Thank you Veterans

nikonpup

Senior Member
22687753_1086864321450079_5897826416732850679_n.jpgthank you!
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Thank you veterans and let's never forget. Although he was Canadian, my father did serve in second world war. Every year I try to take a photo of some of the souvenirs he left for me to remember.

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canuck257

Senior Member
Thank you all for you kind thoughts. For many of us veterans this day brings sadness for friends no longer here and gratitude that we are.
 

canuck257

Senior Member
You might enjoy this?

Just a Common Soldier

He was getting old and paunchy, and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past,
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies, they were heroes, every one.

Tho’ sometimes to his neighbours, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke,
But we’ll hear his tales no longer, for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer – for a Soldier died today.

He’ll not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary, quiet and uneventful life,
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way;
And the world won’t note his passing – though a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great,
Papers tell their life stories from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a Soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife
Goes off to serve his country and offers up his life?

A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives,
While the ordinary soldier who offers up his all
Is paid off with a medal, and perhaps a pension, small.

It’s so easy to forget them, for it was so long ago
That the “Old Bill” of our country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger with your enemies at hand?
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a Soldier who was sworn to defend
His home, his kin and country, and would fight until the end?

He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we might need his like again,
For when the countries are in conflict then we find the Solder’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honour while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days,
Perhaps just a little headline in a paper that would say:
“Our country is in Mourning – For a Soldier Died Today”.
(ANON)
 

Kevin H

Senior Member
You might enjoy this?

Just a Common Soldier

He was getting old and paunchy, and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion telling stories of the past,
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies, they were heroes, every one.

Tho’ sometimes to his neighbours, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke,
But we’ll hear his tales no longer, for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer – for a Soldier died today.

He’ll not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary, quiet and uneventful life,
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way;
And the world won’t note his passing – though a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great,
Papers tell their life stories from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a Soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife
Goes off to serve his country and offers up his life?

A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives,
While the ordinary soldier who offers up his all
Is paid off with a medal, and perhaps a pension, small.

It’s so easy to forget them, for it was so long ago
That the “Old Bill” of our country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger with your enemies at hand?
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a Soldier who was sworn to defend
His home, his kin and country, and would fight until the end?

He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we might need his like again,
For when the countries are in conflict then we find the Solder’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honour while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days,
Perhaps just a little headline in a paper that would say:
“Our country is in Mourning – For a Soldier Died Today”.
(ANON)

Wow no better words have been spoken as to the above and so true
 

canuck257

Senior Member
This one was written by my brother a Royal Navy veteran after he and I accompanied my father (WW 2 veteran) to the last reunion of the Dunkirk Veterans Association.

The Reunion

I shook hands with heroes today
Hands that played cards on an ammunition box
And I heard their stories of friendship

I shook hands with heroes today
Hands that wrote letters home
And I heard their stories of love

I shook hands with heroes today
Hands that held a gun
And I heard their stories of death

I shook hands with heroes today
Hands that now lean upon a cane
And I heard their stories of life

I shook hands with heroes today
I held on longer than usual
Trying to gain an ounce of the strength
That still lies in twisted fingers and tattooed arms
I looked at the medals that make them stand tall
I looked at the wet cheeks as the heroes recall

I shook hands with heroes today
And I heard their stories
 

wev

Senior Member
Contributor
To the memory of my great aunt, Dorothy Tessen.
She enlisted in 1939, spent WWII in the Philippines, New Guinea, North Africa, Italy, France, Germany, and England. She was in Korea for the duration of that mess, was chief of nurses at Fort Sam Houston, did a stint in Vietnam, and retired a full colonel in 1974. Though she was among the five ranking female officers at the time and the only one awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious action, she was passed over for a General's star because she was known (unofficially, of course) to be a lesbian. She never made a deal of it; when I asked her, she just said 'we are what we are, they do what they do.'

8076th MASH Unit, Korea. She wrote on the back "dec '52 -- bout 15 deg -- balmy"

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