Christmas in the trenches …
YOU HAVE GOT TO WATCH THIS !! MAKE THE SEASON LAST! Plus William Rablan’s @
https://williamablan.wordpress.com/
Posted on December 26, 2019, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 76 Comments.
YOU HAVE GOT TO WATCH THIS !! MAKE THE SEASON LAST! Plus William Rablan’s @
https://williamablan.wordpress.com/
Posted on December 26, 2019, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 76 Comments.
This story never ceases to fill me with awe.
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Yes, it’s one day in the history of mankind that we can be proud of.
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a very moving clip … the most moving Christmas I had was overseas singing rounds of carols in our own language!
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What a wonderful memory!!
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it is indeed imprinted for the remainder of my life 🙂
wonder how those men felt when they had to return to the business of killing each other …
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That couldn’t have been easy. It’s one thing to kill an unknown enemy and another after looking him in the eye.
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exactly
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Always hoping The irony of a shared cigarette and a bullet or bayonet 😦
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Basically trapped in those trenches must have been a horrifying way to fight (and attempt to survive).
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That’s a very well done video. I wrote about the history of Longfellow’s poem here. It was written in response to the Civil War, but it certainly suits every war, before and since. I very nearly re-posted my entry this year, but decided not to. I’m glad that you and your friend did. Perhaps by next Christmas, it won’t be so appropriate–wouldn’t that be wonderful?
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That post is outstanding, I’m sorry I didn’t reblog that for Christmas. It seems all war poems and songs suit the following war. It would be heaven if we made our current wars our very last!!
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I’m just glad you reminded me of it, so I can re-post it next year, if I haven’t forgotten again! I was so intrigued by the the history behind it. I learned the poem in school, but nothing about its background. That’s more and more what is happening, it seems.
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You are right. I hope you remember to reblog it – anytime!
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Amazing! Certainly this is a reality that should be brought to the fore!
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You’d think, eh?!
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Absolutely! No red-blooded American would find this plight an easy one to endure.😶
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AMEN!
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Speechless !
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Isn’t it great? That’s why I had to have it here!
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It is absolutly great and a great message
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Beautiful.
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That’s why I HAD to reblog it!!
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Brought me to tears. Reminding us to celebrate our universal humanity. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with all of us. Blessings to you in the new year.
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Thank you very much for stopping in!!
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Yes ❤️
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A beautifully poignant tribute of humanity in the midst of war. Thank you, GP, and Happy New Year!
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And same to you, Karen!! All the very best to you and your family and friends for this new decade!
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Very moving, thank you.
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I appreciate you taking the time to watch and listen to this classic.
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Belated Merry Christmas wishes. What a lovely story, and a wonderful reminder of how the troops were able to set aside their differences, and focus on the humanness of their colleagues on the other side of the trenches.
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I hope you had a wonderful day. I thank you for dropping in and watching the video, Sheryl!!
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A belated Merry Christmas and early Happy New Year to you GP!
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I hope you had a magical day and are looking forward to an even better 2020!!
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I knew this one, but thankfully you wrote it. I did serve, but not in trenches with the mud and e.t.c. Was a good tribute GP.
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The trenches were unique to that war and far too many died in them. Thank you for coming by, Priest.
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Some know this as the “Silent Night” episode. Food and presents were exchanged, schnapps for tobacco, songs, holiday wishes. It may be unique in military history. Of course, when word got out, governments of all countries hurried to put a stop to it. So it goes.
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Have you ever known a politician you could trust? I’d venture to say that your answer is, NO. They use, abuse and look out for themselves and yet some people still wonder how we got this way.
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happy Christmas
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I hope you had a memorable day!!
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This brought tears.
Thanks you for sharing it with us!
Yes, we must always have hope!
(((HUGS))) 🙂
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It hit you as it did me. Thank you for watching!!
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Beautiful!
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I thought so too. Thank you, Ann. I hope your holiday was magnificent!
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Before the advent of the all embracing media and the ever present spin, people who had grown up with solid values knew what was right, even when coerced by authority into doing wrong. Those men had a tradition of truce in the feasts of the Church..they knew fighting was wrong at the period of the birth of the Prince of Peace…but were forced back into enmity. These days…how much harder for those in the armed forces when society seems to have turned it back on the traditional values. Patriotism, yes…but mutual respect seems to have evaporated in the spotlights of commercial interest.
My father lost his elder brothers in that war….though a man of high passions he never blamed the German soldiers for their deaths.
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So true, Helen. My father never hated the Japanese, nor blamed them. He knew they were soldiers following orders as he was doing, and the public only knew what the military allowed them to know. Smitty had no problem serving in Japan after the war because there was no animosity there. Pretty much as you were saying!!
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Thank you for another great posting, meeting the mood of these days, GP! Best wishes, Michael
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I am so afraid, with the current this world is moving in, that all they fought for will be lost.
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I am in the same mood.
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Thanks, GP.
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My pleasure, John!
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Thank you so much for sharing this GP! What a wonderful video, and that Casting Crowns songs is one of my favorites…. Wishing you a blessed and peaceful new year!
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To you as well, my friend!
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‘Twould ring the bells of Heaven
The wildest peal for years,
If Parson lost his senses
And people came to theirs,
And he and they together
Knelt down with angry prayers
For tamed and shabby tigers
And dancing dogs and bears,
And wretched, blind pit ponies,
And little hunted hares.”
—in the meantime I guess it’s business as usual …
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‘fraid so!
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That video was awesome! Thanks for sharing it.
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Thank you, James. I certainly appreciate you stopping a while to watch it!!
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Beautiful post, GP. There is always hope.
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I truly believe there is.
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Thanks GP.
Hope there’s a little Peace around right now.
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That sure would be nice!
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Such an iconic event. Truly, where do we find peace today?
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In the selfish, self-centered world we live in – too many are only out for “WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME!”
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Very nicely done video. Thank you for posting this, GP. My maternal grandfather was in the trenches in France in 1917. 19 years old. As a kid, I thought it wonderful that he had fought in that war and would try to get him to tell me stories about his experience. Like so many who actually did the fighting, he would never, ever talk about it. I didn’t understand it then, but I do now …
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I heard a saying once and it sure rings true…. “For those who weren’t there – there aren’t enough words. For those who were there – no words are needed.”
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Christmas Truce is one of the best posts for Christmas. I read about it yesterday at https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-christmas-truce. It must have been scary at first but then they met half way and made history. It made me teary reading about them.
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It is certainly an emotional video. I think they did an excellent job of it!
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Fascinating look at simply being human during a the chaos of a world at war.
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Yes, too bad it wasn’t allowed to last.
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A very moving video, which leads to the question that if peace is possible, why can’t it be probable?
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Naysayers, Liz. Some people need things to complain about!
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Well that pulled at my heartstrings and made me tear up. A lovely gift, GP. Thank you.
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I love so many posts, especially this time of year. But I had to have this one!
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The Christmas Truce in 1914 is interesting indeed. Reports in newspapers at the time caused great concern in Britain. It was considered necessary to regard the enemy as ‘The Evil Hun’, and fraternisation was frowned upon.
This European film is an interesting look at that short period of peace.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424205/
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thank you, Pete. There are always different opinions on every event, aren’t there?
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We need this attitude today.
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We sure do!!
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