I just finished reading "The First World War - A Complete History" by Martin Gilbert today. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this time.

It is staggering the amount of human lives that were thrown away on both sides by politicians, just to gain a few metres of ground.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, 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.

Lest we forget

Tilaceer -----> Thank you. Such slaughter is unspeakable. I could never create words of sufficient tribute to these souls. These poems say so much more than my small thoughts ever could...

a day early but a good post. Try the poems of Sassoon or Owen.

Thanks Iain - Yes, a day early here but I think some folks are thinking Asia time...

Tomorrow I'm participating in the commemoration of a NY State Highway in honor of our local veterans.

A couple years ago I happened to be in London for the Mayor's (?) Parade near St. Paul's. That was cool!

The year before that I had the honor of attending the services at l'Arc de Triomphe.

I still could bite my a** for not having taken the two original leather-bound books I had in my office in 1984 which contained all the stories about WW1 from 1914 until 1916 - issued 1915 and 1917! It was honesty, but today I think if I stole them, they would have a more dignified place than they probably have now!

Kaunitz -----> You are probably right! My father had an original Harper's Weekly compilation of the [uS] Civil War circa 1880. It burned in a house fire...

If you want a good challenge by the way, read Solzhenitsyn's "August 1914." It's an incredibly detailed novel discussing the military and political thinking behind the first few weeks of the war on the Eastern Front, particularly the battle in the Tannenberg Forest.

Many scholars feel the massive loss by the Russians was the final blow to the Tsar and led to the rise of bolshevism.

The book will be a little more thought provoking than a discussion about blowjobs...

great poem

great poem