There’s No Place Like Home Place

 

 

 

WAR YEARS MILITARY

DISCUSSION GROUP

 

 

SPEAKER:

Ken Morgan

 

 

TOPIC:

The Attitude of the Japanese Soldiers During the Battle of

New Guinea, 1942-1945

 

 

WHEN:

Thursday September 29, 2011, at 1:30-3:00

 

 

WHERE:

Hensel Government Center

 

107th Street and College Avenue

 

Indianapolis, IN  46280

 

 

PHONE:

317-582-0507

 

Meeting Highlights

(courtesy of Chuck Baumann)

Click on date & see highlights from meeting

Stories You Might Find Interesting

Click on title & see video/article

January 28, 2010

Gray Eagles

February 25, 2010

Japanese Sign Final Surrender

March 25, 2010

The Auschwitz Album

April 27, 2010

Colonel Maggie

May 27, 2010, part 1 & part 2

WWII Posters

June 29, 2010

Pictures from D-Day

August 31, 2010

 

September 28, 2010

 

October 28, 2010

 

November 23, 2010

 

December 9, 2010

 

March 31, 2011

 

 

 

A SOLDIER DIED TODAY

By Lawrence Vaincourt

 

 

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,

And he  sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.

Of a war  that he once fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his  exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.

And  'tho sometimes to his neighbors his tales became a joke,
All his  buddies listened quietly for they knew where of he spoke.

But  we'll hear his tales no longer, for ol' Bob has passed away,
And  the world's a little poorer for a Soldier died today.

He won't  be mourned by many, just his children and his wife.
For he lived  an ordinary, very quiet sort of  life.

He  held a job and raised a family, going quietly on his way;
And the  world won't note his passing, 'tho a Soldier died today.

When  politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While  thousands note their passing, and proclaim that they were  great.

Papers  tell of their life stories from the time that they were young
But  the passing of a Soldier goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the  greatest contribution to the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who  breaks his promise and cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary  fellow who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his  country and offers up his life?

The politician's  stipend and the style in which he lives,
Are often  disproportionate o the service that he gives.

While the  ordinary Soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a  medal and perhaps a pension,  small.

It  is not the politicians with their compromise and ploys,
Who won  for us the freedom that our country now  enjoys.

Should  you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you  really want some cop-out, with his ever waffling stand?

Or  would you want a Soldier-- his home, his country, his kin,
Just a  common Soldier, who would fight until the end.

He was just a  common Soldier, and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence  should remind us we may need his like  again.

For  when countries are in conflict, we find the Soldier's part
Is to  clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

If we  cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at  least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.

Perhaps  just a simply headline in the paper that might  say:
"OUR  COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED  TODAY.”

 

 

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