Last salute to Glasgow soldier killed in Iraq

Bush killed this soldier, as did W's poodle Blair.

The PNAC killed this young man.

The poor once again die for corporate profits -
He joined out of honor, he died because he wanted out
of poverty.

--------------------------------------------------



http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/5019115.shtml


FINAL JOURNEY: fellow soldiers from the 52nd Lowlands Territorial Regiment carry Russell Beeston's coffin from the church. Picture: Mark Gibson


BRAVE soldier Russell Beeston was today laid to rest following a moving funeral where he received full military honours.
Family and friends were joined by hundreds of mourners to say their farewells to the Glasgow soldier killed while on duty with the King's Own Scottish Borderers in Iraq.
A lone piper led the way from Killermont Parish Church in Bearsden, on the outskirts of the city, while Fusilier Beeston's fellow soldiers from the 52nd Lowlands Territorial Regiment carried his coffin closely behind. The 26-year-old's coffin was draped with a Union flag, a bouquet, his white Army belt and his Glengarry.

The six pallbearers slowly moved forward with their fellow soldier's coffin resting on their shoulders. It was their last tribute to their colleage before his body was taken on to Glasgow's Maryhill Crematorium.
His mother, Marion, and brother, John, who live in Govan, led the mourners at today's service which was conducted by Army chaplain Reverend Stephen Blakey.

...skip....

Tributes were led by his commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Jim Wilson of 52nd Lowlands Territorial Regiment.
He said: "It's a very sad day....."......

...Fusilier Beeston had volunteered to serve his country to escape the dole queue in Govan. He was the 50th victim and the first Scot to be killed during the conflict.

Russell had joined the Army three years ago after becoming unemployed. ....

Did the sound the death march,
as they lowered you down?
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And I can't help but wonder young Willy McBride
Do those that lie here know why that they died?
And did they really believe you when you told them the cause
Did they really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the suffering, and the sorrow, the glory, the pain
The killing and dying they were all done in vain
For young Willy McBride it's all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again...

:grr:

"Lives in the Balance" - Jackson Browne


I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war

And there's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs

On the radio talk shows and the T.V.
You hear one thing again and again
How the U.S.A. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends--
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone

There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

There's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names

They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die


And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

--------------------

http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/warsong.htm

here's the entire song/poem -


The Best Anti War Song Ever
by ex Scot Eric Bogle


kindly provided by Ranald McIntyre



----------------------------------


Well how do you do Private William McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside,
I'll rest for a while in the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day, Lord and I'm nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the great fallen of 1916
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean
Or young Willie McBride was it slow and obscene

Chorus:
Did they beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down ?
and did the band play the last post and chorus ?
And did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916, to that loyal heart are you forever 19
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enshrined there forever behind a glass pane
In an old photograph torn and tattered and
stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame

Chorus
------
The sun's shining now on the green Fields of France
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plough
There's no gas, no barbed wire, there's no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it's still no man's land
And the countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned

Chorus
------
And I can't help but wonder young Willie McBride
Do all who lie here with you know why they died
Did you really believe it when they told you the cause
Did you honestly think that one war would end wars
Well your suffering, your sorrow, your glory, your shame
Your killing, your dying, it was all done in vain..........
'Cos young Willie McBride it all happened again, and again, and again, and again and again.

Chorus
------




Scottish born but a naturalized citizen of Australia, ERIC BOGLE has been called by critics "The best songwriter of the day" and "one of the most important songwriters of the decade". Eric might pass off such high praise with a laugh, but the record (both literally and figuratively speaking) shows that this chubby little Scotsman from Peebles has given the world some of its most powerful protest songs. And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda written in 1972 has become Australia s most recorded song with performers as diverse as Rod McKuen and The Pogues performing it It also became the largest selling single in Irish history as recorded by Makem and Clancey.

It is the writing of songs such as "....Matilda", A Reason for It All and The Greenfields of France (No Man's Land or Willy McBride) which prompted the Australian government to present Eric with the Australian Peace Award to commemorate the International Year of Peace in 1986. In 1987 the government honored Eric with the Order of Australia for his contributions to that country's music and musical heritage.

heroes that the PNAC killed.

Fareweel tae a’ wir Scottish fame,
fareweel wir ancient glory,
Fareweel e’en tae wir Scottish name
that’s praised in martial story,
Noo Sark it runs tae the Solway sands,
the Tweed runs tae the ocean,
Tae mark where England's province stands,
Sic’ a parcel o’ rogues in a nation.

What force nor guile could not subdue,
in many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
for hireling traitor's wages,
The English steel we could disdain,
safe in valour's station,
But English gold has been oor bain,
Sic’ a parcel o' rogues in a nation.

Oh would ere I hae seen the day,
that treason thus befell us,
My auld grey heid hae lain in clay,
wi’ Bruce and loyal Wallace,
But wi’ pith and power ‘til my last hour,
I’ll mak’ this declaration:
We were bought and sold for English gold,
Sic’ a parcel o' rogues in a nation!