the red white and blue

O'er the hills of Tennessee where the wild wind wanders free
There's a little girl waiting there for me
Tell her that the rose she gave me will be placed upon my grave
In memory of her soldier brave

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!" ~Albert Einstein

"It is characteristic of the military mentality that nonhuman factors (atom bombs, strategic bases, weapons of all sorts, the possession of raw materials, etc) are held essential, while the human being, his desires, and thoughts - in short, the psychological factors - are considered as unimportant and secondary...The individual is degraded...to "human materiel." ~Albert Einstein

"To my mind, to kill in war is not a whit better than to commit ordinary murder." ~Albert Einstein


but hey, he was just a genius ;)

Jen said...

taqdeer, I think you misunderstood the reason for my post. It was not about blind patriotism. As you may, or may not, have noticed, I am not an American. My post was meant to reflect how sad war is. That war means loss: loss of love, loss of life, loss of respect. I have great respect for Einsten. I also have great respect for men who chose to do what they thought was right. World War II was fought because of our belief that our allies and ourselves were threatened. I just find it so sad that we have to go to war at all, for any reason.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jen...hope you had a nice Memorial Day. The poem and vintage picture are touching...are those lyrics to a song? I guess the Canadian equivalent to the Memorial Day is Remembrance Day...right?

Jen said...

Hi daydreamsupercollider, it was pretty quiet. We bought a new grill to go with our new house, so I used that to great effect and flourish yesterday. The song is from a folk/country group called The Carter Family. They started back in the 1920's, there's a link in the post about them. As for Remembrance Day, we actually have a holiday on the same day (November 11th), Veteran's Day. It's more about honouring the living veterans as opposed to the deceased ones. Hope you had a great Victoria Day weekend!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jen :)

I understand :)

It was a beautiful post, I just did the first thing that came to mind :)

Make no mistake, as shallow as I find fighting, I would definately also get up and fight if my loved ones or home was threatened :)

..and i did notice you're not american :)