[I]End of an era
GaryN
surviving WW1 veterans, WW2 veterans are getting a bit thin on the ground.
I wonder how much longer we will continue to remember the sacrifices made.
As the grandson of a WW2 veteran it sort of worries me that my generation
may be the last to have any connection to what happened. Although I was
heartened to see a local biker, who wouldn't usually be seen dead in
church, turn up with his 3 kids for the remembrance service on Sunday.
Maybe all is not lost.
gary
--
"I really like this jacket
but the sleeves are much too long"
Motorhead - 'Back At The Funny Farm'.
Kevin Wells
GaryN <ga...@scaryriders.com> wrote:
>The remembrance service at St Pauls was the first to go through with no
>surviving WW1 veterans, WW2 veterans are getting a bit thin on the ground.
You will get veterans from wars after the second world war marching, so
their will be remembrance services for a few more generations to come.
>
>I wonder how much longer we will continue to remember the sacrifices made.
>As the grandson of a WW2 veteran it sort of worries me that my generation
>may be the last to have any connection to what happened. Although I was
>heartened to see a local biker, who wouldn't usually be seen dead in
>church, turn up with his 3 kids for the remembrance service on Sunday.
>
>Maybe all is not lost.
>
>gary
>
--
Kev Wells http://riscos.kevsoft.co.uk/
http://kevsoft.co.uk/ http://kevsoft.co.uk/AleQuest/
ICQ 238580561
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/publicflags/
Nigel Stapley
> The remembrance service at St Pauls was the first to go through with no
> surviving WW1 veterans, WW2 veterans are getting a bit thin on the ground.
>
> I wonder how much longer we will continue to remember the sacrifices made.
> As the grandson of a WW2 veteran it sort of worries me that my generation
> may be the last to have any connection to what happened. Although I was
> heartened to see a local biker, who wouldn't usually be seen dead in
> church, turn up with his 3 kids for the remembrance service on Sunday.
>
> Maybe all is not lost.
>
Perhaps the place to post this: a song by Ian Chesterman, whom I came to
know from my attendance at Wrexham Folk Club back in the 90s.
Old Men Marching In The Sun
"Old men slowly pass me by,
Their heads held high
As they march out into time.
Medals gleaming in the sun,
The war long gone when they were young.
"They fought at Ypres and the Somme,
They were the ones who lived
While all around them fell.
Poppy petals oh so red,
The blood they shed when they were young."
Chorus:
"Will we remember
When they are gone,
The old men marching in the sun?"
"The wives and sweethearts left behind,
The battle cry,
The youthful rally to the cause.
'The war to end all wars', they said.
How many dead when they were young?"
"They were just boys, all in their teens,
They'd only seen the hills
And valleys that they loved.
And soon they lay on foreign fields,
Such high ideals when they were young."
(chorus)
"They say old soldiers never die,
They just march by
With their fading memories.
In black and white on flickering screens,
Were these their dreams when they were young?"
"And now their numbers dwindle fast,
Their time long past,
As poppies flutter in the wind.
Our debt can never be repaid
For all they gave when they were young."
(chorus)
((c) Ian Chesterman)
I've put a short clip of Offa, the band Ian was with at the time. It
comes from their eponymous cassette album of 1992:
http://www.thejudge.me.uk/soundbank/Offa-Old_Men_Marching.mp3
--
Regards
Nigel Stapley
<reply-to will bounce>