this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters
also posted today in thanksgiving for the safe return of Andy Sapp, my daughter’s high school English teacher
today’s poem and translation courtesy of melvin
cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.
images and poem below the fold
In this photo provided by the Karolasz family, Staff Sgt. Edward Karolasz, 25, of Powder Springs, N.J., is shown. Karolasz, with the 101st Airborne Division, was killed Nov. 19, 2005, in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Karolasz enlisted shortly after graduating high school and had always dreamed of joining the military while he was growing up, his relatives told several newspapers in New Jersey.
(AP Photo/Karolasz Family via Fort Campbell)
In this photo provided by family, 1st Lt. Dennis W. Zilinski, of Freehold, N.J., is seen in this undated photo. Zilinski, 23, was one of five soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division who were killed in two weekend roadside bombings in Iraq.
(AP Photo/Submitted by family via Fort Campbell)
Michigan National Guard Pfc. John Dearing in an undated family photo was killed in Iraq when his vehicle ran over a land mine. Four other soldiers, each from the Saginaw, Mich., based Guard unit were injured, Dearing’s family said. Dearing grew up in Oscoda, Mich., and graduated from Oscoda High School in 2003 and moved to Hazel Park, Mich., in 2004.
(AP Photo/Dearing Family)
The Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Department of the Air Force
photo obtained from uruknet.info – information from occupied iraq
“I don’t blame the individual soldiers. As far as they can’t control where they are, I think that their souls are safe. But for the men who sent them, I think they’re finding out that there’s going to be hell to pay for it.” – Andy Sapp
excerpted from The Boston Globe Magazine November 13, 2005 by Nan Levinson, as featured at uruknet.info – information from occupied iraq (scroll)
from La Colombe
by Jacques Brel
translated by melvin
Pourquoi cette fanfare
Quand les soldats par quatre
Attendent les massacres
Sur le quai d’une gare
Pourquoi ce train ventru
Qui ronronne et soupire
Avant de nous conduire
Jusqu’au malentendu
Pourquoi les chants les cris
Des foules venues fleurir
Ceux qui ont le droit de partir
Au nom de leurs conneries
Nous n’irons plus au bois, la colombe est blessée
Nous n’allons pas au bois, nous allons la tuer
– – –
Why do these bugles cry
For squads of young men drilled,
To kill and to be killed,
All waiting by this train.
Why orders loud and hoarse,
Why the engine’s cough,
As it drags us off,
Into the holocaust.
Why crowds who sing and cry,
Who shout and toss us flowers,
And trade their right for ours,
To murder and to die.
The dove has torn her wing,
So no more songs of love.
We are not here to sing.
We’re here to kill the dove.
– – –
read Ilona’s important diary at MLW – Returning Vet PTSD – One Soldier’s Story
view the pbs newshour silent honor roll (with thanks to jimstaro at booman.)
take a private moment to light one candle among many (with thanks to TXSharon)
support Veterans for Peace
support the Iraqi people
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
remember the fallen
support Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors – TAPS
support Gold Star Families for Peace
support the fallen
support the troops
support Iraq Veterans Against the War
support Military families Speak Out
support the troops and the Iraqi people
read This is what John Kerry did today, the diary by lawnorder that prompted this series
read Riverbend’s Bagdhad Burning
read Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches
read Today in Iraq
witness every day