Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Djakarta was all decked out for another political circus. Jun 4, 1965
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Djakarta was all decked out for another political circus. Along the sere, sun-scoured boulevards of Indonesia's capital, the gaudiest splashes of color were billboards showing Uncle Sam stomping a few Negroes, handsome Asians engaged in a fierce tug of war with ugly white colonialists, a fearless President Sukarno hurling Malaysia's cringing Tunku Abdul Rahman into the Malacca Strait. Illuminated fountains tinkled merrily around the unfinished obelisk designed by Sukarno to commemorate 20 years of Indonesian independence. Across from the burnt-out shell of the British embassy, the Hotel Indonesia dispensed hot water, air conditioning and Palmolive soap in a futile attempt to insulate political delegates from the shabby city around them.
Relays of Runners. The occasion was the 45th anniversary of the Partai Ko-nntnis Indonesia, Asia's oldest Commu nist Party and, with 3,000,000 members, its second largest.* The P.K.I.'s jingo jamboree brought relays of runners bearing red and yellow flags into Djakarta from points as distant as Bali (560 miles), tied up the capital's Mercedes and betjak (pedicab) traffic for three hours with a torchlight parade that ended in an effigy-burning of Uncle Sam and the Tunku. Over the whole scene reared a 40-ft. hammer and sickle woven from straw and bamboo. In full from the source.....
