BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC WHAT's YOURS ?

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P-51 Cadillac of the skies !

___________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tztl6ZEjrw4

___________________________

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This was in a old magazine that my dad, a WWII vet, has. He served in Company Bof the 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 11th Airborne Division, 1944-1946.



"Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gal, and Madaleine Carroll is too.

But you'll find if you query, a different theory, among any bomber crew.

For the loveliest thing of which one could sing this side of the heavenly gates,

is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set, but a escort of P-38s.

Sure we're braver than hell, on the ground all is swell, but in the air it's a different story.

We sweat out our track through the fighters and flack, we're willing to split up the glory.

Well theywould'nt reject us so heaven protect us and until all this shooting abates,

give us thecourage to fight 'em and one other small item. A escort of P-38s."

Author unknown

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None of us have ever heard it,

none of us ever will;

There's no one left who can give it,

though you may hear it's echo still.



You may hear it up near Manassas,

and down around Gaines Mill;

In December it echos in Fredricksburg,

in May, around Chancellorsville.



It's the "pibroch of Southern fealty",

it's a Comanche brave's battle cry;

It's a English huntsman's call to the hounds,

it's a pig farmer's call to the sty.



It's a high pitched trilling falsetto,

it's the yip of a dog in flight;

It's the scream of a wounded panther,

it's the shriek of the wind in the night.



It was yelled when the boys flushed a rabbit,

it was passed man to man in the ranks;

It was cheered when they saw their leaders,

it was screamed when they whipped the Yanks.



But none of us will ever hear it,

Though some folks mimic it well;

No soul alive can truly describe,

the sound of the Rebel Yell.



My great, great Grandfather did his share of rebel yelling when he was in Company I, 4th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hood's Texas Brigade in 1862-1863.

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Sonora Rebel,,my generation also. That and "Arlington" makes a tear run down my eyes every time.
To my fallen Comrades, all gave some, some gave all,,,another good one

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Huck wrote:

This was in a old magazine that my dad, a WWII vet, has. He served in Company Bof the 127th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 11th Airborne Division, 1944-1946.



"Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gal, and Madaleine Carroll is too.

But you'll find if you query, a different theory, among any bomber crew.

For the loveliest thing of which one could sing this side of the heavenly gates,

is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set, but a escort of P-38s.

Sure we're braver than hell, on the ground all is swell, but in the air it's a different story.

We sweat out our track through the fighters and flack, we're willing to split up the glory.

Well theywould'nt reject us so heaven protect us and until all this shooting abates,

give us thecourage to fight 'em and one other small item. A escort of P-38s."

Author unknown

Click to expand...

LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING

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I prefer the poems of Wilfred Owen (British WWI casualty). Dark and possibly seditious stuff, but very effective.

-ljp

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Legba wrote:

I prefer the poems of Wilfred Owen (British WWI casualty). Dark and possibly seditious stuff, but very effective.

-ljp

Click to expand...

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That's the guy. He got shot and killed the last week of the war. The news of his death supposedly reached his mother just as the bells were sounding to celebrate the armistice.

-ljp

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In Flanders Fields

[size=+1]In Flanders Fields the poppies blow[/size]
[size=+1]Between the crosses row on row,[/size]
[size=+1]That mark our place; and in the sky[/size]
[size=+1]The larks, still bravely singing, fly[/size]
[size=+1]Scarce heard amid the guns below.[/size]
[size=+1][/size]

[size=+1]We are the Dead. Short days ago[/size]
[size=+1]We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,[/size]
[size=+1]Loved and were loved, and now we lie[/size]
[size=+1]In Flanders fields.[/size]
[size=+1][/size]

[size=+1]Take up our quarrel with the foe:[/size]
[size=+1]To you from failing hands we throw[/size]
[size=+1]The torch; be yours to hold it high.[/size]
[size=+1]If ye break faith with us who die[/size]
[size=+1]We shall not sleep, though poppies grow[/size]
[size=+1]In Flanders fields.[/size]



By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
[size=+1]Canadian Army[/size]

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Then and Now


Some of us were vet'rans...

Most of us were green

An old man was in his 30's

To a kid who's just 18



Most of us came home from that

But some are back there still

'Neith the waters of the Tonkin Gulf

Or ina hole on some damned hill



We loaded out those aircraft

With bombs from World War Two

Armed with fuzes just as old

We'd be lucky if they blew



I can see their faces still

Their flight suits of olive green

We all gave their last salute

As theylaunched their war machine



Mostof usgrew older

There's some who never would

Launched from those27 Charlies

And those old flight decks of wood



I hand salute to my cowboy hat

As taps were played this day

O're men 'neith Arizona's skies

Their brass markers in array



I read the names from both World Wars

Korea and Vietnam

Along with some from Desert Storm

Some younger than I am



Yeah... That's what I did this Memorial Day

No Sales or Bar-B-Que's

I stood with thosebowed graying heads

From the VFW's



Author: Me

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Okay, here it is. Can't let Memorial Day go without it:

[align=center]THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD[/align]
[align=center]Arlington Cemetery February 17 1997[/align]
[align=center]"This is for your Daddy. He died in the War" the young mother said [/align]
[align=center]to her little son as she arranged the flowers to decorate[/align]
[align=center]the grave. There are those[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]Others, who have no grave, who were mangled beyond recognition [/align]
[align=center]or so torn to pieces in the grinding howling fiery Hell that separates Tyranny from Freedom[/align]
[align=center]That nothing remained of them. These[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]Have a Tomb. In a place[/align]
[align=center]Called Arlington, a lone Guard halts at smart attention. The "POP!" of heel meeting heel[/align]
[align=center]Rings out like a rifle fired in Salute.[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]POP! The Guard does left-face, and stares down the vale beside the Tomb.[/align]
[align=center]Dare not approach and disturb the Rest of these Slain! [/align]
[align=center]POP! Click-Clack! The guard again does Left-face and the Rifle[/align]
[align=center]Gives a click-clack warning as it goes to left-shoulder arms. With its sharp and gleaming Bayonet.[/align]
[align=center]It will ever be between this Sacred Tomb and any who would dare approach.[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]A twenty-one second pause, then[/align]
[align=center]As soft as shadows on the grass[/align]
[align=center]Twenty-one steps in an arrow-straight line then:[/align]
[align=center]POP! pause POP! Click-clack! until...[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]Deep and solemn chimes ring out. Suddenly[/align]
[align=center]A sergeant approaches with a relief guard, fresh and alert[/align]
[align=center]The sergeant inspects the relief guard. Nothing but perfection every way will do,[/align]
[align=center]Words are but terse commands, and few.[/align]
[align=center]Finally the guards face each other. The Orders are exchanged:[/align]
[align=center]"POSTINGS AND ORDERS[/align]
[align=center]REMAIN AS DIRECTED"[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]Four more comands from the Sergeant, then: POP! - pause - POP! Click-clack![/align]
[align=center]And another guard walks 21 steps. This [/align]
[align=center]Wil continue until the very hours that prompt the Chimes cease to exist,[/align]
[align=center]For here, more, MUCH more than a Palace or Treasury of Gold;[/align]
[align=center]Here are buried the hopes, the dreams, the VERY LIVES of those who never returned. These, their delegation, lie here benath the inscription:[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]HERE RESTS[/align]
[align=center]IN HONORED GLORY[/align]
[align=center]AN AMERICAN SOLDIER[/align]
[align=center]KNOWN BUT TO GOD[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]You who live in this country,[/align]
[align=center]You who pronounce the milk rancid and the Honey bitter even as you gorge yourselves on both, consider now[/align]
[align=center]These Honored Dead, and consider[/align]
[align=center]That BUT FOR THEIR SACRIFICE you might live in a place where you would be dead[/align]
[align=center]Should you offer anything but praise to the Powers that Be. So now praise God for the Fruits of the Tree[/align]
[align=center]Of Liberty. The blood of these Slain were its necessary fertilizer. Their bodies[/align]
[align=center]Were broken by the raging tide of Tyranny[/align]
[align=center]So that it may not so much as wash over your feet.[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]And you, whose Loved One never returned,[/align]
[align=center]This is for your Daddy, who died in the War.[/align]
[align=center]My own father survived. When I asked him to come and tell about his war, he said:[/align]
[align=center]"If they want to know about war,[/align]
[align=center]Then let them come to Arlington"[/align]
[align=center][/align]
[align=center]Where the dead rest in Honored Glory[/align]
[align=center]and the Postings and Orders[/align]
[align=center]Remain[/align]
[align=center]As Directed[/align]
[align=center](F. Allen Norman Jr, in memoriam to all who served and sacrificed. "Some gave All")[/align]

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Alexcabbie wrote:

Wonder if Obama laid a wreath at the Confederate Memorial at Arlington just as every other president has??

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FYI ...

he did

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7669826&page=1

(little bitty mention at the bottom of the story)

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Gentlemen.. all of you.

I only had a few moments to scan these two pages of postings, but what I saw will be read in its entirety by me tomorrow as I don't wish to miss a word. Some truly moving words and comments. It is nice to be among fellow patriots.

Thank you!

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R a Z o R wrote:

P-51 Cadillac of the skies !

___________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tztl6ZEjrw4

___________________________

Click to expand...

My two favorite aircraft of WWII. The P51 Mustang and the B29 Superfort. Amazing machines.

The United States outproduced every other combatant in the war and in several cases, more than the rest of the world's countries combined. A quote from a famous German general;

"When the United States enters a theater of operations with its full resources brought to bear, there can be no hope for victory." (Erwin Rommel)

The numbers are truly staggering. At one point we were producing a bomber every two minutes. We built over 325,000 war planes, over 87,000 war ships, of which 141 were carriers. Our merchant marine was twice the size of the rest of the world's combined. We produced more tanks in one month than Germany did in a year (1944). And we developed nuclear weapons. Japan's and Germany's fate was sealed when we entered the war.

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Too bad they shut down one of the more important steel mills of the war. Geneva Steel.

Shut it down for environmental reasons. Of course taking with it many jobs and production capacity this country desperately needs right now.

Truly moving words posted by all.

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SouthernBoy wrote:

R a Z o R wrote:

P-51 Cadillac of the skies !

___________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tztl6ZEjrw4

___________________________

Click to expand...

My two favorite aircraft of WWII. The P51 Mustang and the B29 Superfort. Amazing machines.

The United States outproduced every other combatant in the war and in several cases, more than the rest of the world's countries combined. A quote from a famous German general;

"When the United States enters a theater of operations with its full resources brought to bear, there can be no hope for victory." (Erwin Rommel)

The numbers are truly staggering. At one point we were producing a bomber every two minutes. We built over 325,000 war planes, over 87,000 war ships, of which 141 were carriers. Our merchant marine was twice the size of the rest of the world's combined. We produced more tanks in one month than Germany did in a year (1944). And we developed nuclear weapons. Japan's and Germany's fate was sealed when we entered the war.

Click to expand...

Every now and then I will run into one of those mealy-mouth know-it-alls who claim that the Soviet Union was really responsible for defeating Nazi Germany and that the U.S. and Brits would have been creamed without them. They refuse to realize that without U.S. monetary and materiel aid (frinstance about 500 Bell Airacobras, which the Russkies loved for their 30 mm nose cannon's utility at busting German armor) the Soviet Union would have wound up being part of Greater Germania before D-Day.