To The Few Who Gave Their All

To the few that gave and sacrificed for the many of us now living.

I am remembering my paternal grandfather - whom I never knew - who volunteered to served in the Kaiserlisches Heer ( German Imperial army ) at the age of 18 in 1917.Fought against the Russians and the Bolsheviks for almost 2 years until 1919 (1918-19 as a Freikorps volunteer in Latvia). Died prematurely in 1948. A proud Prussian who faithfully served his Emperor and Germany. Rest in peace Opa!

If you could only sit down for a day and be able to ask him questions and have him tell you what he learned from life in his own words. I bet you would write a book.

My mother had two brother's that served during WWII, one a pilot that flew B-29's and one that served on a carrier in the US Navy.

On my father's side of 10 aunts and uncles. 5 brother's served during WWII, with 3 seeing action over seas.

And here is when Barny as we called him, came back stateside in 1948.

My father is second from the left sitting and Brany's wife and child are sitting right of my father. The other 3 in uniform are my father's brothers who served in WWII. One uncle who was in the US Navy is not in this particular photo. My grandmother is seated in the middle with my aunts right of her.

They are almost all gone now. All brothers-in-arms below the earth that saw them fighting and killing each other. No more enmity and bitterness just that special brotherhood that unites men who have fought and put their lives on the line.

Here's 2 videos to honour them all from all sides:

Brothers in Arms by Dire Strait a classic, very moving:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9oakm9-vjo

And Kenneth Branagh's stirring Saint Crispian's Day Battle Speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM

John F. Kennedy, inauguration address, January 1961.

"So, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

Massachusetts, Boston Commons, "Garden of Flags".

Flags at the Boston Commons, Soldiers & Sailors Monument with the 37,268 flags that represent those who gave their all from Massachusetts since the Revolutionary War to the present day.

To those who are standing watch over our countries and to the enduring memory of the many that made ultimate sacrificed for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Quote Dwight D. Eisenhower...  “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.”  







"Mr. Lonely"

Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely
I have nobody for my own
I'm so lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely
Wish I had someone to call on the phone

I'm a soldier, a lonely soldier
Away from home through no wish of my own
That's why I'm lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely
I wish that I could go back home

Letters, never a letter
I get no letters in the mail
I've been forgotten, yeah, forgotten
Oh, how I wonder how is it I failed

Now I'm a soldier, a lonely soldier
Away from home through no wish of my own
That's why I'm lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely
I wish that I could go back home