Not so whimsical Veterans' Day post

[rikibeth]

kay_taylor posted John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields" today, reminding me that this was more than just a nuisance of a day with the banks closed and the liquor store as well.

But "In Flanders Fields" is more of a Memorial Day poem. Veterans' Day is for the ones who lived, and came home... not always whole.

So I turn to Eric Bogle for a more fitting piece. Not under a cut, 'cause it's important.

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over

Then in 1915 me country said, "Son,
It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done"
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When the ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli

And how well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter

Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us back home to Australia

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher

Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead
Never knew there was worse things than dying

So no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla

And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve, and to mourn, and to pity

And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

So now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades how proudly they march
Renewing old dreams of past glory

And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda,
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year the numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all.

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me

Comments

[sociofemme.livejournal.com]

Our brains are in sync or something--I was just about to post this song (or my thoughts about it, anyway).

I almost made my daddy cry today. I was the only person who remembered to wish him well, and just because he doesn't talk about Vietnam doesn't mean he doesn't remember.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

My dad says that if he had not been working on a Health, Education, and Welfare-funded project that qualified as an Essential Service, I would have grown up in Montreal.

My grandfather was in the Coast Guard in WWII, and my uncle served during the Korean War.

I'm thinking more of my friends who are in now, and hoping they come home safe.

[sociofemme.livejournal.com]

My mom's brother was a protester, and he couldn't get off on a conscientious objector status, so he starved himself to the point of ineligibility. Cheaper than a move to Canada, certainly.

I'm lucky right now--no one close to me has gone over yet. We're crossing our fingers over my best friend's husband (and father of the two very small children), who as yet looks as though he might not be sent over.

But God, I'm praying for anyone whose loved ones are over there. *hugs*

[ceilidh71.livejournal.com]

wow. i hadn't heard/read that in years - thanks for remindin gus all of this day. whether we *agree* with the reasons they fought and served, they *did* and didn't always find things so pleasant back home afterwards. ::sigh::
thanks.

[jedilora.livejournal.com]

Goodness, is that what the rest of the lyrics are?

Very appropriate.

[kay-taylor.livejournal.com]

What's the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans' Day? I was posting it for Remembrance Day here in the UK, as the 11th November (at 11.11am) is when we have the one minute silence for the war dead.

[tristam.livejournal.com]

The difference between remembering the dead and remembering the living.

[ashbet]

A poem written by my friend newbabel:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/newbabel/228008.html#cutid1

-- A <3

[eirehound.livejournal.com]

I don't really cry much in response to music, but when I heard him play that song at the Iron Horse once, I did. Just a little.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Ah. In the US, "Memorial Day" is the last Monday in May, and it was originally known as "Decoration Day," because it grew out of a movement to decorate the graves of the Civil War dead, and it's quite naturally been extended to an observance of all the fallen soldiers.

"Veterans' Day" is what was once Armistice Day, and it's used here to honor living veterans more than the fallen ones, because we already do that in May.

We will conveniently ignore that both are used more to promote big discount sales at stores than for anything solemn, nowadays. Back to the topic.

For the UK observance, "In Flanders Fields" makes perfect sense. Sorry about that.

Because of the "Veterans'/Memorial" distinction, I made sure to post "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" instead of "Willie McBride" or "Gallipoli."

Eric Bogle seems all too topical lately.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I'm more weepy than you. You don't want to know how many tries it took before I could sing through "No Man's Land" without losing it. More than "A Little Fall of Rain," and that's saying a LOT for me.