OMB Old Soldiers Never Die

Senior  Citizens who are also Veterans,

find this special day to remember how 

fortunate we are, again, this year.

I know how swiftly  some of us mature

while we are in Service, some take 

much longer.

My maturity in the Service, came with

a Court Martial and a rude awakening.

During the next 30 months, I became a 

Senior minded individual. 

I started to think like my Dad and started

to drink like my Grandfather...sparingly 

and rarely to excess.

I became aware of my friends and Family...

Where was this whole picture going to take us.

Who was gonna make it...  besides me?

That was where my Maturity Faltered.

I, was never out of the equation of survival.

That turning point came to fruition after the

Landings. 

I had become a Senior Citizen in my Twenties.
I was recognized by my Peers in the Military as,
"An Old Soldier"


In 1943 when I began my Military Career,
the Army had a pecking order for us,. those
Draftees and Newbee Enlistees  ....
The Career Army Personel, kept us at arms length
until we proved our worth..
After all, they were the older soldiers and 
they had a right to demand our respect for
their experience and guidance.
AND THEY GOT IT!
The division was clear.
The old Army, training the "new army"
These guys, were already, "old soldiers"


Which brings me to 1951 . 


I remember watching

The TV National Broadcast of General
Douglas MacArthur, who made his farewell  
address to the U.S. Congress after being recalled 
from Korea, by President Harry S. Truman.
His speech, made History, with the most
famous quote....


 "Old Soldiers Never Die, They Just Fade Away" .


Of course he was referring to himself but 
I could"t  help feel he was talking about 
"the old Army of World War l "
Well now.
I hope you don't think of me being partial
to old folks but I think we should never forget 
any Service person regardless of their age or 
length of Service, and let them fade away.
They have earned our everlasting respect
and Memory.   


I borrowed  this poem , a tribute to the
98th Bomber Group from a Blog I follow..
The Charley-Boy Chronicles
 A WW ll  pilot's story
 posted by Elizabeth Bacher a couple
of  months ago.
Can't get it out of my mind.
Sharing it with you.

High Flight "Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies, on laughter- silvered wings; Sunward, I've climbed, and joined, the tumbling mirth, of sun- split clouds. Done a hundred things, you have not dreamed of, wheeled and soared, swung high in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring  there, I've chased the shouting wind along, flung my eager craft, through the footless halls of air. Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue, I've topped the wind swept heights, with easy grace, where never lark or eagle flew. While, with silent, lifting mind, I've trod the high, untrespassed, sanctity of space, I put out my hand, and touched, the face of God." Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee   Jr.                                                        No. 412 Squadron, RCAF Killed December 11, 1941