Our Nation honors her sons and daughters...

...who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington. Very short yet very moving, a fitting testament to over 36,000 Americans who gave their lives.

What's your favourite memorial or inscription?

A Battered Mars Bar

To wit to wit too hoodle

"When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

osarusan

Inscription on a Turkish-built memorial for ANZAC soldiers in Gallipoli. It's attributed to Ataturk, but whether he ever said it or not is unclear. Powerful words, whoever said them.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ...
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ...
You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Atoms for Peace

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
- George Patton

Riddle101

Not a memorial or inscription but a quote. “One day my grandson said to me, grandpa were you a hero in the war? And i said to him no I'm not a hero, but I have served in a company full of them.” Dick Winters

Band of Brothers fans will have heard it on the show. But it's one of my favorite quotes. Coincidentally one of the men who served with Richard Winters in Easy company passed away yesterday, Donald Malarkey.

Your Face

Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato

The_Kew_Tour

Whats there to celebrate about War?

Oh look I killed a 100 men now 100 familys have no Dad, Brother or Husband

kielmanator

"I know not with what weapons WW3 will be fought with, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones."

Einstein, if I remember correctly?

frag420

War, huh, good god
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing, listen to me…

Edwin Starr

Your Face

*hastily reinstalls Call of Duty 2*

Greybottle

"What the fcuk was that?"

Ahirit Kominatscha - Mayor of Hiroshima

Wanderer78

War, kinna pointless really!

whisky_galore

The Tomb of the Unknown Gurrier.

https://comeheretome.com/2012/03/19/oconnell-bridge-and-the-the-bowl-of-light/

The Backwards Man

Charlie don't surf.

NIMAN

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Whats there to celebrate about War?

Oh look I killed a 100 men now 100 familys have no Dad, Brother or Husband

Totally agree.

Do you think in recent times, probably since the Gulf War, there has been a real drive in the West to glamorise war and soldiers?

Maybe make it more acceptable or glorious?

Just recently the Invictus games, making celebs and stars out of those people silly enough to go and fight foreign, illegal wars for power and money obsessed politicians.

OnDraught

“War. War never changes.”

NIMAN

Or the whole nonsense of wearing the poppy. In the past hardly anyone wore them, now everyone in the UK is practically forced into it or shamed if they don't.

Widdershins

This is my favourite memorial:

http://i.imgur.com/RUJqX14.jpg

whoopsadoodles

There's a grave near my kids' that says "Gazza, legged it on x/xx/xxxx"

Always makes me smile

Boom_Bap

Fart joke



or the honest one

Sleepy

"Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat."
- Hilary Clinton proving that she is, in fact, a feminist.

Sue Pa Key Pa

I don't understand this business of 'fighting for your country', thousand's of miles away in a land that has nothing to do with you. "We thank you for your service" my hairy hole.

gctest50

Sleepy wrote: »

"Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat."
- Hilary Clinton proving that she is, in fact, a feminist useless.

unlike say ... Heather Penney

OldGoat

"This memorial was erected in memory of Patrick Sheahan a constable in the Dublin Metropolitan Police Force who lost his life in the 6th day of March 1905 in a noble and self-sacrificing effort to rescue John Fleming who had in the discharge of his duties descended the main sewer close by this spot and was overcome by sewer gas. It was also intended to commemorate the bravery of a number of other citizens who also descended the sewer to assist in rescuing the beforementioned, thereby risking their lives to save those of their fellow men."

Sleepy

gctest50 wrote: »

unlike say ... Heather Penney

I'd never heard of her until your post tbh. From the brief article I read she seems a commendable woman.

I'm not sure why you felt the need to strike out my line about that line proving Clinton is a feminist? Most modern feminists like to argue that she's not a "real" feminist, yet that sentence perfectly confirms that she's as incapable of logical thinking as the rest of them...

archer22

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

I don't understand this business of 'fighting for your country', thousand's of miles away in a land that has nothing to do with you. "We thank you for your service" my hairy hole.

"Protecting our Freedom" :rolleyes:

osarusan

Ah f**k it, is this another thread going down the 'feminists are awful' drain?

archer22

Sleepy wrote: »

"Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat."
- Hilary Clinton proving that she is, in fact, a feminist.

"We came"
"We saw"
"HE DIED"
"Ha ha ha ha"

Clinton on Ghaddafi's brutal murder.

corner of hells

Unkmown british soldiers comment on the issuing of the new assault rifle " its a pile o' ****e '.

corner of hells

Unkmown british soldiers comment on the issuing of the new assault rifle " its a pile o' ****e '.

archer22

A German General I think, on officers...."I would prefer a lazy fool to an energetic one".

kingchess

"Ask not what you can do for your Country,but rather what your Country can do for you." John fitzgerald Kennedy,( a local good for nothing signing on the dole for the first time around these parts,june 6th 1971/

Sleepy

archer22 wrote: »

A German General I think, on officers...."I would prefer a lazy fool to an energetic one".

This four-class categorization has been ascribed to several German generals, e.g., Helmuth von Moltke, Erich von Manstein, Carl von Clausewitz, and Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/02/28/clever-lazy/

imme

Polish cemetery, Monte Cassino, Italy, WW2 battle site:

The Polish memorial at Monte Cassino bears two inscriptions. The first, based on the Epitaph of Simonides, reads:

Passer-by, go tell Poland
That we have perished obedient to her service
The other translates from Polish:

For our freedom and yours
We soldiers of Poland
Gave
Our soul to God
Our life to the soil of Italy
Our hearts to Poland

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Deleted User wrote: »

...who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington. Very short yet very moving, a fitting testament to over 36,000 Americans who gave their lives.

What's your favourite memorial or inscription?

Gave their lives to who?

As to a "memorial" of war...
(Last verse in particular)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqba0IUdiBk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p90PtaPSCsM

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Gave their lives to who?

"...to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met"

jonon9

War is Hell.

Granddad Trotter.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Deleted User wrote: »

"...to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met"

Doesn't actually answer the question. Defending a country from what? For who?

Because I dont' beleive a bunch of soldiers went halfway roudn the world and gave their lives for a random country from a suppposed threat.

jonon9

jonon9 wrote: »

War is Hell.

Granddad Trotter.

It is well war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.


Robert E. Lee in a letter to his wife after the Battle of Fredericksburg. The 69th Brigade comprised exclusively of Irish Union troops were repeatedly ordered to advance up Maryes Heights, despite exposure to massive fire from well prepared Confederate soldiers at the top of the ridge - including the 24th Georgia containing many Irish soldiers who despaired at the slaughter of fellow countrymen and begged to be allowed to stop.

Afterwards, Lee referred to the 69th as the "Fighting 69th", which led to the whole "Fighting Irish" nickname.

Atoms for Peace

NIMAN wrote: »

Or the whole nonsense of wearing the poppy. In the past hardly anyone wore them, now everyone in the UK is practically forced into it or shamed if they don't.

There's a lot of tabloid "our Heroes" nonsense in the media, you dare not question the war no matter how wrong it is for fear of causing offence.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Doesn't actually answer the question. Defending a country from what? For who?

Because I dont' beleive a bunch of soldiers went halfway roudn the world and gave their lives for a random country from a suppposed threat.

Um, the people of East Asia, the Korean Peninsula and ultimately Japan, from the spread of Communism.

But instead of rehashing the causes of the Korean War...what do you think they did it for?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Deleted User wrote: »

Um, the people of East Asia, the Korean Peninsula and ultimately Japan, from the spread of Communism.

But instead of rehashing the causes of the Korean War...what do you think they did it for?

More a case of why they did: because they were gullible fools. There's a very fine line between foolishness and bravery and fighting in someone else's war is the former. (That someone else being the US government)

"And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I’d toddle safely home and die—in bed"
- Sassoon

(It's often said that those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. A beeter way of putting it is that those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat someone else's mistakes.)

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

More a case of why they did: because they were gullible fools.

Oh I'm not saying the reasons stand up to ex post facto rationalisation, particularly in this day and age. But even if you disagree with the reasons, let's not pretend they did it for no reason at all. In the 1950s, there was a real fear about the spread of Communism as evidenced by the McCarthy show trials in the USA, the execution of the Rosenbergs, Reds Under the Bed etc. And I think the 36,000 US troops who gave their lives to fight in the Korean Peninsula deserve to be commemorated in the USA, and it's a fitting tribute. I also like the memorial itself, the grey soldiers marching through...even though possibly for scale and proximity of the conflict and simplicity of design of memorial, the nearby Vietnam Memorial appeals to more.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Deleted User wrote: »

Oh I'm not saying the reasons stand up to ex post facto rationalisation, particularly in this day and age. But even if you disagree with the reasons, let's not pretend they did it for no reason at all. In the 1950s, there was a real fear about the spread of Communism as evidenced by the McCarthy show trials in the USA, the execution of the Rosenbergs, Reds Under the Bed etc. And I think the 36,000 US troops who gave their lives to fight in the Korean Peninsula deserve to be commemorated in the USA, and it's a fitting tribute. I also like the memorial itself, the grey soldiers marching through...even though possibly for scale and proximity of the conflict and simplicity of design of memorial, the nearby Vietnam Memorial appeals to more.

This kind of agrees with my point: propaganda very similar to the US Islamophobia of today.

The_Kew_Tour

NIMAN wrote: »

Totally agree.

Do you think in recent times, probably since the Gulf War, there has been a real drive in the West to glamorise war and soldiers?

Maybe make it more acceptable or glorious?

Just recently the Invictus games, making celebs and stars out of those people silly enough to go and fight foreign, illegal wars for power and money obsessed politicians.

Its strange and next month is Poppy Month. Never got it and never will.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

This kind of agrees with my point: propaganda very similar to the US Islamophobia of today.

Erm.

You read the inscription on the Korean Memorial and think of hatred of Muslims?

Right oh. Not sure how or why tbh.

Plus, when did it become your point? Can you link the last post where you said "Korean War...'twas the same as Islamophobia"? Thanks.

diomed

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, why'all

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Erm.

You read the inscription on the Korean Memorial and think of hatred of Muslims?

Right oh. Not sure how or why tbh.

Plus, when did it become your point? Can you link the last post where you said "Korean War...'twas the same as Islamophobia"? Thanks.

I think you missed where i wrote 'propaganda'.

Riddle101

This isn't a quote but I read this in a Horrible Histories Frightful First World War.

Don't Worry
When you're a soldier you can be in one of two places.
A dangerous place or a safe place.
If you're in a safe place... don't worry
If you're in a dangerous place you can be in one of two things
One is wounded and the other is not
If you're not wounded... don't worry
If you are it can be dangerous or slight
If it's slight... don't worry
If it's dangerous then one of two things will happen
You'll die or you'll recover.
If you recover... don't worry
If you die... you can't worry
In these circumstances a solider never worries.