Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Hits closer to home than you could possibly imagine. My plebe summer roommate was one of the survivors.
One of the worst, but at the same time most rewarding, C-141 missions was bringing a planeload of those damn aluminum caskets home from SEA. Stand to your glasses steady. (sigh)
Zip,
Bless you and all those who have done (and continue to do) the same.
Mike
Like that Shakespeare guy, I have very little Latin and no Greek at all. Could somebody please translate?
It’s about the Spartans at Thermopylae, I betcha.
The epitaph of the Spartans who made the last stand at Thermopylae:
“Go tell the Spartans, oh stranger passing by
That here, obedient to their laws we lie.”
Yes, indeed.
Sailor, rest your oar.
Hurts my heart.
It certainly does.
There just isn’t the right words. God bless this sailor and those he left behind. May God grant both of them the peace they deserve.
Truly no better words could be spoken in honor of this brave warrior than those that were stated by Pericles over 2400 years ago:
“….fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonor always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast.
The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed.
For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. ”
Pericles’ Funeral Oration 431 BCE
Dude, you made me cry. I SWEAR to God if you tell anybody, I’m gonna be pissed.
Real men do cry and in this case, you are in good company. Last time I cried was in Afghanistan and I was not the only one who did so at the time it happened.
Um, you do realize that Sparta destroyed Athens right? Athens projected a power she no longer had until it was all used up and then rolled over. Thucydides is always good reading.
Ancient history…..the words still convey great meaning to those of us who have been on the field of battle.
Great post SK1.
(Um)Curt, as usual has his Ticonderoga No 2 pencil wedged in her earlobe,
World Book Encyclopedia in her left hand and a mouse in her right-all ready to set you straight.
Cur(t)iously, she lost her way in her “conveyance” of what I’m sure she was really trying to say-
“I’m SF AND I know a bit o’history too!”
Wow Curt-
Please allow me to re-”convey” for you snake eaters:
“Ancient history…..the words still “convey” great meaning to those of us who have been on the field of battle.”
All SK1 did was “convey” a msg of respect.
“Best”
We few, we happy few…
And for anyone interested in donating to a good cause:
http://www.nswfoundation.org/
I don’t know the actual numbers, but it appears we have lost more SEALs in helicopters than SEALs on their feet in combat.
Flying in helicopters is inherently dangerous, and only dangerous lunatics like Our Bill will voluntarily do it. I have flown in a Ford Trimotor, an airship, an Aeronca Champ, and many airliners. I have never flown in a hellaflopper. I dunno what the size of the bribe would have to be to get me to take a hellaflopper ride, but I am imagining a minimum of 4 figures.
There is not enough Valium in the Western Hemisphere to get me to ride in a helo again.
Went up from DaNang with the Thua Thien FAC stationed in Hue to sight-see the old Imperial Capital and damage done after TET. Hitched a ride from Hue’ City back to DaNang on an old VNAF H-34. When I casually mentioned how I got back everyone was aghast–said “you’ve just experienced the most risky thing you’ll ever do over here–and that includes getting hosed daily over downtown.” LOL.
Most sobering thing I can remember seeing at Ft. Campbell (in the mid 70s) was half of a hanger filled up with the most recent wrecks of AH-1S’s. NOE flying was then in its infancy, and the learning curve appeared to be quite steep.
The TAc Officer for my Flight in Flight School was also the Company Chief TAC. He gave us “The Lecture” to disillusion us about life as an Army Aviator. Along with an entire laundry list of things he told us that our most likely fist assignment out of flight school was to one of the “big three,’ Bragg, Hood and Campbell. He then said, :”If it’s Campbell, you had better have your life insurance paid up.”
But, then, no one was flying Cobras straight out of flight school. In ’76 it would have been a UH-1 or an OH-58 after an in unit transition.
JTG, yur a wuss. Real men don’t mind fling wings a bit. Even our distinguished host has been aboard such fine machine while committing aviation.
Oh, pooh! I dint say I wouldn’t do it, just that I wanted to be well paid for taking the risk!
Zane, Thought the same…all that training…all that effort/desire… the expectancy of actually doing what you’ve been trained to do…and you go down in a flippen chopper crash…what a colossal waste…
…would some kind soul out there assure me its worth it. Best
It’s worth it and you know it.
The faces of those men say it all. Honor. Duty. Sacrifice. We are not worthy of such men.
And everyone here whose flown in, sailed in, or operated complicated, dangerous equipment–whether in combat or in training–thinks “there but for the Grace of God go I,” Kris..
+1, VX…..while at the same time we are saying to ourselves, “that CAN NEVER happen to me. . .I’m too good, too lucky, or both”. Go figure the thought processes of the pilot. (if there are any) (wry smile)
Yup. Sometimes you have to do it, and it kills you. Sometimes you have to ride a helicopter, to do what you do. Would I be happy to be rescued by a helicopter from my sinking boat, or the roof of my house in a flood? You betcha.
As a prudent old fart, I’m not riding in one just for fun.
The voice of Peter, the fisherman is being heard in heaven.
“Now muster the sideboys at the quarterdeck with the Officer of the Deck. Duty Boatswains Mate lay to the Martyrs’ Brow. Following divisions provide: US Navy: Eight.”
“On deck, Attention to Port, Hand salute.”
“Sir, Sideboys mustered, all present…Jones, Preble, Porter, Porter, Farragut, Halsey, Nimitz, Burke.”
“Very well, Pass the word, “Seals, Afghanistan, USN , Arriving”
(Sound of bell, boatswain’s pipe….)
“Welcome Aboard, Gentlemen.”
Damn, Gramps. You’ve got me misting up here. Just something about some traditions. Good Show.
Well said, Grandpa, well said.
Amen.
My kids were HS classmates of the Miranda kids. The town and Toms River East High School bade farewell this morning.
http://www.trschools.com/newsnotes/stories/2010-2011/nn_09302010.asp
Always a special kick in the stomach when one knows them personally…..
In between sweat rolling off my eyeballs I notice the steely-eyed resolve in the faces of the first two pallbearers. It says nothing, yet tells volumes. Kris, you are so right.
Lynchburg,Va…. Steady rain has been falling all day; stop by Lex’s site and see this post. The following from “All Quiet on the Western Front” comes to mind:
“Monotonously the lorries sway, monotonously come the calls, monotonously falls the rain. It falls on our heads and on the heads of the dead up the line, on the body of the little recruit with the wound that is so much too big for his hip; it falls on Kemmerich’s grave; it falls in our hearts.”
Erich Maria Remarque
It breaks my heart, again.
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.