The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Uncle Sam - August 29th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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Cultural Icon of the Early Republic



Uncle Sam

Who was Uncle Sam?

While no one is actually sure of his origins, Uncle Sam has been with us since the early 1800s. In all likelihood, he was the hybrid of two different beginnings.

The name "Uncle Sam" appears to have been given to a man named Samuel Wilson, who slaughtered and supplied large amounts of meat to the newly formed United States Army. His shipping crates carried the stamp "U.S." which someone, jokingly or otherwise, suggested stood for "Uncle Sam" Wilson, and this nickname came to symbolize the Federal Government.



While Sam Wilson may have been the source of the name "Uncle Sam," he was not the inspiration of the image. For one thing, Wilson was clean-shaven while the caricatures of Uncle Sam all show a man with a white beard. The creator of the image of Uncle Sam, as we know him, was Thomas Nast, a nineteenth century political cartoonist who started drawing the star-spangled red-white-and-blue-suited symbol of American identity.

Uncle Sam was not the only character Nast drew. His other character, dressed similarly, was "Brother Jonathan" or Yankee Doodle. The difference in the two characters was pronounced, though: Brother Jonathan always was depicted clean-shaven and with a feather in his cap; Uncle Sam always appeared with the beard and often with top hat.



Although first appearing in 1838 in the Nast illustrations, the most common image of the elder statesman of America is the World War I poster drawn by James Montgomery Flagg for Army Recruitment with the caption "I WANT YOU!"



No matter what Uncle Sam's roots may be, he has become a symbol, recognized throughout the world, of American resolve, strength and determination.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. Gonna be a beautiful day today.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Mr Ducklips

[SAMWolf]

Morning GailA.

Breakfast is on the Foxhole this morning. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

Morning alfa6. You still bailing out back East?

[SAMWolf]

1915 Ingrid Bergman Sweden, actress (Casablanca, Cactus Flower)

1982 Ingrid Bergman academy award winning actress, dies on 67th birthday

The term "classy" comes to mind.

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Mayor.

[SAMWolf]

Morning apackof2

[alfa6]

NAH, the sun was out most of yesterday so that is helping to dry things out. no rain forecast for the next week, GOOD, we don't need to catch up all in one day anymore!

HAve a good day

[Soaring Feather]

Good Sunday morning everyone!
~Josh Groban~You Raise Me Up~
Click the graphic if you wish...

[The Mayor]

Mornin Sam

[Professional Engineer]

Good afternoon ladies. Flag-o-gram.

The Chaplain wears no helmet,
His head is bowed in prayer.
His face is seamed with sorrow,
But a trace of hope is there.

Our ranks are hushed and silent,
And diminished by our loss.
At our feet, the rows of crosses
Tell how much a battle costs.

Rows of neat, white wooden crosses
And Stars of David, too,
Mark the gravesites of our brothers
Whose fighting days are through.

Friends of mine are lying there;
Ski and Ace and Slim;
Bo and Jack, Bill and Joe,
Dusty, Tex and Jim.

Each has his simple marker,
But the closest one to me
Is a plain white wooden headboard
Marked "Unknown, USMC."

In this final camp of comrades,
It is somehow strange and odd
That a man should lie among them
Known to none except his God.

Who can he be, I wonder
Was he white or black or red,
This man who shares a resting place
With our loved and honored dead?

He cannot be a stranger,
But a friend whose lonely track
Has brought him here among us,
I think I'll call him "Mac."

So many times I've heard it
In the blackness of the night,
Through the swirling mists of combat
With a battle at its height.

"Hey, Mac," a voice would call,
"We can use some help out here,
I've got a man who's wounded.
Can you help him to the rear?"

"Hey, Mac, I'm really burning up.
The sun's so blazin' hot -
Could you spare a drop of water?
Gee, thanks, Mac, Thanks a lot!"

The day when I was wounded,
Hurt and lying in the snow,
A cigarette offered to me
By a man I didn't know.

He quickly stopped the bleeding
And rolled me on my back.
Grinned and gripped his rifle,
And said, "Take it easy, Mac"

A simple word. A simple name.
But still it proves to me
That no man ever really is
"Unknown, USMC."

The Chaplain's prayer is finished.
Our Colors gently dip.
The rifle squad is ready;
The bugler wets his lips.

With blurry eyes and saddened heart
I hear the rifles crack.
Taps float softly on the air -
I say goodbye to "Mac."

(hand salute)

Semper Fi!

© Copyright 1988 - edited by D.C. Wright, SSgt, USMC(Ret.) - All rights reserved. Original author unknown.

[Professional Engineer]

1987 Lee Marvin dies in Tucson, Ariz at 63

[Samwise]

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. That's so sweet.

[Samwise]

Nothing is sadder than Taps, and nothing jolts you quite like the gun salute--even when you know they are coming.

Beautiful, but sad, poem.

[Samwise]

[stand watie]

HI snippy!

hugs, duckie/sw

[Soaring Feather]

Oh my, Thank You, PE.


Tears.

[SAMWolf]

Good. We had a good day here, keep going from cloudy to sunny and back, but no rain.

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon Feather