A Soldier's Burial by George S. Patton

A Soldier's Burial


by George S. Patton


Not midst the chanting of the Requiem Hymn,


Nor with the solemn ritual of prayer,


Neath misty shadows from the oriel glass,


And dreamy perfume of the incensed air


Was he interred;


But the subtle stillness after fight,


And the half light between the night and the day,


We dragged his body all besmeared with mud,


And dropped if, clod-like, bock into the clay.


Yet who shall say that he was not content,


Or missed the prayers, or drone of chanting choir,


He who had heard all day the Battle Hymn


Sung on all sides by a thousand throats of fire.


What pointed glass can lovelier shadows cost


Than those the evening skies shall ever shed,


While, mingled with their light, Red Battle's Sun


Completes in magic colors o'er our dead


The flag for which they died.

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Speaking of Patton, I just finished _General Patton: A Soldier's Life_, by Stanley
Hirshson,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060009837/qid=1065486972.

It was pretty good. He was an interesting guy. I've read a couple other
books on him, as well as the one of his published posthumously, but
I've never seen any of his poetry before. It didn't do a lot for me, but it's
an interesting contrast to his more public persona. And, sadly, I've
never been much of a poetry person.

Did you ever have anything to with him, Art, or meet up with people who
did?

Regards,

Mike Beede

Subject: A Soldier's Burial by George S. Patton
From: Mike Beede
Date: 10/6/03 5:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:


Speaking of Patton, I just finished _General Patton: A Soldier's Life_, by
Stanley
Hirshson,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060009837/qid=1065486972.

It was pretty good. He was an interesting guy. I've read a couple other
books on him, as well as the one of his published posthumously, but
I've never seen any of his poetry before. It didn't do a lot for me, but
it's
an interesting contrast to his more public persona. And, sadly, I've
never been much of a poetry person.

Did you ever have anything to with him, Art, or meet up with people who
did?

Regards,

Mike Beede


Nope never did. (sigh)


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Subject: A Soldier's Burial by George S. Patton
From: Mike Beede
Date: 10/6/03 5:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time

Speaking of Patton, I just finished _General Patton: A Soldier's Life_, by
Stanley
Hirshson,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060009837/qid=1065486972.

It was pretty good. He was an interesting guy. I've read a couple other
books on him, as well as the one of his published posthumously, but
I've never seen any of his poetry before. It didn't do a lot for me, but
it's
an interesting contrast to his more public persona. And, sadly, I've
never been much of a poetry person.

Did you ever have anything to with him, Art, or meet up with people who
did?

Regards,

Mike Beede

You might be interested in visiitng my website and reading the story, " The Day
the 344th Stopped Patton".


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 19:40:41 -0500, Mike Beede wrote
in Message-Id: :


Speaking of Patton, I just finished _General Patton: A Soldier's Life_, by Stanley
Hirshson,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060009837/qid=1065486972.

It was pretty good. He was an interesting guy. I've read a couple other
books on him, as well as the one of his published posthumously, ...

How did the book characterize the circumstances surrounding the
_cause_ of the injuries that resulted in Patton's death? It's sort of
ironic that such a successful US general should die as the result of a
broken neck suffered in an auto accident that occurred _after_ VE day.


--

Irrational beliefs ultimately lead to irrational acts.
-- Larry Dighera,

ounding the
_cause_ of the injuries that resulted in Patton's death? It's sort of
ironic that such a successful US general should die as the result of a
broken neck suffered in an auto accident that occurred _after_ VE day.


It happens sometime. I think there might even be cases of fighter aces coming
back from war, only to die of a bee sting afterwards.


Ron
Pilot/Wildland Firefighter

"Ron" wrote
ounding the
_cause_ of the injuries that resulted in Patton's death? It's sort of
ironic that such a successful US general should die as the result of a
broken neck suffered in an auto accident that occurred _after_ VE day.


It happens sometime. I think there might even be cases of fighter aces coming
back from war, only to die of a bee sting afterwards.

He's the example we used every year before Memorial Day to emphasis
seat belts. You might get lucky and die immediately, or, like Patton, take a
week or so to die with 2 screws in your skull that are attached to a weight
to keep your broken neck straight. With the technology of today, he would
have been another Christopher Reeve, but I'm sure he would have never
approved of the result.

It's sort of
ironic that such a successful US general should die as the result of a
broken neck suffered in an auto accident that occurred _after_ VE day.


It happens sometime. I think there might even be cases of fighter aces
coming
back from war, only to die of a bee sting afterwards.

Heinz Bär, 220 victories, died in crash of a light plane in 1957.

Kurt Welter, 67 vics (cof, cof), died in a car wreck right after the war. Wing
Commander Schnaufer died the same way, after destroying 121 RAF aircraft at
night. Many other examples, since everyone who survived the war had to then
find some other way to perish!

v/r
Gordon
====(A+C====
USN SAR Aircrew

"Got anything on your radar, SENSO?"
"Nothing but my forehead, sir."

Larry Dighera ) wrote:
: On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 19:40:41 -0500, Mike Beede wrote
: in Message-Id: :

:
: Speaking of Patton, I just finished _General Patton: A Soldier's Life_, by Stanley
: Hirshson,
: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060009837/qid=1065486972.
:
: It was pretty good. He was an interesting guy. I've read a couple other
: books on him, as well as the one of his published posthumously, ...

: How did the book characterize the circumstances surrounding the
: _cause_ of the injuries that resulted in Patton's death? It's sort of
: ironic that such a successful US general should die as the result of a
: broken neck suffered in an auto accident that occurred _after_ VE day.

Didn't he say something about wanting to be killed by the last bullet
fired on the last day of the last war?

On Sun, 12 Oct 2003 21:22:46 +0000 (UTC), Merlin Dorfman
wrote in Message-Id:
:

Larry Dighera ) wrote:
: On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 19:40:41 -0500, Mike Beede wrote
: in Message-Id: :

:
: Speaking of Patton, I just finished _General Patton: A Soldier's Life_, by Stanley
: Hirshson,
: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060009837/qid=1065486972.
:
: It was pretty good. He was an interesting guy. I've read a couple other
: books on him, as well as the one of his published posthumously, ...

: How did the book characterize the circumstances surrounding the
: _cause_ of the injuries that resulted in Patton's death? It's sort of
: ironic that such a successful US general should die as the result of a
: broken neck suffered in an auto accident that occurred _after_ VE day.

Didn't he say something about wanting to be killed by the last bullet
fired on the last day of the last war?

I don't recall reading that, but I believe he was frustrated by the
irony of not have been killed in combat given all he had been through.
--

Irrational beliefs ultimately lead to irrational acts.
-- Larry Dighera,