Presidential Proclamation: Veteran's Day 2004

[Torog]

Presidential Proclamation: Veteran's Day 2004 (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1277176/posts)
President of the United States of America ^ (http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/11/20041109-5.html) | 11.9.04 | George W. Bush


Posted on 11/11/2004


Veterans Day, 2004
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation





Americans live in freedom because of our veterans' courage, dedication to duty, and love of country. On Veterans Day, we honor these brave men and women who have served in our Armed Forces and defended our Nation.



Across America, there are more than 25 million veterans. Their ranks include generations of citizens who have risked their lives while serving in military conflicts, including World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and the war on terror. They have fought for the security of our country and the peace of the world. They have defended our founding ideals, protected the innocent, and liberated the oppressed from tyranny and terror. They have known the hardships and the fears and the tragic losses of war. Our veterans know that in the harshest hours of conflict they serve just and honorable purposes.



Through the years, our veterans have returned home from their duties to become active and responsible citizens in their communities, further contributing to the growth and development of our Nation. Their commitment to service inspires all Americans.



With respect for and in recognition of the contributions our service men and women have made to the cause of peace and freedom around the world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a legal public holiday to honor veterans.



NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2004, as Veterans Day and urge all Americans to observe November 7 through November 13, 2004, as National Veterans Awareness Week. I urge all Americans to recognize the valor and sacrifice of our veterans through ceremonies and prayers. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States and to encourage and participate in patriotic activities in their communities. I invite civic and fraternal organizations, places of worship, schools, businesses, unions, and the media to support this national observance with commemorative expressions and programs.



IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-ninth.



GEORGE W. BUSH

[Torog]

" Americans live in freedom because of our veterans' courage, dedication to duty, and love of country. On Veterans Day, we honor these brave men and women who have served in our Armed Forces and defended our Nation. "

I wish to salute all my fellow veterans this day. I pray that God will keep you well-and I pray that God will protect those soldiers who are in harm's way..I pray that all of our soldiers return home-safe and sound-to their families and loved ones..Amen.

[RESiNATE]

At last, eh Torog?

In the UK, we ALWAYS observe a minute's silence at 11o'clock, November 11th, for those who fought in the world wars. Although there is no public holiday, you can usually hear a pin drop at 11o'clock.

I'm glad to see that the American Government, has FINALLY recognised the same respect due.

"Lest We Forget"
11:00, 11/11

Res...

[Torog]

Howdy Res,

America,has honored their veterans and soldiers,for many years..so I'm not sure what you mean by "at last" ?

[RESiNATE]

Oh, forgive me, Torog...I thought that the post you put up was the first time that the US gov. had formally recognised a day of rememberence for those who have fallen in combat.

I'm sorry, and stand corrected :)

Res...

[Byker]

In the UK, we ALWAYS observe a minute's silence at 11o'clock, November 11th, for those who fought in the world wars. Although there is no public holiday, you can usually hear a pin drop at 11o'clock.


As it should be.

The hands-down, saddest song I know is, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda," by Eric Bogle. This song is about the experience of the Australians and New Zealanders in Gallipoli, the peninsula formed by the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles strait in Turkey. These troops were there in a disasterous campaign against the Turks from April through December 1915.

The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) finally withdrew, ceding the battlefield to the Turks, but only after 180,000 ANZAC and 220,000 Turks were killed, wounded or missing. By comparison for Americans, the three day Battle of Gettysburg resulted in 58,000 casualties, and the month-long Battle of the Bulge in World War II cost 70 - 80,000 US and about 68,000 German casualties. It's difficult to imagine what those men must have lived through for eight long months.

The version of the song I'm most familiar with is by the Pogues, an Irish folk / punk band from the 80s and early 90s. It's been covered by many performers, though. And it's the only song that makes me cry every time I hear it or read the lyrics.


"The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", by Eric Bogle

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover.
From the Murrays green basin, to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over.

Then in nineteen fifteen my country said, "Son,"
"It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun,
And they sent me away to the war.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli.

How well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water.
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.

Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well,
He chased us with bullets, and he rained us with shells,
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell,
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again.

Now for those who were left we tried hard to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive,
While the corpses around me piled higher.

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it'd done, Christ, I wished I was dead!
Never knew there were worse things than dying.

For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near,
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me.

They collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.

And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be,
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me --
To grieve and to mourn and to pity.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away.

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory.

The old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore,
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war,
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question.

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call.
But year after year, their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts can be heard as they march past the billabong,
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?


If you're interested in the Pogues version of this song, it's on their early album
Rum, Sodomy and the Lash (http://www.pogues.com/Releases/Lyrics/LPs/RumSodomy/Waltzing.html). My mother-in-law gave me this album for my birthday. This makes me the only son-in-law who's ever gotten rum, sodomy and the lash from his mum-in-law. :)

[sawleaf]

I respect Veterans Day, but Bush can shove those words up his ass. They don't mean much coming from a man who joined the guard to stay out of war, and had a shitty record serving. Now he is is all about sending kids to war, although he has no idea what combat is like.

[F L E S H]

In Canada, we observe Rememberance Day. Anyone who donates money to veterans gets a little plastic poppy, and everywhere you go you hear this poem written by a Canadian military medic during WWI, John McCrae:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely sing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

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