For all our brothers and sisters who gave that last full measure

[sarge43]

What we owe them can never be repaid. May they rest in peace.

They dropped like flakes, they dropped like stars,
Like petals from a rose,
When suddenly across the June
A wind with fingers goes.

They perished in the seamless grass, --
No eye could find the place;
But God on his repealless list
Can summon every face.

Emily Dickinson

[Breeze54]

1. That's a beautiful tribute, sarge43...

Thanks for sharing it. :hug:

[TomInTib]

2. I can remember every face...

But that old Devil, Time, has stolen most of their names.

[jody]

3. I agree, names escape me but I remember vignettes with crystal clarity.

:toast: to my friends who defended our country while politicians failed to do their duty.

Words from General Douglas MacArthur's farewell speech to the Corps of Cadets at West Point seem appropriate for those of us who have served our country.

Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds. But serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war guardians, as its lifeguards from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiators in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.

Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as firm and complete as they should be.

These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.

You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the Nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds.