Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen 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 soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt 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."
āFrom the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli...ā are the beginning lines from the United States Marine Corps Hymn, and the āTripoliā that's mentioned is the largest city in today's Libya.
The hymn was written sometime after 1867, and these lines commemorate two of the Marine Corps' most famous battles āthe halls of Montezuma referring to the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, and āthe shores of Tripoliā refers to the battles the Marine Corps, along with the US Navy, fought with the infamous āBarbary Piratesā who terrorized the coast of North Africa, the Mediterranean Sea and indeed, a large part of Europe for at three centuries.
Slavery had existed in the Mediterranean Basin since before the time of Rome. During the Roman expansion, people from all corners of the empire were enslaved: Franks, Germans, Slavs, Greeks, various people from the Balkans, Africans traded to Rome by Egypt, Jews from Israel and more.
Some of the richest people in Rome and the Gothic and Arab empires which followed it were slave traders. Many Viking raiders grew rich and powerful from the treasure they hoarded trading slaves. Slavery was common in Europe, the north coast of Africa, and the Middle East until relatively recent times.
The Barbary States
In the 1500s, the Ottoman Turks expanded along the North African coast. Due to distance and the fiercely independent nature of the Berbers and others, however, Ottoman control of the Barbary Coast was nominal. As long as the people there recognized the Ottoman Sultan as their overlord and gave help when it was asked, the Turks left the people of the coast alone.
One of the many interesting things about the Barbary Pirates is that, as time went on, many of them were not from the region. Many were Europeans, acting much like today's mercenaries, looking for adventure and a quick buck.
Unfortunately, what they were mainly looking for were other human being to sell into slavery.