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."
At approximately 06.00 we moved out of the camp. I had arranged, with Mike, that I would be supernumary to his command group. We left the encampment in single file and, immediately, on a wave of the hand from Mike, the patrol fanned out into ‘Arrowhead’ to move through the rubber estate . I was most impressed and heartened by this manoeuvre and the smoothness of its execution. Everybody, with the exception of me, knew exactly what he was doing - and why.
We moved for about half a mile through the estate and then, the point section commander (a Corporal) gave the hand signal to halt. He followed that by the signal to call the Commander forward. I followed Mike to see what was going on. His patrol had come to the edge of the estate. Ahead of us there was about 100 yards of open ground with undergrowth rising waist high. Behind was the primary jungle. From the jungle emulated incredible noise.
It was a high-pitched humming of incredible intensity. It sounded to me as if hundreds of electrical appliances were all working flat out. Mike whispered to me, “That’s a good, sign. It means that no humans are in the area. So – we won’t be ambushed in the open. You’ll find that when we enter the jungle, there will be no insect noise at all!” Mike then gave another hand signal and, without a spoken word, the whole patrol moved into single file formation. I felt rather like a novice dancer introduced into an experienced corps de ballet . Continued here...
