"No
Mama, No Papa, No Uncle
Sam"
"Prayer Before Battle"
Before Thine ancient alter, God of War,
Forlorn, afraid, alone, I kneel to pray.
The gentle Shepard whom I would adore,
Faced by Thy blazing plaything, slips away.
And I am drained of faith - alone - alone.
Who now needs faith to face Thy outthrust sword,
Bereft of hope, turned to pagan to Thy bone.
I kneel to Thee and hail Thee as my Lord.
From such a God as Thee, I ask not life,
My life is forfeited, the hour is late.
Thou need not swerve the bullet, dull the knife.
I ask but strength to ride the wave of fate.
And one thing more, to validate this strife,
And my own sacrifice - teach me to hate.
Lieutenant Henry Lee
In 1942, General MacArthur was ordered
by President Roosevelt to leave the Philippines. We have all heard his
infamous response to the troops left behind, "I shall return."
But, for the men left behind at Bataan, he did not return.
From 1942 to1945 there were tens of
thousands men captured and housed in POW prison camps as a result of the fall
in Bataan and Corregidor.
The 90 mile Death March from Mariveles
to Camp O'Donnell took 6 days and thousands of men died along the road, with
many of the deaths at the hands of their captors.
One prisoner, Sergeant Able Abraham,
lived to tell his horrifying experiences on the Death March, as well as
surviving the POW camps; Camp O'Donnell and Camp Cabanatuam. Camp
Cabanatuam alone housed over 8,000 POWs.
For three years, Sgt. Abraham watched as
4,100 of his fellow prisoners suffered and died from malnutrition, starvation,
dysentery, fevers, bug infestation, hard labor, lack of medicine, depression,
and again, at the torturous hands of their captors.
At the same time, Sgt. Abraham was also
recording names, origins, and messages from fellow prisoners on scraps of
paper, which would have meant an agonizing death if he had been caught.
Another poem, written by Lieutenant Lee
describes the torture some of the prisoners had to endure:
Red in the eastern sun, before he
died,
We saw his glinting hair; his arms were tied.
There by his lonely form, ugly and grim
We saw an open grave waiting for him.
We watched him from our fence, in silent throng,
Each with the fervent prayer, "God make him strong."
They offered him a smoke, he'd not have that,
Then at his captor's feet he coldly spat.
He faced the leaden hail, his eyes were bare;
We saw the tropic rays glint in his hair.
What mattered why he stood facing the gun?
We saw a nation's pride there in the sun.
In January of 1945, approximately 500
American prisoners were rescued by the U.S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion, which
was a brave and heroic mission. Our American soldiers were finally
returning home, all except for Sgt. Abraham.
Sergeant Abraham was asked to stay in
the Philippines and exhume the remains of the soldiers who had been killed in
action. For 2 1/2 years, he eluded mines, booby traps, natural dangers,
and the Ghosts of Bataan, walking a fine line between sanity and insanity.
First,
I would like to
pay tribute to
and dedicate
this Veteran's
Day page to all
the men and
women of WWII,
especially to
the brave and
courageous men
who walked the
Death March of
Bataan.
Secondly, I
would also like
to dedicate this
page to all the
veterans who
have served our
country in times
of peace and of
war. You
are all my
heroes!
And
last, but
certainly not
least, I want to
pay tribute to
all the men and
women who are
currently
serving our
country. There
is no way that
we, as American
citizens living
here at home,
can know what
our soldiers are
enduring as they
fight to protect
our country in
foreign
lands.
They are all the
bravest of the
brave, and I
honor them for
their
service.
God bless each
and every one of
them, and may God
watch over them every hour of
every day.
And please,
always remember
them in your
prayers.
Thank
you.
~
StinaLisa ~
The
information above was from
the book "Ghost of
Bataan Speaks" by Abie
Abraham. You can
purchase this book from the
following website:
Sergeant
Abie Abraham
Ghost
of Bataan
This website
had many pictures and other
stories about Bataan.
It is a great book, and I
would recommend it to anyone
interested in WWII stories.
I also used
information from the book
"Ghost Soldiers"
by Hampton Sides. It
is also a great book about
the Bataan Death March. You can
purchase this book at
Amazon.com by clicking the
link below:
"Patriotic
Index"
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"Attack
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"Face
The Flag Son" |
If you have the time, stop by my home on the web,
have a cup of coffee, and see a list of my other web pages.
Please sign my Guestbook so I know you've stopped by.
Thanks!
~ StinaLisa ~
"A Pittance Of Time"
Written by
Terry Kelly © Jefter
Publishing - SOCAN
They fought and some died
for their homeland.
They fought and some died, now
it's our land.
Look at his little child;
there's no fear in her eyes.
Could he not show respect for
other dads who have died?
Take two minutes, would
you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls
who went over.
In peace may they rest, may
we never
forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.
God forgive me for wanting
to strike him.
Give me strength so as not to
be like him.
My heart pounds in my breast,
fingers pressed to my lips,
My throat wants to bawl out,
my tongue barely resists.
But two minutes I will
bide.
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls
who went over.
In peace may they rest.
May we never forget why they
died.
It's a pittance of time.
Read the letters and poems
of the heroes at home.
They have casualties, battles,
and fears of their own.
There's a price to be paid if
you go, if you stay.
Freedom's fought for and won
in numerous ways.
Take two minutes, would
you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls
all over.
May we never forget, our
young become vets.
At the end of the line,
It's a pittance of time.
It takes courage to fight
in your own war.
It takes courage to fight
someone else's war.
Our peacekeepers tell of their
own living hell.
They bring hope to foreign
lands that hate mongers can't
kill.
Take two minutes, would
you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls
who go over.
In peacetime our best still
don battle dress
And lay their lives on the
line.
It's a pittance of time
In peace may they rest,
Lest we forget why they died.
Take a pittance of time.
On
Veteran's Day in 1999,
Canadian Terry Kelly, was
in a store in Canada when
an announcement came over
the speakers asking
everyone in the store to
give to minutes of silence
in respect to the veterans
who have sacrificed so
much.
He was
impressed with the store's
initiative of the
"two minutes of
silence" and of
educating the public to
the importance of
remembering. our
veterans. All the
customers stood in
silence, except for a one
man and his child.
As the man tried to get
the attention of the store
clerk, Terry became angry,
not only because the man
was not showing his
respect, but also because
he was setting a bad
example for the child.
Terry's
anger was later channeled
into a beautiful piece of
work called, "A
Pittance of Time". He
later recorded "A
Pittance of Time" and
included it on his
full-length music CD,
"The Power of the
Dream".
Terry
Kelly is a professional
speaker, singer,
songwriter, entertainer
and athlete. Please
visit his website to hear
more of his music.
He also has several music
videos for viewing.
Please visit his website
at the link below:
Terry
Kelly
November 2005
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