This Memorial Day Consider a Child
// May 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // History, Military, Music
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame, and an incredible songwriter, owes much of his fame unfortunately to the death of his dad in World War II. The Wall
It was just before dawn one miserable morning in black ‘forty four.
When the forward commander was told to sit tight when he asked that his men be withdrawn.
And the Generals gave thanks as the other ranks held back the enemy tanks for a while.
And the Anzio bridgehead was held for the price of a few hundred ordinary lives.And kind old King George sent Mother a note when he heard that father was gone.
It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll, with gold leaf and all.
And I found it one day in a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.
And my eyes still grow damp to remember his Majesty signed with his own rubber stamp.It was dark all around.
There was frost in the ground when the tigers broke free.
And no one survived from the Royal Fusiliers Company C.
They were all left behind, most of them dead, the rest of them dying.
And that’s how the High Command took my daddy from me.“When the tigers broke free” - Pink Floyd, The Final Cut
I grew up listening to these albums without really paying attention to the words or the themes. The music was great. “Another Brick in the Wall” caused much angst among teachers I recall. As I look back and listen again today, I can only think that Waters spent much of his youth and most of his adult life angry and confused, if these and other lyrics are any indication. To a child, war doesn’t make sense. Losing a parent to something that doesn’t make sense makes it doubly tough.
When a child loses a parent to war, especially an unpopular one, the risk is substantial that the honor and respect — the legacy — due the parent by all Americans will be forgotten. It’s tough for children to overhear things like “illegal war” and “misguided ideologies” and “torturers” and not come away feeling angry and confused, much like Roger Waters did.
A Soldier’s Child Birthday Foundation was established in an effort to remind children of fallen military personnel that their mom or dad did make a difference and were in fact heroes just by the mere fact that they chose to don a uniform of the United States. It is our hope that you might consider joining us to keep the legacy of dad or mom alive by helping us provide a birthday present to a child each year up to age 19. This Memorial Day, consider a child. Read more HERE.
This fourth of July I’ve decided to spend a lot more time studying and relearning American history. I’m fascinated with our history and my limited but growing knowledge of such. It may be related to the current political scene and the various approaches that some have proposed for the future of our country. It may be the idea of firsts. No other country in the history of the world ever tried anything like our founders did. Allowing regular people to make decisions for themselves that only kings and nobleman did prior… crazy talk back then.
