Lest we forget

tattoodjay(83)

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Lest we forget

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

For those who are enjoying the Memorial day Long weekend I hope you are having a good weekend and better weather than we have here.

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Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties while serving in the United States Armed Forces. The holiday is observed on the last Monday of May.

Maybe because I spent 12 years in the Military Memorial day for me is to focus on and honor those that gave their all for their country, and that's what this post will focus on some monuments and memorials I have seen recently, these ones are all at Fort Taber.
I know for many this long weekend is all about BBQs and time with family and friends and I have no issue with that, just for me its not the focus of this Holiday

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You may wonder about the words I started this post with, they are part of a poem

For the Fallen
BY LAURENCE BINYON
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

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I remember that one verse of the poem so clearly, it is a poem read often in the evening At Returned Services Association gatherings in New Zealand at the time of Sunset, and especially on days Like memorial Day, and is one I will say to myself this evening as I watch the sun going down out the widow, as I do every Memorial day, and on ANZAC Day

What is Anzac day you may ask - Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served

Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914–1918).

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