Lt. John "Jack" Kipling, 18 years old, killed in the Battle of Loos in France in WWI, 1915
'My Boy Jack'
1914-18
Not this tide.
"When d'you think that he'll come back?"
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
"Has any one else had word of him?"
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
"Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?"
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind---
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.
Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide.
There's a line from the film My Boy Jack from Jack Kipling's mother Carrie, after his parents found out what happened to him. I'm not sure if I have it quoted exactly right, I didn't find any video of it online and haven't watched the DVD recently:
"He was 18 years and one day old. He died alone in the rain, I can't see any glory in that!"
No glory, Carrie. There is no glory in war, only death and destruction. Memorial Day is about more than parades and barbecues, it's a day set aside to honor those brave souls like your son, who risk or even sacrifice their lives so the rest of us may live in a free world. I post this in honor of those brave men and women who have taken that risk or made that sacrifice. May they never be forgotten.
(In case you're interested the DVD of My Boy Jack should still be available on www.shoppbs.org.)
5 comments:
Thank you for posting this tribute to all of the U.S. Military Service Men. To all of them we owe our freedom!
Nice Memorial Day Tribute.
Stopping in to say thank you for placing my ad, it's appreciated.
Have a good wkend, it's almost here.
Sandy
http://travelingsuitcase.blogspot.com/
That was a beautiful Memorial Day post. You hit the truth right on the head.
Amen.way to many people have forgotten what Memorial day is for.
This is so true what you have written and my prayers go out to all those who died. There is nothing to celebrate about war but at least to remember those who gave up their lives for the rest to live is worth remembering.. Nice blog I found you on entredropping session. I have the ebeggingonline dot com blog.
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