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."
Malayan Communists were suing for peace. Monday, Jul. 4, 1955
Friday, October 06, 2006
The secretary of the biggest rubber planters' association in Malaya made out his name on the envelope, written in spidery English script. Inside, there was a long letter in Chinese characters. It had the look of Something important, and it was: after seven years of jungle war, the Malayan Communists were suing for peace.
Similar letters, postmarked from Siam, also reached Malay and Chinese political leaders, asking for a "round table conference" in the jungle. Said Lieut. General Sir Geoffrey Bourne, director of the Operations Committee, last week: "This is the first really noticeable crack in the Malayan Communist Party." To the 35,000 police and 172,000 home guards, it seemed a vindication of long and dangerous duty. In the last four years they have reduced the number of terrorist incidents from a monthly total of 606 to 66, the number of terrorists at large from 6,000 to 4,000.
But like all Communist peace proposals, this one was a thicket of tricks. The Communists had timed their offer to Malaya's first general elections next month, to appeal to weariness of a war which has cost nearly 10,000 lives. But the British were determined not to allow the Communists a jungle Panmunjom which would give them recognition and time to recover their strength.
"Knowing the true purpose of the Communist offer and the motives which underlie it," said the Operations Committee firmly, "the Government rejects it absolutely, and has no intention of negotiating with the Communist terrorists." The source.
