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."
Though the British government last week had its mind on Formosa, it was also keeping uneasy watch on Malaya (pop. 7,000,000), its biggest strategic and economic stake in Southeast Asia. Against fewer than 6,000 Communist guerrillas, the British are currently deploying more than 250,000 troops, home guards and police. General Sir Gerald Templer's brilliant slash-and-starve campaign of two years ago drove the demoralized Communists into jungle lairs, but the Communist victories in nearby Indo-China have produced a new, hopeful rallying cry in the Malay jungles: "Father Mao Is Coming."
Left : Malaya. c. 1960. Unidentified members of B Company 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), resting and preparing meals at a temporary bivouac. B company was on a long range patrol in Northern Malaya near the border with Thailand. Each member of the patrol constructed hammocks with overhead cover each evening from plastic sheeting acquired privately as satisfactory material was unavailable through official sources. (Donor B. Betts) Copyright: clear
The situation, according to Malaya's Lieut. General Sir Geoffrey Bourne, is "potentially nasty." The British are sending paratroop reinforcements to the rubber-rich colony, and last month decided to equip three Malayan airfields for jetbomber use. The Australians are training 1,200 infantrymen for jungle war, and last week the senior generals of both Australia and New Zealand inspected Malaya.
In token of the new uneasiness, the British invited another significant guest to Malaya: General Phao Sriyanondh, the silver-haired police chief of Thailand. The British gave General Phao a helicopter tour of the defenses, and persuaded him to help work out a "general pattern of operations" on the narrow Kra Isthmus, north of the Malaya-Thailand border. The British have evidence that the Communists are training new jungle forces in a safe redoubt across the Thai border. "We will have to be more careful about our future," agreed Thailand's tough General Phao. The source.
