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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Through a Glass, Darkly (Patton on the Cyclic Nature of War) THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY Poster Comment: At dinner, say, after grandly intoning Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier" ("If I should die, think only this of me/There is some corner in a foreign field/That is forever England" [sic]), Georgie [Patton] might offer his fond prediction that he would die in a foreign land, since, as Napoleon said, the boundaries of an empire are marked by the graves of her soldiers. Beatrice [Patton's wife] would nod, the fire in the fireplace would crackle significantly, and the meal would resume as the girls furtively eyed their father in expectation of his next trick. If discussing reincarnation (one of his favorite topics), he would offer up as evidence pertinent bits of The Bhagavad Gita ("For sure is the death of him that is born, and sure the birth of him that is dead"), and his old standby, Revelations 3:12: "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." To these he added the fifth stanza of Papa's [Patton's father] favorite poem, Wordsworth's "Intimations" ode: "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,/The soul that rises with us, our life's Star,/Hath had elsewhere its setting/And cometh from afar." Clearly, Georgie said, Wordsworth shared his belief in reincarnation. (Patton, The Pattons: A Portrait of an American Family, 198) The best expression of his past lives appears in a lengthy poem written in 1922 . . . .Titled "Through a Glass Darkly," Patton demonstrates a powerful belief in God and alludes to earlier lives, the first of which may have been as a caveman. He even suggests that while Christ was on the cross Perhaps I stabbed our Savior (D'Este, Patton A Genius for War, 324) More stanzas from this poem come from Patton, The Pattons: A Portrait of an American Family (the first and third stanzas reproduced here were quoted in the movie 1970 film Patton, starring George C. Scott): Through the travail of the ages I have sinned and I have suffered So as through a glass and darkly (198-199) This most moving and complex of his poems concludes with the words: So forever in the future (D'Este, Patton A Genius for War, 324) Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 29.
#18. To: Deasy, Brian S, Christine, Jethro Tull, FormerLurker, Diana, All (#0)
Patton's life is well worth studying - from reasonably objective sources. He's one of the few Generals who deserves the title of "Hero." I'm convinced that was the reason he had a fatal accident. After the successes of Hitler, heros could easily be the worst of problems, second to martyrs. In the American culture, the public mindset has been most cleverly 're- educated' to the extreme of unknowingly substituting celebrities, for the primal need for heros. AND - what do we eventually do with those celebrities? Ask Britney, et al. Instead, we get the likes of Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman - victims, without an actual record of combat bravery. At least Jessica lived to tell her story and repudiate her own medals, as political imagery. There's a different form of heroism; I'll salute her for that. Speaking of which, Memorial Day is upon us - don't forget.
After all that I've learned in the past several years, I have mixed feelings about this chance to purchase discounted mattresses, furniture, vehicles, and whatever else is out there. I guess that I'll try to remember the men of our Revolution and the guys from the South...after that, there is really nothing to celebrate, for me. Tears may be shed for all those who have died for a lie.
Tears may be shed for all those who have died for a lie. Coming from a Viet Nam veteran; we're left to honor what was in their hearts. The salutes & tears are for the unspeakable tragedy. For the sincere, my advice is to view/review the movie, "We Were Soldiers Once; and Young." That movie says it all, minus the lies which put those soldiers in death's doorway, in the first place. Even dedicated civilians can see and feel the pain & tragedy of the Viet Nam War. For emotional cowards, don't see it; you'll end up facing yourself. That's not criticism; just an aknowledgment of humanity, with a due & timely warning of a potentially brutal experience. It's a tough one for me to watch. I haven't gotten up the wherewithal to watch "Born on the Fourth of July." Coming home was the brutal experience for me. At some point, most of the vets got punished for going - and for surviving, ahead of the kid next door, who didn't. I got both barrels, myself. As a personal 'test,' I've visited the Viet Nam Memorial Wall a couple of times. I don't want to see it again. Given the current combat nightmares in Afghanistan & Iraq, those 58,000 died a second death - nobody learned a fucking thing!
Given the current combat nightmares in Afghanistan & Iraq, those 58,000 died a second death - nobody learned a fucking thing! Of course, we've not learned a freaking thing. We never have, and I'm convinced that 'we' never will. It's not in the plan. Back in '66, I told my WWI dough-boy grandfather that I'd been accepted into 'Army Intelligence' and he told me to always be prepared and ready to defend our country, but never volunteer to go over-seas to do so. I believe that I did the right thing by following his counsel.
Old boys start to ask the all important question, "why?"
Even my thirty-year career USAF Colonel fil saw the scam of it all, after he retired from the service. RIP The trees have always blocked our sight of the forest.
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