Bill Sykes' - In Retrospect
VI.
(April 2007)
Bill Sykes
looks back in retrospect at material which has been published
in previous editions of "View from America",
in an attempt to determine whether the subject matter
written then is still applicable in today’s world.
Article 6B
Preface:
I am going to include in this particular article
a poem, "The Regimental Soldier" which has
been extracted from a book of poems, written by A Lawrence
Vaincourt of Toronto, Canada, which I thought would be
very appropriate as it illustrates very vividly the authors
insight that politicians use propaganda and the act of
patriotism to induce very vulnerable young people to fight
their wars in pursuit of world dominance.
THE REGIMENTAL SOLDIER
I have obtained permission from the author,
Mr. Lawrence Vaincourt, www.vaincourt.homestead.com to
publish this poem from his excellent book of contemporary
poetry, entitled "Just a common soldier. (A soldier
died today)".
Readers may remember that I used one of Mr. Vaincourt’s
poems in the Mid-November 2003, Remembrance Day issue
of "View from America".
If you met him dressed in civvies you would pass him
with a smile,
He’s a regular Joe, an ordinary man,
But because he is a soldier he’s the guy that you
must hate,
And it’s your job to kill him if you can.
He has never done you evil, he’s a normal guy
like you,
Has a home he loves, some children and a wife,
But because he wears a uniform that’s different
from your own,
It’s your duty to deprive him of his life.
He’s an ordinary fellow, yes he’s quite
a decent guy,
And to have him as friend might have been fun,
He could have been married to your sister had the circumstances
been changed,
But now you must destroy him with a gun.
He’s the regimental soldier, just an ordinary
man
Who’s been told his duty is to go and fight,
And he’ll kill a total stranger, someone he has never met,
’Cause they told him you are wrong and he is right.
No, he didn’t start the war you fight, he’d
rather live in peace,
He had enough to satisfy his need,
It’s the evil politicians with their senseless
lust for power,
And a mad desire to satisfy their greed.
It’s the ones who build the weapons, it’s
the ones who lust for fame,
It’s the ones who hate without a reason why,
Who support the awful carnage that the world still knows
as war,
And feel it’s right that someone else should die.
For it’s not the sons of wealthy men who march
away to war,
Who struggle on the battlefield and die,
In the same sad tale repeated through the centuries,
more and more,
It’s the offspring of the ordinary guy.
And so someone is the victim, someone strikes the mortal
blow,
With each convinced that he is in the right.
And I’m sure the final battle that this world will
ever know,
Is the one where soldiers all refuse to fight.
I have tried to faithfully reproduce the above poem verbatim
in its entirety, even though it is written in the masculine
gender, for which I must apologise to the ladies who
also should be recognised for the many sacrifices that
they have made.
I also have a distinct feeling that the writer dislikes
politicians, for which I have no apology to make.
To view the complete December 2004 Edition please click HERE.
Disclaimer:
Some of the information gathered for this newsletter is gleaned from American
and International media sources, (including the Internet), and as such is quoted
as accurately as possible. I try to obtain confirmation n on each subject from
several outlets, so the text is a mixture of composite news items and personal
comments and therefore the reader must make his/her own judgement as to the
reliability and degree of accuracy of the subjects discussed.
We
welcome feedback about any of the contents of these articles.
Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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