Words
The old saying goes like this: "A picture is worth a thousand words."
But sometimes, words are enough.
But sometimes, words are enough.
"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget, in time, that men have died to win them."
~~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
~~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Stars and Crosses
by Vernon Jackson
Co. G 101st Infantry
Stars and crosses with faces
Arrayed as white laces
in row after row
They face to the sun
Stars and crosses with faces
Their names
but no places
Anonymity at the bark of a gun
Stars and crosses with faces
They ask where my place is
"Where have you been and
what have you done?"
Stars and crosses with faces
In too many places
Ask "Have you a family ---
has there been fun?"
Stars and crosses with faces
memory retraces
Their lives aborted
though barely begun
Stars and crosses with faces
Time alone
erases
Their sacrifice done
Star and crosses with faces
In all the wrong places
My guilt overwhelms me
I forget not one
by Vernon Jackson
Co. G 101st Infantry
Stars and crosses with faces
Arrayed as white laces
in row after row
They face to the sun
Stars and crosses with faces
Their names
but no places
Anonymity at the bark of a gun
Stars and crosses with faces
They ask where my place is
"Where have you been and
what have you done?"
Stars and crosses with faces
In too many places
Ask "Have you a family ---
has there been fun?"
Stars and crosses with faces
memory retraces
Their lives aborted
though barely begun
Stars and crosses with faces
Time alone
erases
Their sacrifice done
Star and crosses with faces
In all the wrong places
My guilt overwhelms me
I forget not one
* On the occasion of the visit of the YD Veterans Association to France, April 2001, sponsored by Historic Tours
* Used with permission granted by Ray and Cristy Pfeiffer, Historic Tours
* Used with permission granted by Ray and Cristy Pfeiffer, Historic Tours
The following sentiment was expressed by a German World War II veteran during a tour operated by Historic Tours for the 28th Infantry Regiment Association of the 8th Infantry Division in May/June, 1999. The Association tour members wanted to be reunited with German World War II veterans against whom they fought during the Battle of the Huertgen Forest. It was their wish to make this reunion a meeting of reconciliation.
The German veteran who expressed the following, did so after a wreath-laying ceremony in which the American and German veterans together laid a wreath at the German Cemetery in the Huertgen Forest.
"I spent my youth in obedience,
My soldier's life in denial,
My adulthood in regret and sorrow,
And my old age in sad acceptance."
One of the American veterans responded by giving the German veteran a hug and said to him "For you and me, the war ends now. There should be no more sadness. We don't have many more years left."
The German veteran who expressed the following, did so after a wreath-laying ceremony in which the American and German veterans together laid a wreath at the German Cemetery in the Huertgen Forest.
"I spent my youth in obedience,
My soldier's life in denial,
My adulthood in regret and sorrow,
And my old age in sad acceptance."
One of the American veterans responded by giving the German veteran a hug and said to him "For you and me, the war ends now. There should be no more sadness. We don't have many more years left."
* Used with permission granted by Ray and Cristy Pfeiffer, Historic Tours
