"For The Fallen"

by Madame Quixote 3 Replies latest social current

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  Madame Quixote

  What I am listening to now. Very moving:

  hearing voices:storiesspecialswebworkswhois
  Memorial Day ceremony at the American Cemetery in Suresnes, France, Mar 30 1920

  For the Fallen– Radio Special
  for Memorial Day, Monday May 28 2007
  Hosted by Major Robert Schaefer, U.S. Army Special Forces

  For the Fallen 1 (23:00)

  Host Major Robert Schaefer, U.S. Army Special Forces, a Green Beret and poet, reveals his love-hate relationship with the bugle call "Taps." We join a "Military Honor Guard" in Long Island, recorded by Charles Lane. We hear interviews with World War Two and Vietnam vets from the public radio's StoryCorps and This I Believe series. Composer Phil Kline sets to music the slogans Vietnam soldiers etched into their lighters, in Zippo Songs. And we attend the daily ceremony by Belgian veterans honoring the WWI British soldiers who died defending a small town in western Belgium (produced by Marjorie Van Halteren and Helen Engelhardt).

  For the Fallen 2 (29:00)

  We hear troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, reading their emails, poems, and journals, as part of the NEA project: "Operation Homecoming," and selections from the NEA CD Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience with well-known authors reading their poems, prose, and essays about their time in the military. (Major Schaefer, the Host of this special, contributed the poem "Clusters" to the book.)

  Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Casualties for month of ( casualties).

  Rollover name for serviceperson's rank, hometown, and cause of death.

  OIF Casualties - Statistical Graphs

  rank | branch | age | cause | state | month

  Military Funeral Services Over Time

  Military funeral services over time, with "Echo Taps" played by the US Marine Band. Photos from: Library of Congress, National Archives and Records, Dover Air Force Base, and Wikipedia.

  1) Civil War veteran standing and saluting with a Boy Scout and a soldier at a gravesite in Oak Woods Cemetery on Memorial Day. (LOC)

  2) Standing in the grassy sod bordering row upon row of white crosses in an American cemetery, two dungaree-clad Coast Guardsmen pay silent homage to the memory of a fellow Coast Guardsman who lost his life in action in the Ryukyu Islands." (NARA)

  3) The crew of the USS SOUTH DAKOTA stands with bowed heads, while Chaplain N. D. Lindner reads the benediction held in honor of fellow shipmates killed in the air action off Guam on June 19, 1944. July 1, 1944 (NARA)

  4) With a canvas tarpaulin for a church and packing cases for an altar, a Navy chaplain holds mass for Marines at Saipan. The service was held in memory of brave buddies who lost their lives in the initial landings." Sgt. Steele, June 1944. (NARA)

  5) Sailor and girl at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington, D.C. (LOC)

  6) A Marine at Vietnam Memorial on 4th July 2002. (Wikipedia)

  7-9) Ceremonies for offloading caskets at Dover Air Force Base, casualties from OIF.

  Programming and design by Stonetip . Iraq Coalition casualty count from iCasuaties.org .
  Hearing Voices Specials are crafted from new and classic radio shows. Story Editors are Scott Carrier and Larry Massett. Marketers are Creative PR .
  Funders include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Endowment for the Arts . Executive Producer is Barrett Golding. Technical Director is Robin Wise of SoundImagery.com .
  StoryCorps is sponsored by AT&T, produced by Sound Portraits Productions . This I Believe is independently produced for NPR by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, with Emily Botein, John Gregory and Viki Merrick.

  hearing voices:storiesspecialsshopsitemapweblogwebworkswhois

  corporation for public broadcasting

  national endowment for the arts

  hearing voices
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  compound complex

  Dear and kindly Madame,

  I have always gotten choked up over such as my dad and others I know served in WWII. The emotion and sense of pride over individual and collective bravery and self-sacrifice was always quashed for me by the WTB&TS. Now it's not. I see heroism as heroism and no longer allow my every emotion and thought to be molded by "Mother."
  How do you feel about that?

  CoCo
• 

  Madame Quixote

  Me too, Co Co. I think it must have been very, very hard for my step-grandfather who spent his last 20 years or so surrounded by JWs.

  He was a purple-heart-decorated veteran of the Korean War and served as a Marine Corps sergeant for many years after his decoration. He nearly died in Korea.

  I recall that he seemed quite crass, but he had his good points.

  I don't know how he tolerated being chronically outnumbered by the JWs. Ham radio probably saved his sanity, the way the internet probably saves some of our sanities (or at least keeps some from going crazier than we already are).

  A funny little story about my step grandfather and me, speaking of crassness:

  He once used a word in my presence right before dinner time, which made me think that this word meant "food" in Korean (or Viet Namese?). I guess I was in elementary school. He was on his way to dinner I thought, and said he was gonna' go get him some "poontang."

  Well, the next day, I am on a little hike with my parents and say,"I'm really hungry. Let's have some poontang."

  My mother was horrified, as she was struggling to make me into a good little JW lady and my dad - being a former Marine himself - couldn't help but laugh, even though he tried to hide his laughter.
• 

  compound complex

  Thank You, Madame,

  What a story - I think I get "Dad's" meaning. Out of the mouth of babes, no foolin'!
  You're correct about saving our sanity, what little we may yet possess, via the net. Likewise, I can understand your reference to Dad's being surrounded by Witnesses. Though my JWs are family and friends of many years, and I was quite in the mix, it has changed irretrievably for me; there's no going back. Of course, I'm on my best behavior in their presence, but I long to set them free. Pretty presumptuous on my part, but heartfelt, nevertheless.
  Thanks for listening and for this topic. You see, Madame, you never know whom you will touch!

  Bless you,

  CoCo