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."
Jaffa: When Outnumbered Christian Warriors Defeated Muslim Hordes
Wednesday, August 03, 2022
Nineteenth century illustration of Richard storming the shores of Jaffa
Raymond Ibrahim :Today in history, a small band of Christian warriors defeated a massive horde of Muslims.
On July 27, 1192, Saladin, the great sultan-hero of Islam,
surrounded and besieged the tiny Christian-held town of Jaffa.
According to contemporary chronicles, the Muslims numbered as much as
20,000 and “covered the face of the earth like locusts.”
Messengers were
instantly dispatched to King Richard I, who was then in Acre, preparing
to sail back to England. Before the battered and bruised men had
finished relaying their message, “With God as my guide,” Richard
declared, “I will set out to do what I can,” and instantly disembarked
on his fleet with slightly over 2,000 fighters.
Jaffa, meanwhile, was
fighting for its life. According to Saladin’s court historian, Baha’
al-Din, who was present, after one of its walls collapsed, all the
Muslims rushed into the city, “and there was not an enemy heart that did
not tremble and shake.” Even so, the Christians “were more fierce and
determined in the fight and more eager for and devoted to death.”
When the main gate was
finally battered down and an adjoining wall collapsed from the
bombardment, a “cloud of dust and smoke went up and darkened the sky.”
Once it cleared, the Muslims saw that “spear-points had replaced the
walls and lances had blocked the breach.” Only death would release the
crusaders of their charge to defend Jaffa.
Due to the great masses
of rushing Muslims, the garrison was eventually driven to and holed up
in the citadel, even as the sackers turned their attention to Jaffa’s
civilian populace: “Alas for the pitiful slaughter of the sick!” recalls
a chronicler. “They lay weakly on couches everywhere in the houses of
the city; the Turks tortured them to death in horrible ways.”
