Go to the main page here and find the link to the audio slide presentation first (click on “Audio Slide Show” on the right hand side of the middle of the page not far down from the top). Next take the time to read through the full print story with pictures here (a 19 page PDF file).
There is no way I am going to spoil it for you by saying anything about the specific story line, but know this: I had to walk around in silence after the audio slide show just to pull myself together–KSH.
I remember when this story was published – it rightly won the Pulitzer for both writing and photography.
MEMORIAL DAY
The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings today.
The road is rhythmic with the feet
Of men-at-arms who come to pray.
The rose blossoms white and red
On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
And martial music cleaves the sky.
Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
They kept the faith and fought the fight.
Through flying lead and crimson steel
They plunged for Freedom and the Right.
May we, their grateful children, learn
Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
At last the accolade of God.
In shining rank on rank arrayed,
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace. . . who brought a sword.
By: Alfred Joyce Kilmer
Very powerful, Kendall. Thank you for posting this.
Thanks, Kendall. Makes me think long and hard having served in two of our armed forces. Thankful to be home, mourning today for all who did not come home. Praying for the Peace of God that passes all understanding to help us find a way not to have these pictures repeated. Can that happen? Please God . . .
I could not stop weeping, even as I carried on an IM with my US Army Corporal son in Baghdad between watching the video and reading the story. I am weeping still.
Why does this happen? Edmund Burke said it: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Sometimes, the thing good men must do is to give “that last full measure of devotion”.
Thanks, Kendall, for posting this.
Wow!
Thank you Kendall for posting this. I watched the slide show and read the entire article. It got harder as I went since my sight got VERY blurred from the tears. I see that this article and the photographer won Pulitzer Prizes. The fact is that they did more to elevate the value of the Pulitzer Prize than the prize did for their article. (I hope I put that right-I mean that the Article would have been great with or without the prize but the Prize’s value is increased due to the fact that such a story won the prize.)
Let us remember our Fallen heroes. No matter what one might think about the War or the Politics involved, please remember the families. The Widows, The Parents, The Children, The Siblings, the Aunts, Uncles etc. No man is an island!
OUr heroes lie in graves around the World. They lie in Flanders Fields, Arlington National Cemetery and in Small Cemeteries around this nation. If you visit a veteran’s grave this Memorial Day, remember that the person bought your freedom. Freedom is not Free.
Again, Kendall, thank you for posting this. It makes the craziness of ECUSA/TEC and all that pale in comparison.
Chip Byers, Proud Son of A WWII Veteran
Vice-Commander Elect, Detachment of Virginia, Son’s of the American Legion
How does one say “Thank you” for a sacrifices such as these? Do we spend a few moments being thankful for our freedoms? This is just not adequate. Do we use our freedoms to the max and live a libertine lifestyle? I am amazed how common this attitude is. No, I have been forced by the gift given me to a far different conclusion and conviction.
For me to be thankful for the great sacrifice requires me to to not use my freedoms to be the least that I can be but rather I must use my freedoms to be the most that I can be; the best Christian, the best husband/father/grandfather, the best citizen that I can be. If I do less, how can I think myself thankful?
God bless the families of those dear ones lost on our account, and may we be truly thankful.
Don Gander