Give It Up For The Soldiers Abroad This Easter?

Dreamers

SOLDIERS are citizens of death's gray land,
Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows.
In the great hour of destiny they stand,
Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows.
Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win
Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives.
Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin
They think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives.

I see them in foul dug-outs, gnawed by rats,
And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain,
Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats,
And mocked by hopeless longing to regain
Bank-holidays, and picture shows, and spats,

- Siegfried Sassoon.



I let the lounge off of the hook but I'm gonna push GD a little harder. If this aging hippie can recognize, you folks can also.

happy holidays . . .

One of the houses behind the store still lights their xmas lights every night. As do many of the houses around here.

We had a group of reservists from the area come home last month - just in time for valentines day. We had lots of happy couples in the store.

But there are still so many people from around here that are in Iraq. I only know a few personally, but I interact with so many people on a day to day basis, it's hard to not be affected by it.

These young people were just trying to do the right thing and make a better life for themselves.

wreaths on the doors.

A lot of these kids wanted to serve their country. That's a good thing for sure. Those who joined the Guard thought of duty here in the states, far from the mindless killing that they have been mis-deployed to. Others likely envisioned a military in the Clintonian mold which was the peacekeeping point of our diplomacy.

I recognize that our nation's veterans are our most convincing argument against war and conquest, as with the Vietnam bunch, who, if you take time to talk it out (listen it out), you will get the most compelling insight which spans the gulf between our responsibility to vigilance and the realities of our worst instincts to use violence as a means to an end.

God bless those who have been affected, directly and indirectly, by war. God bless the soldiers who our nation continues to place on the front lines of our politician's ambitions to greed and power.

I've got to say that my advocacy of the soldiers has been a most humbling experience for this aging hippie. It started as a notion that the republicans would divide us from the troops, and by extension, the bulk of the country and, over a late fire, I decided to commit my time to their advocacy. My first foray into my neighborhood peace coalition with my soldier rap was met with a lot of suspicion and silence. I did get a good airing of my concerns though. Peace folks were already primed by Vets for Peace and other veteran anti-war groups, so it was not impossible to start a rapport with the group. When I hit the marches with my free t-shirts I had made with 'Support Our Returning Soldiers' on the front and a peace sign on the back, I got more than a few brush offs, but the shirts were snatched up in less than 15 minutes. There has always been more than enough support for our troops within our movement and here at DU as well, despite the understandable reservations about our military and its violent mission. Good for us. Thanks for all of the kind responses in the past. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers for our troops. Please continue to keep them in mind throughout the holiday and beyond, and we'll keep doing our best, I'm certain, to bring them home.