Serious Random Posts

[Treebeard]

So the Lounge has a "random, sometimes funny, gif, and post-padding thread." I came across something I wanted to post, but it just really did not belong in there. It also was not something that really needed its own thread.

Instead I am starting a general thread for things with a little more substance to them - things that have some significant meaning, may have struck you, or just caught your brain in a serious way, if only for a few moments. There are a lot of experiences or stories that have come up or been hinted at over the years here. Maybe a place to put things important to you that are worth sharing, but never seemed to quite belong anywhere in particular?

It isn't intended for those random "inspirational" quotes that seem to stream across Facebook and elsewhere, but of course there is no controlling where this actually goes. I hope you see the intent and can stay reasonably close to it.

Next post will be what I saw that spurred me to start this thread.

 

[Treebeard]

MAY 7, 1945 Okinawa. One of the most heartbreaking photos from the Second World War shows US Marine Colonel Francis Fenton (pictured kneeling) conducting the funeral of his son Private First Class Mike Fenton, near Shuri, Okinawa, May 1945. Father and son met once during the fighting when their paths crossed at a partially destroyed Okinawan farmhouse. After exchanging news the two family members returned to their work. They would never talk again. On May 7, 1945, while beating back a Japanese counterattack the younger Fenton, 19, was killed.

When his father received the bitter news, he traveled to the site of his son's death and knelt down to pray over the flag-draped body. Upon arising, Colonel Fenton stared at the bodies of other Marine dead and said: 'Those poor souls. They didn't have their fathers here'

 

[QueenCityGator]

 

[Treebeard]

In times of peace, sons bury their fathers.
In times of war, fathers bury their sons.

Colonel Fenton knew he had been given a bitter gift, but a gift all the same - the opportunity to say goodbye.
Many thousands of fathers would never have the opportunity to do so.

 

[Treebeard]

 

[AugustaGator]

I love watching birds fly real high...you know where they are nothing but a spec. They are the ones pushing the limit.

 

[Treebeard]

 

[deuce]

I was with my 25 year old son when he died..... It was the hardest, most traumatic thing I have ever experienced... but if my voice telling him that I loved him was the last thing he heard, it was a Blessing.

Excuse me while I dry my eyes...

 

[itsgr82bag8r]

I was with my 25 year old son when he died..... It was the hardest, most traumatic thing I have ever experienced... but if my voice telling him that I loved him was the last thing he heard, it was a Blessing.

Excuse me while I dry my eyes...

Such a bitter sweet memory. I can’t imagine. So very sorry.

 

[Treebeard]

I was with my 25 year old son when he died..... It was the hardest, most traumatic thing I have ever experienced... but if my voice telling him that I loved him was the last thing he heard, it was a Blessing.

Excuse me while I dry my eyes...

I am very sorry that you had to suffer the loss of a child.
The only thing worse than being there would to not be there. As above, a bitter gift, but still a gift.

 

[Treebeard]

The powerful story behind the viral photograph of a 12-year-old Brazilian violinist - Classic FM

 

[gator1946]

Very touching so far. There are random serious posts that are uplifting and make you smile. Could we get a few of those.

Otherwise I'll have resort to the pol forum.

 

[Nalt]

As in the post padding thread, when you post images I typically can not see them. All I get is this...

 

[Treebeard]

Its a problem that seems to come and go. There are times when I can't see my own post pictures many days after posting - even in this thread I can't see the older pictures. Sometimes I can see them on a different computer when I am not logged on to the site.

The browser makes a difference sometimes. Someone more technical than I, or Ox, might be able to answer.

 

[Treebeard]

 

[TLB]

"If it weren’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college." Now, I'm gonna repeat that, because it bears repeating. "If it weren't for my horse..." as in, giddyup, giddyup, let's go — "I wouldn't have spent that year in college," which is a degree-granting institution.

 

[deuce]

 

[Treebeard]

Just to be clear, I am not myself a veteran, but have great respect for those who are.

 

[AuggieDosta]

Who's cutting onions?

 

[Treebeard]