Thanks to Ron Fleischer for 'Lest We Forget','Remember','Freedom','She Served Too'

...

Dedicated to my Father
THEODORE JOHN HALPIN
Who proudly served in WW I

Thank-you Daddy
I never understood
I love you

Thanks to Joe Casal .for the pic above and all of his help

DULCE ET DECORUM EST by: Wildred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags,
We cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Bitter as the cud Of vile,
Incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
["It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country"]

Owen 1921: Original Text Reference.
Composition Date: 1918.
Publication Date: 1921. I. Lancashire Rep.
Poetry: Owens 1921: 15.

Dedicated to my Sister
LOIS JOYCE 'HALPIN' SCHUMACHER
a nurse in WW II

Thank-you Lois for being there and caring

Mantle of Blue

There is a lady, all dressed in blue,
Always walking somewhere beside you.
With a heart that is pierced in a thousand ways,
She carries the cross of those lying in graves.

She walks with such a silent pace,
And only a tear defines her face.
She smiles at the young ones: innocent and well,
Yet never forgets those left in 'hell'.

She remembers, helpless, as she stands by their graves,
How through generations; they gave and they gave.
Under white crosses, in fields, they now lay:
The sons of the sons, who fought the brigades.

She remembers them all, this mother of sorrow,
And prays for a more peaceful tomorrow.

'''Mantle of Blue' used by permission

God Bless our POW/MIA's from all conflicts
And their families
Have they not suffered long enough?
Bring them home !

Thanks to Sharon Quinn for making this background to honor those who did not come home

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