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| Memorial Day-2005 |
That poem about where “poppies blow”
And, “the crosses, row on row”
Still rings true, these ninety years
After written, still brings tears.
We still have Dead, “amid the guns”
And lose our young and our loved ones
Those who lived, “short days ago”
Who, “felt dawn, saw sunset glow”.
In Flanders Fields, “the poppy red”
Still grow near where the blood was bled
They, “Take up our quarrel with the foe”
And still die for Freedoms that we know.
They pass, “The torch” to, “hold it high”
And not, “break the faith with us who die”
For they, “shall not sleep, though poppies grow”
Beneath all those, “crosses, row on row”
In Flanders Fields.
Del “Abe” Jones
4-25-2005
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| SOLDIER TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING
BY KT | 
(AP Photo/LM Otero)
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A military judge threw out PFC (private first class) Lynndie England's guilty plea to prisoner abuse in Iraqnam, saying he was not convinced that she knew her actions were wrong at the time. GOOD MOVE!
Private Charles Graner Jr., the supposedly ringleader in the embarrassing situation apparently dropped the bombshell when the defense either made a mistake or Graner took things into his own hands. All along, I've felt that Graner was simply stupid and that England was a smitten immature National Guardsman who should have been back at her local Dairy Queen serving up yogurt rather than being in Iraq. A colossal mistake. Not to mention the fact that none of the "higher ups" went down for this lapse in leadership.
I would never minimize the actions of Graner and England, but somehow, it smacks at unbelievable injustice to have these two take the fall merely for being stupid. Graner's comment that the photos were to be used as legitimate training aids for other guards indicates to me that he ain't as dumb as he has let on through his actions. Nobody is going to believe this just as we never believed that Kenneth Lay didn't know anything was going on at Enron. Graner is whipping up a story around the photos. More likely the truth is that here were a bunch of soldiers, unsupervised and bored, who were stupid.
The good thing about the military in this instance is that the judge can use common sense ,which in this case, he has done. Don't send some less than stellar soldier to jail for being stupid while those who perpetrated the atrocities by "being out to lunch" go completely undisciplined. kt
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THE IRONY. Get this: American pilots and soldiers who were taken prisoner and tortured by the Iraqis during the Persian Gulf War of 1991 have lost their legal bid to hold Iraq liable; the Supreme Court turned away their final appeal. They filed suit to be compensated for their pain and suffering from Saddam during the war.
Their story is little known, because the 1st Gulf war was seen by most Americans as a TV war where American forces pounded and destroyed Iraq's Army in a few days. But it was long enough for this group of POWs to be beaten and have their bones broken by Iraqi captors. Several nearly starved in the weeks they were held in cold filthy cells.
When it came time for the government to admit that these prisoners deserved recognition and compensation, not from the government, but from the frozen funds of Saddam- an easy call to right a wrong-You guessed it: no way. The present administration opposed their claim. In other words, kick your own soldiers in the gonads and support your former enemy. What kind of game is our government playing?
The lawyers for the government talking "lawyerspeak," argued that Iraq, now under U. S. occupation, was no longer a state sponsor of terrorism. Moreover, since the President had canceled sanctions against Iraq and moved to shield its 1.7 billion in frozen assets, screw the former POWs. "The money is needed to rebuild Iraq as if the three hundred billion we're already pouring into Iraq isn't enough."
I guess the government needs more bucks to give to contractors to build up the coffers of "Haliburten." Once again, American heroes get shafted by their own government.
KT
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| Vietnam War Anniversary |
It’s been thirty years ago
Since the Fall of Saigon
But for so many who were there
That War still Rages on.
Some things have gotten better
And for some Time has Healed
But there are some Memories
That will Never be Revealed.
We turned our back to those
Who went off to Wage our Fight
And we blamed our Soldiers
When we decided, it not Right.
We must never let our Nation
Blame it on the Fighting Man
Who goes off to do the bidding
Of our Leader’s War Time Plan.
The Years may Ease the Pain
And blur Memories, but yet
That Shame of our Country
We must Not, Ever Forget.
More than fifty-eight thousand
Etched in that Mourning Wall
With more added all the time
Until the Last of those Souls Fall.
A Small Monument to Heroes
From that War of Yesterday
Where we Honor our Soldiers
In the True, American Way.
Del “Abe” Jones
4-29-2005
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