{"id":1186286,"date":"2020-05-25T10:43:58","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T15:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyreckoning.com\/?p=109382"},"modified":"2020-05-25T10:43:58","modified_gmt":"2020-05-25T15:43:58","slug":"requiesce-in-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1186286","title":{"rendered":"Requiesce in Pace"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post Requiesce in Pace<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is Memorial Day\u2026 when we pause to honor the nation\u2019s war dead.<\/p>\n

Most Americans will not, of course.<\/p>\n

It merely represents a chance to lie flat on a beach\u2026 to munch frankfurters\u2026 to dream the tall dreams of approaching summer.<\/p>\n

We will be joining them of course.<\/p>\n

We will not be planting tiny American flags atop forgotten graves today.<\/p>\n

We will not be bugling taps.<\/p>\n

It is unlikely we will thank a veteran for his service \u2014 not out of disrespect \u2014 but because we scarcely know any.<\/p>\n

We nonetheless recall strolling the American military cemetery above Omaha Beach one day\u2026 and how it brought us up short.<\/p>\n

The rows and rows and rows of bleach-white crosses \u2014 and an occasional Star of David \u2014 seeming to stretch from horizon to horizon.<\/p>\n

We wandered among the dead\u2026 and listened for their ghostly counsel.<\/p>\n

Beneath the rustling breeze, we could make out a faint murmur.<\/p>\n

It seemed to whisper a poem from the First World War:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Flanders Fields.\u201d<\/p>\n

From which:<\/p>\n

\n

In Flanders fields the poppies blow<\/i>
\nBetween the crosses, row on row,<\/i>
\nThat mark our place, and in the sky<\/i>
\nThe larks, still bravely singing, fly,<\/i>
\nScarce heard amid the guns below.<\/i><\/p>\n

We are the Dead; short days ago<\/i>
\nWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,<\/i>
\nLoved and were loved, and now we lie<\/i>
\nIn Flanders fields.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"IMG<\/p>\n

Flanders Field<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Standing above Omaha Beach, what fetched us was not so much the gravity of those distant events 76 years ago \u2014 but the soul-numbing waste of it all.<\/p>\n

What great things may have awaited that 21-year-old second lieutenant if a German bullet hadn\u2019t cut him down on June 6, 1944?<\/p>\n

What did life have in store for that sergeant of the 2nd Ranger Battalion… who never made it up Pointe du Hoc that morning?<\/p>\n

What about this young paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division, whose bones lie beneath a shady tree?<\/p>\n

\"IMG<\/p>\n

The American military cemetery above Omaha Beach<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

What might they have amounted to?<\/p>\n

Perhaps much.<\/p>\n

Perhaps nothing whatsoever.<\/p>\n

But they had lives to live. And every right to live them.<\/p>\n

Let us also not forget the pulverized and unidentified dead, known only to their Almighty creator.<\/p>\n

What about the futures they never had?<\/p>\n

\"IMG<\/p>\n

“For of all sad words of tongue or pen,\u201d lamented poet John Greenleaf Whittier, \u201cthe saddest are these:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

What might have been… had they lived?<\/p>\n

Alas, we will never know.<\/p>\n

And so as we conclude this Memorial Day weekend\u2026<\/p>\n

Let us lower our heads in mournful reflection of America\u2019s martial departed\u2026 and what might have been.<\/p>\n

Requiescant in pace<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Regards,<\/p>\n

Brian Maher
\nManaging editor, The Daily Reckoning<\/i><\/p>\n

The post Requiesce in Pace<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post Requiesce in Pace<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In memory of the nation’s war dead. We hope you had a pleasant holiday weekend, lockdown or not.<\/p>\n

The post Requiesce in Pace<\/a> appeared first on Daily Reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315,3724,366,2691,463,4316],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186286"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1186286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1186287,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186286\/revisions\/1186287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1186286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1186286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1186286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}