I worked with Carrie’s mother Paula when Carrie was killed in Iraq. I gave her this poem by Robert Frost changing the first word from He to She. Frost wrote this poem for his friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas who was killed in WWI in the Battle of Arras in 1917. I felt it was a fitting memorial for Carrie and for all the comrades we have lost, noting that their stories do not end where they have fallen as long as we live to remember and honor them.
Sincerely,
Bill Weare
For Carrie…
A SOLDIER
She is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it plowed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
further than target ever showed or shone.
Robert Frost
“The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”
“Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.”
-Calvin Coolidge-
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
-John F. Kennedy-
“Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.”
“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”
-Abraham Lincoln-
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
“Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer.”
“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
-Ronald Reagan-