heroic deaths

[ivanhowe]

I was weened on it. WW2 was going on, a Catholic school education. If you wanted to interrupt a geography lesson, all you had to do was ask Sister about the life and death of some saint. She would stop, her eyes would glaze over, and you 'd get the best account of a tragic, painful, glorious, sanctifying death of a holy person. I preferred the stories of a male saint. You have to know the military revere their fallen soldiers- with good reason. And parents, who all but brought picnic lunches on Memorial Day.-With the current photo in y group Heroes and Boots, my attention is turning to Greek and Roman mythology. Countries have their national heroes( France and Roland at the gate). My question is: Do you have a favorite hero from any of the topics above whose life you would like to be more known? There must be a Bulgarian hero, besides you know who.

 

[ivanhowe]

Dear old England, ruler of the seas, sent her troops wherever there was an interest. Tommy, the ordinary soldier shouldered the hardships and death nobly in many a war. I am a Th Century person in that I share that nationalism, patriotic zeal and respect for our own war dead."He died doing what he always wanted to do"-"since he was a little boy, he wanted to be a..."Let us mourn them who never came back. Mouldering under a blanket of clay, their flower crushed, their seed fermented within their precious vessel. A hundred years have passed and those who loved them have also become silent.

 

[KiltedSoldier]

England did and does not fight alone, to Tommy Atkins (England) we can add cousins ; Jock (Scotland), Taffy (Wales) and Paddy (Ireland) who fought for the Empire and in many times were slain and left their bones in foreign soil. Also Jack Tar (Royal Navy) not sure of a nickname for the RAF but we call the RAF Regiment (Air Force soldiers) Rock Apes and pilots, Biggles. The young men of Britain responded patriotically t the call to arms, seeking fame, fortune, adventure, yes some would die, but a nole and honourable death was not seen as a hardship but to be celebrated
For a young Scottish warrior the hero to be respected for his life and death would have to be William Wallace, founder of Scotland never defeated in battle, but executed by the English after being betrayed. Robert the Bruce our second hero avenged him at Bannockburn slaying many English nobles himself.

 

[ivanhowe]

KS, thank you for the national heroes of Scotland. There must be other countries just waiting to be mentioned here. Many a serviceman I have met has downplayed his role in the service. While attending a grave of a fallen marine, there happened to be two other marines there. One said that others ride on the coattails of this fallen marine. I corrected him, right or wrong, that on the contrary, a man who puts his name on the dotted line is also a hero, since he is "betting it all". Obviously, my adoration of the soldier is showing, although I concede that a soldier who loses his life through his own fault by a stupid accident is at the bottom list of heroes. Is the poor soldier pictured here a hero?

 

[ivanhowe]

Certainly not a hero in many eyes, yet if you look at his face, you'll see"I'm dying a hero for the Vaterland." History is written by the winning side. It would be interesting to know who he was, what he had done, and why he was hanged instead of shot. I have a preference and a compassion with a hanging because of the several hangings in my experience. I gave him my best pair of German jackboots because if the fellow has to die, he should leave this life ready for the Elysian Fields with hero's boots on.

 

[ivanhowe]

These 2 good men died in the service of their country and are being transported to their heavenly reward. Notice as their souls are leaving their bodies, their boots are beginning to glow and their physically damaged heads are being restored to their manly glory.(some psychologists maintain the brain perceives the body lying beneath as it ascends).

 

[ivanhowe]

I'm happy to tell you he did not die from this assassination attempt. He was cut down from the tree and nursed back to health by three virgins. That wasn't to his liking, moved to Chicago, and took the name Arrowm..He wants to be called something other than saint because he feels it's misleading. But, he's awfully happy now.

 

[KiltedSoldier]

Did the nurses remain virgins. ? Military nurses are there to comfort the honourably wounded - one took advantage of me in a mil hospital after a training injury a few years ago

 

[ivanhowe]

Study Latin and you'll probably hear of Horatius, a valiant soldier who held off the enemy at the gate(sometimes the bridge). Lord Macaulay wrote about him in his "Lays of Ancient Rome". Actually Horatius didn't die in this battle, but the point is a soldier who will risk his life for his fellow country men. Most noble among soldiers- I knew one man who held off the enemy so the rest of his platoon could get to safety. At least, that's what he said, BUT knowing his character, I doubt it. Oh, if you're worried about Horatius, he's living a great retirement at Capri.

 

[KiltedSoldier]

Yes we were told the story at military school as an example of heroism and a soldier's self sacrifice, I didn't remember that he was not killed. A soldier should without question be ready to sacrifice his life for his comrades.

 

[ivanhowe]

The 8th century saw early France in a continuing fight against the Muslims. Roland, famed in song and stories, may have been the nephew of Charlemagne. He was leading the rearguard out of Spain and was attacked, defeated and killed by the Basques.

 

[ivanhowe]

I saw this pinting by Leon Bonnat in the Pantheon in Paris. St. Denis was the bishop of Paris. He was beheaded in 250AD. by reactionary conservatives. He was a preacher and continued his work as he carried on his work and head through the streets of Paris.The excess/lack of clothing makes me put the boots on the executioner.I don't know why but people seem to portray the baddies in big black boots( hats if you're a cowboy)

 

[ivanhowe]

He and his buddies are long forgotten, as will be you and I. But, someone must have longed for their safe return, never to know how they looked where they died.* Their blood nourishes a foreign soil, their seed no longer to germinate an heir, their kisses never to sweeten the life of another. Is it any comfort to him that he died with his buddies, or is the pain of guilt not saving them to last only a few seconds as his body is emptied of his precious life?
*Countries don't publish photos of their dying soldiers.

 

[ivanhowe]

I put Austrian boots of these soldiers because I had a feeling they might be Germanic. If anyone knows, I would be grateful. The lad looks so young, Too bad, those who make the war decisions lead from behind.

 

[ivanhowe]

Roland and his company of men were slaughtered at this battle in 778AD..(see more information at my group Heroes and Boots) It is fascinating to me the wholesale killing of soldiers at such battles. Charlemagne beheaded 4500-5000 Saxons for their pagan ways. Waterloo saw countless soldiers destroyed. Just think of all those beautiful cavalry uniforms and boots, not to forget "into the valley of death". Alas, present American military suicides outnumbered our causalities in Afghanistan. Is it a reaction to guilt and mea culpas? or maybe the feminization of American politics- and the politicians who admire such ?

 

[KiltedSoldier]

Not sure about the US suicides and why they are doing it - there are very few in the British Army - the US tour length 12 mths is too long the Brit tour is 6 mths might have something to do with it and the feeling that the war is pointless
Big historic battles are the rightful culmination of a soldiers service and yes on the largest thousands will die - but we no longer have big battles only skirmishes The soldier prefers a big battle and an epitaph in history when we fall slain among our comrades Our pre occupation with sex might be our desire to leave new life behind before our death in battle.

 

[ivanhowe]

Back in the 5Th grade, sometimes a recent graduate of the school and Marine Corps boot camp would come up to the school and tell us of his experiences. You can just imagine how handsome and glorious that soldier appeared in our mind's eye. After he left, the nun would call him a hero and advise us all to be strong, like him, in these times of war. It is that memory of a young soldier, who put himself on the line, ready to do his country's biding, at the risk of his own life, that makes me think of any soldier as a hero. How sad for this young man,dying in pain, alone without any comfort from his buddies. He was our enemy at the time, but I think, perhaps God shed a tear

 

[samnitewarrior]

I have read somwhere, the US tour is 4 months, so a soldier gets to leave home twice a year. Many soldiers have already racked up 10-12 tours. The stress is unimaginable!

 

[ivanhowe]

Perhaps one of the most famous persons to die. Fantastically wealthy, a soldier of rank, headed for the throne,and in his dying moments told his wife not to die, but to live for their children; he loved her and married her in spite of convention. I saw this bloodied shirt in the War Museum in Vienna. Sad to say, no boots anywhere there. Do you know who this handsome man was? Oh, the world paid dearly for this murder.

 

[HangTime]

Is that Archduke Franz Ferdinand? His murder, along with that of his wife, led directly to WWI. Their assassination occurred in Serbia on June 28, 1914.