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LAFAYETTE, WE ARE
HERE!
French Nobleman and Revolutionary War
Continental
Major General, Lafayette, heroically led American
Continental troops in the Battles of Monmouth and
Yorktown. When he was buried, dirt from
Revolutionary War battlefields was spread
over his grave.
"It is with loving pride we drape the colors in tribute
of respect to this citizen of your great republic. And
here and now in the presence of the illustrious dead
we pledge our hearts and our honor in carrying this
war to a successful issue.
Lafayette,
we are here".
Colonel Charles E. Stanton in a speech at the tomb of
American
Revolutionary War General Marquis de Lafayette,
4 July 1917 - WWI
The debt owed LaFayette by America was about
to
be repaid with the blood of American soldiers.
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Marquis de Lafayette
b. Sept 6, 1757. d. May 20, 1834.
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"Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die."
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Iwo Jima
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"When you go home
Tell them of us and say,
For their tomorrow,
We gave our today."
The
Kohima Epitaph
This appears on a monument
erected at the British military
cemetery at Kohima, Assam,
India, in memory of those who
died in World War II's largest
Asian land battle near there
in 1944.
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The five Sullivan brothers (Albert,
Francis, George,
Joseph, and Madison) served together as shipmates
aboard the cruiser U.S.S. Juneau after requesting
special permission from the Secretary of the Navy.
The Juneau was sunk on November 13, 1942, off
the island of Guadalcanal by Japanese submarine
I-26. Of the crew of over 600 sailors, only 11
survived. The death of the five brothers caused
Congress to enact a law, commonly referred to as
the "Sullivan Act," that prohibited all members of a
family from serving in a combat zone at the same
time.
Even after hearing rumors of the death of her five
sons, Mrs. Sullivan continued to support the war
effort as evidenced by a letter she wrote to the
Bureau of Naval Personnel. Franklin D. Roosevelt
sent a personal letter to Mrs. Sullivan expressing
his and the nation's sorrow. For wartime America,
the Sullivan brothers became the ultimate symbol
of heroic sacrifice. |
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Although he had never received formal
parachute training,
Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe volunteered to jump with
the first wave, for which action he was recommended for
promotion. During the Battle of the Bulge, General
McAuliffe received the Distinguished Service Medal for
leading the epic defense of the town of Bastogne during
attack by overwhelming German forces. When asked by
the German general to surrender, he responded with
the now famous one-word answer, "NUTS!" Bastogne
was saved. Gen. McAuliffe went on to serve America
for many years.
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American Troops parade through Paris -
WWII
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"Hitler knows that he will have to
break us in this Island or lose the
war. If we can stand up to him,
all Europe may be free and the life
of the world may move forward into
broad, sunlit uplands, but if we fail,
then the whole world, including the
United States, including all that we
have known and cared for, will sink
into the abyss of a new Dark Age
made more sinister, and perhaps
more protracted, by the light of
perverted science. Let us therefore
brace ourselves to our duties, and
so bear ourselves that, if the British
Empire and Commonwealth last for
a thousand years, men will still say,
'This was their finest hour.' "
Winston Churchill
The Battle of Britain
June 18, 1940
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