"They also serve who only stand and wait"

[Stinky The Clown]

I posted this in the veterans thread that is currently hot.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3734985
I didn't want this thought to get lost in that (absolutely wonderful) thread.

That line is a WWII saying meant to honor those who watched their loved ones go off to service. I post it here now as a tribute to those of you who didn't serve, but who, by your actions, and words of comfort and love, support those who do go.

I also post it as a thank you to those of you who worked tirelessly to not only 'support the troops' ... but also to end wars.

This is to Rosie The Riveter and to the Peace and Love generation of the 60's ..... and to all of you here on DU, and the like minded people all over the world working even now to end this horrible, tragic, senseless war.




You are with us ... and we're with you.

I thank those who 'only stood and served.' I know I speak for many who've posted here .... we're grateful to you and for you.

God Bless You and Thank You.

(from a grateful Stinky The Clown)

[NMDemDist2]

1. ahhh CHIT! H2S

ya got me all choked up now..... :cry:

[scarletlib]

2. Actually it is from a sonnet by Milton

written in the 1600's.

Milton was losing his sight. He was a poet and a writer. He worked in the Cromwell govt. (He was a 'Puritan'). This poem was an expression of how he felt about losing his one great talent due to his blindness. I used to have the whole thing memorized as it is my favorite but can not now remember it entirely. (But thanks to the Internet I can now find it on-line)

On His Blindness:

When I consider how my light is spent,
E're half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, least he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd,
I fondly ask; But patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts, who best
Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o're Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and waite.

I have always loved this poem. It has real meaning to me as I have so often felt that I too could only stand and wait.

[immoderate]

3. Thanks.

I avoided Vietnam. And it's too bad because if not for that war, the military was part of my career plan.

I never denigrated those who served, and I lament that those who perpetrated that horrendous war drove a lasting wedge between us and our government.

The Bush administration is nothing but a reaction to the peace generation that triumphed over them.

--IMM

[DanCa]

4. Thank you Husb (nt)

[Coexist]

5. oooh - I got chills

[scarletlib]

6. Memorial Day Kick

Thanks to all those who have had to stand and wait.

Thanks to all the young men and women who have served our country.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. And especially, thanks to those who today stand and wait

And those who's wait is in vain.