Posted on 12/03/2001 1:46:05 AM PST by Mudboy Slim
"Here Was A Man"
(To be spoken--Johnny Cash-like--over a lonely keyboard version of "Joy to the World")
"Here was a man...a man who was born in a small village, the son of a peasant woman. He grew up in another small village. Until He reached the age of thirty, He worked as a carpenter; then, for three years, He was a travelling minister. But He never travelled more than two hundred miles from where He was born, and where He did go, He usually walked. He never held political office, He never wrote a book, He never bought a home, He never had a family, He never went to college, and He never set foot inside a big city, yet...here was a man.
Here was a man...though He never did one of those things that you usually associate with greatness, He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this World, except through the Divine Purpose that brought Him to this World.
While He was still a young man, the Tide of Popular Opinion turned against Him. Most of His FRiends ran away...one of them denied Him, one of them betrayed Him and turned Him over to his Enemies. Then, He went through the mockery of a Trial and was nailed to a Roman Cross between two thieves. And even while He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had in this World, and that was His robe, His Purple Robe. When He was dead, He was taken down from the cross and laid in a borrowed grave, provided by a compassionate FRiend.
More than Nineteen Centuries have come and gone, and today He's the Centerpiece of the Human Race, Our Leader, and the Column to Human Destiny. And I think I'm well within the mark when I say that All of the Armies that Ever Marched, All of the Navies that Ever Sailed, All of the Legislative Bodies that Ever Sat, and All of the Kings that Ever Reigned...All of Them Put Together have not affected the Life of Man on this Earth so Powerfully as that One Solitary Life...
Here was a man."
My most vivid memory associated with the American flag flashes back to Korea and a gray, clammy day in early August 1953. The Korean War had come to an end a week earlier, on July 27 at precisely 10 p.m. I remember lying in a rice paddy and suddenly experiencing the thunderous, deafening silence of peace. The Chinese and North Koreans, surely as joyful as I, were singing and raising their flags less than two hundred yards away from where my platoon sergeant and I sat smoking celebratory cigars.
A military spotlight, affectionately referred to as "Moonbeam Charlie," played along the valley floor and crept up the scarred hills, catching the Chinese and North Koreans in spirited dancing around their outpost flagpole. Their flags seemed to mean something to them, and at that time, I wasn't sure what my flag meant to me.
But that changed dramatically a week later, when I was a part of a contingent sent to represent my regiment at "Freedom Village."
"Operation Big Switch" was on. Our prisoners of war were to be returned to American hands, as the Chinese and North Koreans were to be returned to their people. Through the dim half-light of fading memory, I recollect that Freedom Village was in a scooped-out hollow with hills brooding over it from four sides. A few dwellings leaned into the village amid taut canvas hospital tents.
We representatives of the United Nations stood at attention as ambulances and beat-up buses arrived from the north. The UN, American and Korean flags hung limply in the humid August air. Photographers, Army and civilian alike, scurried about for good vantage points.
The Chinese and North Koreans were the first to cross over "Freedom Bridge." They were surly, healthy looking and well fed. Some carried signs decrying capitalism. Members of a Republic of Korea regiment scowled, and one of them sent a spray of saliva in his former opponent's direction. The exchange had a tone of tense and bitter antagonism, and as young as I was, I wondered how long the newly inked truce would last.
When the remaining Chinese and North Koreans had been herded off to their own vehicles, the UN prisoners were ushered from the trucks and buses and sent across the bridge to our side. The UN Honor Guard, combat veterans and observers gasped when they saw the condition of their returning comrades, who struggled, hobbled and staggered, gaunt and emaciated, toward friendly faces.
One after another they came. The next one was in worse condition than the one before. Long lines of dull-eyed soldiers of the "Forgotten War" inched their way to freedom, and out of their number, a gray-faced stick figure of a boy-turned-old-man dragged himself along the bridge. His bony arms were held out like a sleepwalker. He staggered and swayed, and one time fell into the wooden railing. Every eye in that village was suddenly trained on that one figure. Even those on the northern side watched the gallant physical effort of the wasted soldier.
Each tried, inwardly, to help, to urge him on, until finally, when he lurched forward, an MP major, a giant of a man, came up to help. The soldier waved him off with his skeleton hands and arms.
Looking around at the grim faces, he caught sight of the three color bearers and shuffled toward them. When he reached the American flag bearer, he knelt on trembling knees before the flag as though it were an altar. He reached up and tugged at the flag. The color bearer, either by instinct or by some infinite wisdom, lowered the flag, and the solider covered his face with it, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.
Other than the clicks of cameras, the village was cemetery-silent. Tears streamed from all of us. Cotton replaced saliva in our throats. After several moments, the stillness was broken by the sound of the heavy boots of the MP major, who came crunching across the gravel, his cheeks moist and glistening. He bent down and tenderly scooped the soldier up in his muscular arms and carried him off to a waiting ambulance, much as a father would carry a baby.
There wasn't a dry eye in that silent village, thousands of miles away from Main Street, USA."
Thanks U. George and S. Bunny...MUD
Everything and nothing at all, really. I just offered it up fer the Holidays.
FReegards...MUD
Jeff...if yer lurkin' out there, you and yers have yerself a Very Happy Holidays.
FReegards...MUD
Earley was/is no Marxist, just a rather dull, uninspiring politician, IMHO.
FReegards...MUD
Hopeful FReegards...MUD
FReegards...MUD
LOL...I was just razzin' ya.
"My uncle is one of THEM."
Does he believe in a New World Order in which an unelected--and thereby unaccountable--World Governing Authority is granted ever-increasing Power at the expense of American sovereignty?! Not all CFRers do, I hear.
FReegards...MUD
FReegards...MUD
Join the Quest to Destroy Slick Willie and All He Represents!!! The First Step in the Quest Fer Justice is to INDICT TERRY McAULIFFE!!!
FReegards...MUD
Imagine no bureaucracy, Lib'ralism left to die;
No damned IRS, a reigned in FBI;
Imagine all the Sheeple...with increased take-home pay!
Ah ha ah aahhh!
Imagine no more Waco's, no booted thugs to rue;
No Clinton goons to lie for...religious freedom, too!
Imagine all free people...no Village, just families.
Yoo hoo ooo!
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you'll join us, a FReeper's work is never done.
Imagine unbridled Capitalism, regulation on the wane;
No need for greed or hunger, each spending what he's earned.
Imagine all free people, the Left driven underground!
Yoo hoo ooo!
You may say I'm a dreamer, but Right's War it shall be won!!
'Cuz as an Ol' Gen-Xer, this next Century's ours to run!
Mudboy Slim
-------------------------------------------------
If we can keep our eye on the prize, this next six months will bring the Right much closer to achieving the goal of recapturing control of the Country from the anti-American Powermongers on the Left. Defeat Gore and bring the Clinton Cadre to Justice.
FReegards...MUD
1 Posted on 05/09/2000 00:26:24 PDT by Mudboy Slim
Very interesting article, Luis...MUD
"Money Ain't Nuthin'"
(To be sung to Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing")
I love the E-I-B...
Now look at Rush Limbaugh, that's the way to do it...
Hosts a talkshow trashin' Hypocrisy.
Rush ain't working, tells the Left to screw it...
Beholden to no one...spoutin' philosophy!
No, Rush ain't workin', that's the way you do it...
Lemme tell ya, Ol' Rush ain't dumb...
Ceegah danglin' from nicotine-stained fingers...
Gonna help exposin' Lib'ral Scum!!
Rush's show ain't no Oprah-style "love-in"...
Got us brain-washed from noon-to-three-ee-ee!
You choose the issue, and we'll debate it...
We learn the Truth from the E-I-B!!
Oww!...Groovy Croonin'...hunh!...
See that Peter Jennings with the blowdry and the makeup...
Tom Brokaw's vacuous stare...
That Lib'ral Rather's got his own jet airplane...
Those IDIOTS...they're all millionaires!!
We gotta expose Guv'ment corruption...
Gotta defend our Libertie-ie-ies!
We're talkin' TREASON...the Left, they hate us...
Won't trust the news from Network TeeVee!!
Lookatdat, lookatdat...
Right's gotta learn to fight like Dem-Whores...
Right's gotta yearn to crush Dem-Bums!
Wake up, you Sheeple!! Big Guv'ment's threatnin' all your Liberties...
Man, that Slick's just pond scum!!
But Limbaugh's out there...what's that?! Chain-sawin' noises?!
Carvin' up those Lib'rals...it's brain surgery!
Folks, it's workin'...tell the Left to screw it!!
Robs YOUR money for Guv'ment...sells Nukes to Beijing!
They're Lib'rals all...reject Media Bias...
Left-Wing bitchin', "Big Guv'ment, save me-e-ee!"
We gotta oust those meek commentators...
We gotta IGNORE our State-run TeeVee!! Lord!
Owww...listen here!
Big Guv'ment ain't workin'...corruption runs all thru it...
It's time we devolved Power outta DeeCee!!
Folks, it's workin'...next election's gonna do it.
Right-Wing holds Congress...retakes the Prez'dency!!
Money ain't nuthin'...without Liberty!
I said, money ain't nuthin'...if your kids ain't free!
Algore's a...Socialist!
I want my...I need my...I love my Lib-er-ty!!
(Chorus...to fade)
Quite Sincerely--MUD
I've held it all in, Lord...God knows I've tried...
But it's an awful awakening in a patriot's life...
To know of Left's Tyranny and Slick's shameless lies...
We put "OUR GUYS" in Justice, then they IGNORE Clinton's CRIMES...
John Ashcroft, please do what's Right!!
Fate...it SHALL force you to INDICT Left's blight!!
John Ashcroft, put up a Fight!!
Patriots will help you when you do what's Right!!
That's what's special 'bout FReepers, folks, we understand...
The pleasures of fightin' Slick's BigMoneyMan.
T-Mac screwed o'er the Teamsters...his crimes are OBSCENE.
Now Ashcroft's in Power, Fer Justice We FReep!!
John Ashcroft, Pride of the Right...
Left, they may hate you, but they'll learn our Might!!
John Ashcroft, Slick we'll INDICT...
Fate shall then make Bill his Cell-Buddy's "wife"!!
FReegards...MUD
BTW...you just don't know how much the Missuz likes being called Mrs. Mud...LOL!!
I'll bet, YIKES!
But, I'm sure she's a sweetie, being married to a gent like you.
That's the issue we're dealing with at present...she says MUD can't change the World, but I feel I can change my World. My kids...my neighborhood...my City and County...my State...my Nation...the World. Yeah, maybe she's right, and I can't change the World...but it'll be fun tryin' fer the next 50-60 years.
Fer now, let's just concentrate on boldly pursuing McAuliffe's INDICTMENT by going after the Med'yuh, radio talk shows, and the Department of Justice...then I think the rest of the plan will fall into place.
FReegards...MUD
BTW, SlixMYbeech...he really is!!
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