booksbenji
11-15-06, 03:20 PM
I remember that in the 10th grade I had to memorize this poem and I can still recit it sumwatt:
Bill Salter is Publisher Emeritus of the Odessa American.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thanks for the memories of charges and flag-raisings
It’s funny what a mind retains. It has been 50 years since Poor William competed in a UIL activity by repeating the memorized “Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
PW was reminded of that last week on the 152nd anniversary of the charge that took place during the Crimean War. The “Today In History” feature noted that “an English brigade of more than 600 men, facing hopeless odds, charged the Russian army during the Battle of Balaclava and suffered heavy losses.”
“Half a league, half a league,
“Half a league onward,
“All in the valley of Death
“Rode the six hundred.
“ ‘Forward, the Light Brigade!
“ ‘Charge for the guns!’ he said.
“Into the valley of Death
“Rode the six hundred.”
PW could not have repeated that opening stanza, word for word, but he will never forget what came next:
“Cannon to right of them,
“Cannon to left of them,
“Cannon in front of them
“Volley’d and thunder’d;
“Storm’d at with shot and shell,
“Boldly they rode and well,
“Into the jaws of Death,
“Into the mouth of Hell
“Rode the six hundred.”
Then, the sixth and final stanza asks:
“When can their glory fade?
“O the wild charge they made!
“All the world wondered.
“Honor the charge they made,
“Honor the Light Brigade,
“Noble six hundred.”
There is no more stirring piece of poetry stuck in PW’s mind. In truth, its glory never fades, just as the memory of the brave men and women who have defended this nation for some 230 years never should fade.
Every day should be observed as “veterans day,” not just one. And that is truer today than ever, as every year seems to bring a new challenge to this nation’s health and welfare.
PW hopes that the new film, “Flags of Our Fathers,” made from a book of the same name, will convey this message and that it will be remembered as long as the charge the “Light Brigade” made on Oct. 25, 1854, has been remembered.
The “charge” in the film, of course, was made by six (not 600) brave men who had been involved in World War II fighting on Iwo Jima and then raised a U.S. flag atop its Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, after the island had been secured. PW remembers the famous photo of that flag-raising as vividly as he remembers the Tennyson poem.
The only real problem with such memories is that they are of war, death and dying. But, they also are examples of real sacrifice, of putting service before self.
This is why such warriors, both in the past and present, should always be honored. And, it really shouldn’t require a famous poem or photograph to make it so.
-------------------
I think that this writer has a grasp of watt "Hero Stuff" is made of.
books :thumbup:
Bill Salter is Publisher Emeritus of the Odessa American.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thanks for the memories of charges and flag-raisings
It’s funny what a mind retains. It has been 50 years since Poor William competed in a UIL activity by repeating the memorized “Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
PW was reminded of that last week on the 152nd anniversary of the charge that took place during the Crimean War. The “Today In History” feature noted that “an English brigade of more than 600 men, facing hopeless odds, charged the Russian army during the Battle of Balaclava and suffered heavy losses.”
“Half a league, half a league,
“Half a league onward,
“All in the valley of Death
“Rode the six hundred.
“ ‘Forward, the Light Brigade!
“ ‘Charge for the guns!’ he said.
“Into the valley of Death
“Rode the six hundred.”
PW could not have repeated that opening stanza, word for word, but he will never forget what came next:
“Cannon to right of them,
“Cannon to left of them,
“Cannon in front of them
“Volley’d and thunder’d;
“Storm’d at with shot and shell,
“Boldly they rode and well,
“Into the jaws of Death,
“Into the mouth of Hell
“Rode the six hundred.”
Then, the sixth and final stanza asks:
“When can their glory fade?
“O the wild charge they made!
“All the world wondered.
“Honor the charge they made,
“Honor the Light Brigade,
“Noble six hundred.”
There is no more stirring piece of poetry stuck in PW’s mind. In truth, its glory never fades, just as the memory of the brave men and women who have defended this nation for some 230 years never should fade.
Every day should be observed as “veterans day,” not just one. And that is truer today than ever, as every year seems to bring a new challenge to this nation’s health and welfare.
PW hopes that the new film, “Flags of Our Fathers,” made from a book of the same name, will convey this message and that it will be remembered as long as the charge the “Light Brigade” made on Oct. 25, 1854, has been remembered.
The “charge” in the film, of course, was made by six (not 600) brave men who had been involved in World War II fighting on Iwo Jima and then raised a U.S. flag atop its Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, after the island had been secured. PW remembers the famous photo of that flag-raising as vividly as he remembers the Tennyson poem.
The only real problem with such memories is that they are of war, death and dying. But, they also are examples of real sacrifice, of putting service before self.
This is why such warriors, both in the past and present, should always be honored. And, it really shouldn’t require a famous poem or photograph to make it so.
-------------------
I think that this writer has a grasp of watt "Hero Stuff" is made of.
books :thumbup: