 |
| Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Remember Memorial Day – Lest we
forget” was originally published in the May 24, 2001 edition of The Monroe
Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
As this coming 28th of May (Memorial Day) arrives
and passes into oblivion, I once again, mount my stump and try to bring to the
minds of those who care, one of the major problems facing our country.
As most of my readers know, our great and wonderful Supreme
Court some time ago made the decision that it is OK for anyone to take our national
colors and put it to the torch without fear of punishment or recourse.
This is a sad day in the history of our country, if one
looks back and gives some thought to the millions who gave their lives for the safety
and respect of this great flag, and the many thousands who suffered untold
hardships for its protection.
With the decision that the court has made and the atrocity
of this action in mind, let us stop for a moment and look back when pride and
honor and decency were household words and anyone who might had been foolish
enough to even give thought to burning our glorious flag would have been ridden
out of town on a rail or hunt to the
nearest tree.
As we, on this Memorial Day, contemplate this ridiculous
decision by our high court, turn with me across the faded pages of our almost
forgotten history and let us look at some of the hard facts that can be found
under the dust of many years
Walk ever so quietly, so as not to disturb the sleep of
millions as they lie in their unmarked graves throughout the world. These
gallant warriors paid the supreme price for the protection of our great flag
and those of us who live beneath it. Look for a moment at the faded tombs of the
fallen who faced overwhelming odds at the battles of Concord and Valley Forge.
Try to make them see that now, in our modern world of
fantasy and made believe, that we can now burn Old Glory without recourse or
fear of punishment. Tell them, too, that the sacrifices they made were all in
vain.
As we make our way across the faded and wrinkled pages of
our past, look at the mass graves at Shiloh or Gettysburg. Tell them that their
sacrifices, too, were also in vain. Tell those who sleep there that the flag
that united them all has now lost its meaning.
Tell them that it wasn’t necessary for them to have died,
that their efforts and sacrifices was a waste of time. Let them know that the
flags that flutter in the gentle breezes over their final resting places can
now be taken down and put to the torch.
Onward across the pages of our history to the battle of San
Juan Hill. While there, inform Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders that they
cannot carry forth the colors in their bloody charge up the hill because now
all respect is gone, and we now use it to burn at our demonstrations.
As you approach the battlefields of the 1st World War, be
ever so careful not to inhale the poisons that creep as silent death across the
muddy fields of France. Step carefully, or you might step on some of the dead
or the dying, as they gasp that last breath that separates them from the
horrors of death.
Speak to them and tell them that they should be back home on
the farm, that their hours of sacrifice were a foolish gesture. Tell them that
the flag they followed into the jaws of hell has now lost its meaning.
As you continue your journey, why not fall in line with
those wretched souls as they walk and die under the bayonets of the Japanese in
the Bataan Death March. Yell out to all, and tell them that they are wasting
their time suffering and dying for a flag that soon will have no meaning. Tell
them if any survive this march of death, they will witness this decision by our
highest court in the land.
Walk to the north and stand for a moment on the bloody
beaches of Normandy. Wave to those who are alive and tell them that this
invasion is for the birds. Inform them that the flag that they are trying to
plant in the bloody sands of the beaches will soon just be another piece of
cloth.
As you stand there, watch for the many bulldozers as they
push aside the thousands upon thousands of human corpses who thought it proper
and was their duty to die for their flag.
As we cross the final pages of that conflict in Europe,
pause for a moment in the great military cemetery at Luxemburg. Speak to the
thousands of white crosses, and tell them: “Sorry, boys, we have come for your flags.
They are now burning material.” Speak loudly, they might not understand.
It’s not mentioned much in our history, but pause for a moment
at the 38th Parallel and the Chosen Reservoir in North Korea. Turn
your collar up because the chill factor is now 36 degrees below zero. Inform
those miserable, hungry few who survived that it’s all right. The battered flag
that has long been frozen in the icy winds from the north, can be used to make
a fire and warm by.
One final stop before returning to our place in time and
world of make believe, roll your pants legs up and start across the rice
patties of Vietnam. Be careful not to step on the dead or the dying lying there
in the high grass. Boost their spirits and tell them that all is well. They don’t
have to die anymore for that colored piece of cloth with the stars and stripes
on it. Tell those who are lucky and might make it back to our beloved homeland,
that the mud and the leeches, the bamboo stakes, and the horrors of the Vietnam
prisons, is nothing to think about.
The proud and the brave who honored the Stars and Stripes
during the passing years are fast fading into memory. If we are not careful,
our pledge of allegiance will soon be a violation of the law, and our National
Anthem’s words and melody will be heard no more. Only the hippy funk rock music
of those idiots who butcher our beloved National Anthem will continue to disgrace
it. And, those who sleep in the many military cemeteries around the world will have
given their lives for a promise not kept by the high court of the land that
they have sworn to defend.
When at last the Colors fade,
And, the final roll call made,
The fading notes of Taps are played
What if…
When face to face with millions slain
For the cause of freedom’s gain,
The anguished cries, “We died in vain,
We died in vain…”
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime
resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances
Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in
Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a
U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand,
lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964
and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from
June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks
to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe
County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe
Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that
appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared
in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
No comments:
Post a Comment