Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Junior (June 9, 1922 – December 11, 1941) was a British-American aviator and poet who died fighting in World War II while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, which he had joined before the United States had officially entered the war. He is perhaps most famous for his poem High Flight, written on 3 September 1941, shortly before his death
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, —and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
6 comments:
Yesterday, at the end of the Parade, way at the back of the cemetery, there was a wreath laying ceremony. And while scores and scores marched and many hundreds more lined the road and watched, only a few dozen made it that far.
And while speeches were being made and proclamations were read, I believe that what many of the veterans who were there heard were the voices of lost friends. And for them Memorial Day and Veterans Day are not merely opportunities for three day week-ends and sales at the mall.
And that is how it should be for all of us.
And there are things that we can do to show that we have seen the sacrifices that were made in our name and that they matter.
First, we must never send our nation’s children into harm’s way unless we are certain that the cost is justified and that there is no sensible alternative.
Second, we must give them the very finest weapons and armor available.
Third, while they are away we must make and keep a commitment to care for their families.
Fourth, when, God willing, they return, we must make and keep a commitment to care for them.
And fifth, if we send our nation’s children to fight and perhaps die defending our freedoms, we must make certain that we cherish those freedoms and value them as highly as we value the lives of their defenders.
We must realize that it is not our flag or our anthem or our wealth or our strength that makes this nation unique. It is our Constitution, that brilliant invention of James Madison, that truly created a new type of nation.
We must know what our elected officials do and say and hold them accountable, at every level of government. We must vote and vote knowledgeably and remind our politicians that they are answerable to us and that they are not our masters but our employees.
If we ask others to die for us, we must, at minimum, understand why.
Well said!
Swill when did you serve???
I didn't, nor did I claim otherwise.
Does that mean that I shouldn't care what happens to those who did?
That was very good. Something like that should be read in the papers for all to read.
p.s. for the 3rd blogger. you made a fool of yourself
Was probably Don Siebold. He has a tendency to make a fool of himself
Post a Comment