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."
'Gone in front of my eyes': Bangladesh firefighter's unit decimated by blast
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
Times of India : SITAKUNDA: Firefighter Rakibul Hasan Bappy's engine was the first to arrive at a blazing Bangladeshi container depot. After a devastating explosion, everyone else in his 15-man crew is now either dead, missing or injured.
The 22-year-old -- who joined the fire
service three years ago -- had been ordered to increase the water
pressure moments before the monumental blast lit up the night sky for
miles around.
He stepped away to the fire truck, only to be confronted when he returned by carnage and the bodies of friends and crewmates. "I will never forget this till my death," Bappy told AFP, trembling as he recalled the scene at the weekend's disastrous blast. "All
those colleagues, gone in front of my eyes. We were energised to work,
but when I saw them dead, I don't know how to express it. I am not
feeling right anymore.
"God has gifted me a second life," he added. "I can't believe I'm alive." Firefighters in Bangladesh
are badly equipped and poorly paid -- salaries start at $200 a month --
compared to some in private jobs or army soldiers, who can be sent on
lucrative UN peacekeeping missions.
