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1. 

   debra4life50 said, about 1 year ago

   Thank you, Pab

2. 

   Joe Minotaur said, about 1 year ago

   One of my favorite poems.

3. 

   margueritem said, about 1 year ago

   Beautiful, thanks Pab.

4. 

   Edcole1961 said, about 1 year ago

   Reminds me of the ending of the fourth “Blackadder” series.

5. 

   baslim_the_begger said, about 1 year ago

   Thanks, nice photo, too. I am reading Martin Gilbert’s The First World War. A couple of days ago I got to the part where that poem was mentioned. A put off reading this for a long time, because the terrible carnage & senseless deaths depress me. Gilbert includes poems and passages of letters from those in the field. It makes the deaths more personal and poignant. And that torch in the poem was passed from hand to hand to hand times without number.

6. 

   grencm said, about 1 year ago

   Thank you for remembering.

7. 

   LibrarianInTraining said, about 1 year ago

   Amen.

8. 

   kfaatz925 said, about 1 year ago

   Beautiful strip today; thanks, Pab.

9. 

   CaptainColorado said, about 1 year ago

   Well said, Pab.

10. 

    LadyThornewood said, about 1 year ago

    too bad the picture wasn’t in color. The red poppies would have been a very nice touch…. Beautiful

11. 

    GoodQuestion said, about 1 year ago

    Semper fidelis Pab.

12. 

    Digital Frog said, about 1 year ago

    Dignity & Class.

13. 

    mivins said, about 1 year ago

    Pab, you are a gentleperson and a scholar.

14. 

    dmhulbert said, about 1 year ago

    Perfect. Absolutely pitch perfect, Pab. Thank you.

15. 

    fogey said, about 1 year ago

    This poem was used not only to mourn WW-1 dead, but in its time also as a recruiting tool in that “War to end all wars” - a line omitted above is “Take up our quarrels with our foes.” America’s Decoration Day, which became Memorial Day, should be remembered most deeply in 2009 for those who died in our Civil War so that ALL Americans have the same rights under our Constitution.

16. 

    Dypak said, about 1 year ago

    If you like “In Flanders Fields” by Canadian Dr. Jon McCrea you should enjoy Herman Melville’s “On Malvern Hill”. Malvern Hill was a battlefield during the American Civil War. I think McCrea must have read and been inspired by Melville’s poem. Both inspire deep feelings about the sacrifices our military makes every day. Thank you all for remembering.
    —
    Malvern Hill

    Ye elms that wave on Malvern Hill
    In prime of morn and May,
    Recall ye how McClellan’s men
    Here stood at bay?
    While deep within yon forest dim
    Our rigid comrades lay–
    Some with the cartridge in their mouth,
    Others with fixed arms lifted South–
    Invoking so
    The cypress glades? Ah wilds of woe!

    The spires of Richmond, late beheld
    Through rifts in musket-haze,
    Were closed from view in clouds of dust
    On leaf-walled ways,
    Where streamed our wagons in caravan;
    And the Seven Nights and Days
    Of march and fast, retreat and fight,
    Pinched our grimed faces to ghastly plight–

    Does the elm wood

    Recall the haggard beards of blood?

    The battle-smoked flag, with stars eclipsed,
    We followed (it never fell!)–
    In silence husbanded our strength–
    Received their yell;
    Till on this slope we patient turned
    With cannon ordered well;
    Reverse we proved was not defeat;
    But ah, the sod what thousands meet!–
    Does Malvern Wood
    Bethink itself, and muse and brood?

      We elms of Malvern Hill
    
        Remember every thing;
    
      But sap the twig will fill:
    
      Wag the world how it will,
    
        Leaves must be green in Spring.
    
    

    —
    Herman Melville

17. 

    Dypak said, about 1 year ago

    I don’t know why it messed up the final stanza.
    –
    We elms of Malvern Hill
    Remember every thing;
    But sap the twig will fill:
    Wag the world how it will,
    Leaves must be green in Spring.

18. 

    margueritem said, about 1 year ago

    Thanks, DYPAK, I’ve never seen that poem.

19. 

    jml58 said, about 1 year ago

    Our dead are not gone until we have forgotten them.

20. 

    packratmac said, about 1 year ago

    I really enjoyed yesterday’s strip, but this one is wonderful. Thank you, too, Dypak, for the Melville poem!

21. 

    pschearer said, about 1 year ago

    The true enemy is unlimited government imposed on the unwilling by force. Honor those who died in defense of the right purposes: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

22. 

    pabsungenis said, about 1 year ago

    fogey: I included the “take up our arguments” verse.

23. 

    3hourtour said, about 1 year ago

    …let us not just remember those whom died for our country but also those who had to continue living with their wounds after they came home…

24. 

    Goggy98 said, about 1 year ago

    3hourtour: So right you are!

25. 

    Colleen Sheehy said, about 1 year ago

    To those who have died, those who have fought, and those who fight on… And for the day when we can “beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks”…

    Thanks, Pab.

26. 

    LibrarianInTraining said, about 1 year ago

    meshugunah, there is nothing meshuganah about you! Way to quote the Scriptures!

27. 

    Orgelspieler said, about 1 year ago

    Well, that’s one set of scriptures. During the present cycle, we seem to be paying more attention to what Krsna said to Arjuna on the eve of battle.

28. 

    Bruce F said, about 1 year ago

    Great Memorial Day cartoon

29. 

    Ravynne said, about 1 year ago

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-LkTsol220

    “The Green Fields of France” as sung by John McDermott.

    Hail and well-met, hail and farewell to soldiers past and present…and thank you all.