Monday, May 26, 2008

The VA Cemetery near UCLA



"From faraway lands, they were returned to cemeteries like this one where broken hearts received their broken bodies," Bush said. "They found peace beneath the white headstones in the land they fought to defend. It is a solemn reminder of the cost of freedom that the number of headstones in a place such as this grows with every new Memorial Day." George W. Bush
Thanks for the pictures, Mr. Z

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Z, Beautiful pictures, I believe taken by Mr. Z?

The quietude and solemnity is almost palpable.


Pris

Z said...

Oh, Pris! I forgot to credit Mr. Z...will do that now! Thanks. Glad you like them. They say a lot, don't they.

Incognito said...

Sigh... heartbreaking..

Anonymous said...

I am 7 minutes from the Arlington Cemetery. It is forever a reminder that FREEDOM DOES COST. Freedom means nothing if it is free.

elmers brother said...

when we lived in San Diego we'd take the kids to Ft. Rosecrans and read the tombstones ....the recipients of the CMH were always good

Ottavio (Otto) Marasco said...

Thanks! Always an important and potent reminder

EDGE said...

Great post, Z! Hope you had a great Memorial day weekend!

Edge's Conservative Movies

WomanHonorThyself said...

lovely Z..thanks and thanks Mr Z as well~!

Anonymous said...

Safe in their alabaster chambers––
Untouched by morning––
And untouched by noon––
Lie the meek members
Of the Resurrection––
Rafter of satin and roof of stone.

Light laughs the breeze
In her castle of sunshine––
Babbles the bee
In a stolid ear––
Pipe the sweet birds
In ignorant cadence––

Ah! What sagacity
Perished here!

Grqand go the years
In the crescent above them.
Worlds scoop their arcs
And firmaments row
Diadems drop
And Doges surrender––

Soundless as dots
On a disc of snow.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Quoted by FreeThinke

cube said...

Evocative picture from Mr. Z and lovely words from our President.

Brooke said...

Lovely pics.

There can never be thanks enough for our soldiers.

kevin said...

Nice tribute. Freedom doesn't come free.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pics, Z.
I love visiting Arlington Nat'l...it leaves me with a sense of gratitude like nothing else.
Oceans of crosses. Lives given.

Anonymous said...

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.



From: Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress and Other Poems.
Christina Rosetti. London: Macmillan 1879.

Offered by FreeThinke

- Christina Rossetti

Anonymous said...

I am singing to you
Soft as a man with a dead child speaks;
Hard as a man in handcuffs,
Held where he cannot move:


Under the sun
Are sixteen million men,
Chosen for shining teeth,
Sharp eyes, hard legs,
And a running of young warm blood
............ in their wrists.


And a red juice runs on the green grass;
And a red juice soaks the dark soil.
And the sixteen million are killing. . .
............ and killing and killing.


I never forget them day or night:
They beat on my head for memory of them;
They pound on my heart and I cry back to them,
To their homes and families, dreams and games.


I wake in the night and smell the trenches,
And hear the low stir of sleepers in lines
Sixteen million sleepers and pickets in the dark:
Some of them long sleepers for always,


Some of them tumbling
............ to sleep tomorrow for always,
Fixed in the drag of the world's heartbreak,
Eating and drinking, toiling. . .
............ on a long job of killing.

Sixteen million men.


~ Carl Sandburg


Offered by FreeThinke

Anonymous said...

Do not know why that posted twice. Sorry!

FT

Z said...

FT...it's not that big a deal for me to delete the doubles...it happened on another one of yours yesterday, too. Maybe you're hitting PUBLISH twice somehow?

No need to apologize, I'll see it and delete. thanks.

Anonymous said...

What happens, Z, is that sometimes the words "Your Comment Has Been Saved" do not appear in green at the top as they normally do, so I assume I need to type in a new set of "funny" letters and try again.

There have been a few times when I've gone through four different sets of "funny" letters and still not been able to get a "take."

The techniques of the Cyber World are, indeed, odd and mysterious.

Hope you had a delightful Memorial Day Weekend?

FT

Z said...

FT: The comments publish very quickly, so just please wait a few minutes. Click on REFRESH on your upper toolbar (the green arrows?) and then if it doesn't come, try again.
The wavy letters must be typed exactly right and even with my fairly good eyesight I mess up sometimes. Only recently, they've become far more difficult to read, in my opinion. Take your time, be more careful, and you should be fine at least by the second one.

Karen Townsend said...

Lovely tribute, Z. Wonderful photos from Mr. Z, too.

I listened to the President's speech. It was moving, as usual. And also as usual, when he choked up a bit at the end, I did, too.