'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir,or do you want to give it away!!!

This eye witness account by  Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw M C, of the accession of Kashmir and the subsequent half way cease fire, before the objective was acheived, ( The root cause of the Kashmir problem,ever since ) will interest you a great deal.   ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -  Sam Manekshaw, the first field marshal in the Indian army, was at the ringside of events when Independent India was being formed. Then a colonel, he was chosen to accompany V P Menon on his historic mission to Kashmir. This is his version of that journey and its aftermath, as recorded in an interview with Prem Shankar Jha. At about 2.30 in the afternoon, General Sir Roy Bucher walked into my room and said, 'Eh, you, go and pick up your toothbrush. You are going to Srinagar with V P Menon. The flight will take off at about 4 o'clock'. I said, 'why me, sir?' 'Because we are worried about the military situation.. V P Menon is going there to get the accession from the Maharaja and Mahajan.' I flew in with V P Menon in a Dakota. Wing Commander Dewan, who was then squadron leader Dewan, was also there. But his job did not have anything to with assessing the military situation. He was sent by the Air Force because it was the Air Force which was flying us in.' Since I was in the Directorate of Military Operations, and was responsible for current operations all over India, West Frontier, the Punjab, and elsewhere, I knew what the situation in Kashmir was. I knew that the tribesmen had come in - initially only the tribesmen - supported by the Pakistanis. Fortunately for us, and for Kashmir, they were busy raiding, raping all along. In Baramulla they killed Colonel D O T Dykes.. Dykes and I were of the same seniority. We did our first year's attachment with the Royal Scots in Lahore, way back in 1934-5. Tom went to the Sikh regiment. I went to the Frontier Force regiment. We'd lost contact with each other. He'd become a lieutenant colonel. I'd become a full colonel. Tom and his wife were holidaying in Baramulla when the tribesmen killed them. The Maharaja's forces were 50 per cent Muslim and 50 per cent Dogra. The Muslim elements had revolted and joined the Pakistani forces. This was the broad military situation. The tribesmen were believed to be about 7 to 9 kilometers from Srinagar. I was sent into get the precise military situation. The army knew that if we had to send soldiers, we would have to fly them in. Therefore, a few days before, we had made arrangements for aircraft and for soldiers to be ready. But we couldn't fly them in until the state of Kashmir had acceded to India. From the political side, Sardar Patel and V P Menon had been dealing with Mahajan and the Maharaja, and the idea was that V.P Menon would get the Accession, I would bring back the military appreciation and report to the government. The troops were already at the airport, ready to be flown in. Air Chief Marshall Elmhurst was the air chief and he had made arrangements for the aircraft from civil and military sources. Anyway, we were flown in. We went to Srinagar. We went to the palace. I have never seen such disorganisation in my life. The Maharaja was running about from one room to the other. I have never seen so much jewellery in my life --- pearl necklaces, ruby things, lying in one room; packing here, there, everywhere. There was a convoy of vehicles.   The Maharaja was coming out of one room, and going into another saying, 'Alright, if India doesn't help, I will go and join my troops and fight (it) out'. I couldn't restrain myself, and said, 'That will raise their morale sir'. Eventually, I also got the military situation from everybody around us, asking what the hell was happening, and discovered that the tribesmen were about seven or nine kilometres from what was then that horrible little airfield. V P Menon was in the meantime discussing with Mahajan and the Maharaja. Eventually the Maharaja signed the accession papers and we flew back in the Dakota late at night. There were no night facilities, and the people who were helping us to fly back, to light the airfield, were Sheikh Abdullah, Kasimsahib, Sadiqsahib, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed, D P Dhar with pine torches, and we flew back to Delhi. I can't remember the exact time. It must have been 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning. (On arriving at Delhi) the first thing I did was to go and report to Sir Roy Bucher. He said, 'Eh, you, go and shave and clean up. There is a cabinet meeting at 9 o'clock. I will pick you up and take you there.' So I went home, shaved, dressed, etc. and Roy Bucher picked me up, and we went to the cabinet meeting. The cabinet meeting was presided by Mountbatten. There was Jawaharlal Nehru, there was Sardar Patel, there was Sardar Baldev Singh. There were other ministers whom I did not know and did not want to know, because I had nothing to do with them. Sardar Baldev Singh I knew because he was the minister for defence, and I knew Sardar Patel, because Patel would insist that V P Menon take me with him to the various states.  Almost every morning the Sardar would sent for V P, H M Patel and myself. While Maniben (Patel's daughter and de facto secretary) would sit cross-legged with a Parker fountain pen taking notes, Patel would say, 'V P, I want Baroda. Take him with you.' I was the bogeyman. So I got to know the Sardar very well. At the morning meeting he handed over the (Accession) thing. Mountbatten turned around and said, ' come on Manekji (He called me Manekji instead of Manekshaw), what is the military situation?' I gave him the military situation, and told him that unless we flew in troops immediately, we would have lost Srinagar, because going by road would take days, and once the tribesmen got to the airport and Srinagar, we couldn't fly troops in. Everything was ready at the airport. As usual Nehru talked about the United Nations, Russia, Africa, God almighty, everybody, until Sardar Patel lost his temper. He said, 'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir, or do you want to give it away'. He (Nehru) said,' Of course, I want Kashmir (emphasis in original). Then he (Patel) said 'Please give your orders'. And before he could say anything Sardar Patel turned to me and said, 'You have got your orders'. I walked out, and we started flying in troops at about 11 o'clock or 12 o'clock. I think it was the Sikh regiment under Ranjit Rai that was the first lot to be flown in. And then we continued flying troops in. That is all I know about what happened. Then all the fighting took place. I became a brigadier, and became director of military operations and also if you will see the first signal to be signed ordering the cease-fire on 1 January (1949) had been signed by Colonel Manekshaw on behalf of C-in-C India, General Sir Roy Bucher. That must be lying in the Military Operations Directorate.   Excerpted from Kashmir 1947, Rival Versions of History, by Prem Shankar Jha, Oxford University Press, 1996, Rs 275     The greatest glory of living is not in never falling, but in rising everytime you fall

RARE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES(DONT FORGET TO SEE THE LAST ONE VERY INTERESTING!)

RARE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES.... Atal Bihari Vajpayee Amartya Sen Amitabh Bachchan A P J Abdul Kalaam Asha Bhosle Bipin Chandra Pal Bismillah Khan B R Ambedkar C K Nayudu C V Raman Dev Anand M K Gandhi Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Gopal Krishna Gokhale Hargobind Khurana Indira Gandhi J R D Tata Koneru Humpy Lata Mageshkar Manmohan Singh Morarji Desai Mother Teresa Jawaharlal Nehru Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu S Radhakrishnan Rahul Bajaj Rajiv Gandhi Raj Kapoor Ratan Tata Pandit Ravi Shankar Sarojini Naidu Rabindranath Tagore Bal Gangadhar Tilak Vishwanathan Anand Swami Vivekananda Dr. Zakir Hussain Obama’s Pentagon and C.I.A. Picks Show Shift in How U.S. Fights Obama's Pentagon and C.I.A. Picks Show Shift in How U.S. Fights   By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT   WASHINGTON — President Obama's decision to send an intelligence chief to the Pentagon and a four-star general to the Central Intelligence Agency is the latest evidence of a significant shift over the past decade in how the United States fights its battles — the blurring of lines between soldiers and spies in secret American missions abroad.   On Thursday, Mr. Obama is expected to announce that Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A. director, will become secretary of defense, replacing Robert M. Gates, and that Gen. David H. Petraeus will return from Afghanistan to take Mr. Panetta's job at the C.I.A., a move that is likely to continue this trend.   As C.I.A. director, Mr. Panetta hastened the transformation of the spy agency into a paramilitary organization, overseeing a sharp escalation of the C.I.A.'s bombing campaign in Pakistan using armed drone aircraft, and an increase in the number of secret bases and covert operatives in remote parts of Afghanistan.    General Petraeus, meanwhile, has aggressively pushed the military deeper into the C.I.A.'s turf, using Special Operations troops and private security contractors to conduct secret intelligence missions. As commander of the United States Central Command in September 2009, he also signed a classified order authorizing American Special Operations troops to collect intelligence in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran and other places outside of traditional war zones.    The result is that American military and intelligence operatives are at times virtually indistinguishable from each other as they carry out classified operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. Some members of Congress have complained that this new way of war allows for scant debate about the scope and scale of military operations. In fact, the American spy and military agencies operate in such secrecy now that it is often hard to come by specific information about the American role in major missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Libya and Yemen.   The operations have also created tension with important allies like Pakistan, while raising fresh questions about whether spies and soldiers deserve the same legal protections.  Officials acknowledge that the lines between soldiering and spying have blurred. "It's really irrelevant whether you call it a covert action or a military special operation," said Dennis C. Blair, a retired four-star admiral and a former director of national intelligence.  "I don't really think there is any distinction."    The phenomenon of the C.I.A. becoming more like the Pentagon, and vice versa, has critics inside both organizations.  Some inside the C.I.A.'s clandestine service believe that its bombing campaign in Pakistan, which has become a cornerstone of the Obama administration's counterterrorism strategy, has distorted the agency's historic mission as a civilian espionage agency and turned it into an arm of the Defense Department.    Henry A. Crumpton, a career C.I.A. officer and formerly the State Department's top counterterrorism official, praised General Petraeus as "one of the most sophisticated consumers of intelligence." But Mr. Crumpton warned more broadly of the "militarization of intelligence" as current or former uniformed officers assume senior jobs in the sprawling American intelligence apparatus.   For example, James R. Clapper Jr., a retired Air Force general, is director of national intelligence, Mr. Obama's top intelligence adviser. Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn, formerly the senior intelligence officer in Afghanistan, is soon expected to become one of Mr. Clapper's top deputies. "If the intelligence community is populated by military officers, they understandably are going to reflect their experiences," Mr. Crumpton said.   At the Pentagon, the new roles raise legal concerns. The more that soldiers are used for espionage operations overseas, the more they are at risk of being thrown in jail and denied Geneva Convention protections if they are captured by hostile governments.  And yet few believe that the trend is likely to be reversed. A succession of wars has strained the ranks of both the Pentagon and the C.I.A., and the United States has come to believe that many of its current enemies are best fought with timely intelligence rather than overwhelming military firepower.     These factors have pushed military and intelligence operatives more closely together in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "In the field, there is a blurring of the mission," said Senator Jack Reed, a senior Rhode Island Democrat on the Armed Services Committee who served as an officer in the 82nd Airborne Division.  "Military operations can buy time to build up local security forces, but intelligence is the key to operations and for anticipating your adversary."  American officials said that, for the most part, the tensions and resentments were greatly reduced from the days when Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld expanded Pentagon intelligence-gathering operations to become less dependent on the C.I.A.     The secret "Execute Order" signed by General Petraeus in September 2009 authorized American Special Operations troops to carry out reconnaissance missions and build up intelligence networks throughout the Middle East and Central Asia in order to "penetrate, disrupt, defeat and destroy" militant groups and "prepare the environment" for future American military attacks.  But that order greatly expanding the role of the military in spying was drafted in consultation with the C.I.A., administration officials said.    General Petraeus has worked closely with the C.I.A. since the Bosnia mission in the 1990s, a relationship that grew during his command tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, some of the missions he has overseen seem to have been more like clandestine operations than traditional military missions.    Even before General Petraeus took over as the leader of the military's Central Command overseeing Middle East operations nearly three years ago, he ordered a study of the threat posed by militants in a country few American policy makers had focused on — Yemen. Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen is now considered the most immediate threat to the United States.   The general's relationship with Yemen's mercurial president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was well documented in the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks last year.  And the military's operations there, beginning with airstrikes in December 2009, are shrouded in even more secrecy than the C.I.A.'s drone attacks in Pakistan.   Mr. Saleh, however, drew the line at General Petraeus's request to send American advisers to accompany Yemeni troops on counterterrorism operations. Now, with Mr. Saleh's government teetering on the verge of collapse, General Petraeus is taking over at the C.I.A. — and will once again be part of America's secret war in Yemen.   ================ Washington Post, Wednesday, April 27, 5:51 PM Petraeus would helm an increasingly militarized CIA By Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe Gen. David H. Petraeus has served as commander in two wars launched by the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. If confirmed as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Petraeus would effectively take command of a third — in Pakistan. Petraeus's nomination comes at a time when the CIA functions, more than ever in its history, as an extension of the nation's lethal military force.   CIA teams operate alongside U.S. special operations forces in conflict zones from Afghanistan to Yemen. The agency has also built up a substantial paramilitary capability of its own. But perhaps most significantly, the agency is in the midst of what amounts to a sustained bombing campaign over Pakistan using unmanned Predator and Reaper drones.   Since Obama took office there have been at least 192 drone missile strikes, killing as many as 1,890 militants, suspected terrorists and civilians. Petraeus is seen as a staunch supporter of the drone campaign, even though it has so far failed to eliminate the al-Qaeda threat or turn the tide of the Afghan war.   But if Petraeus is ideally suited to lead an increasingly militarized CIA, it is less clear whether he will be equally adept at managing the political, analytical and even diplomatic dimensions of the job. His nomination coincides with new strains in the CIA's relationship with its counterpart in Pakistan, and a chaotic reshuffling of the political landscape in the Middle East. If confirmed, he would be the CIA's fourth director in seven years.   "I think in a lot of ways Gen. Petraeus is the right guy for the agency given the way in which the operational side of the house has really increased" since the Sept. 11 attacks, said Andrew Exum, a military expert at Center for a New American Security, who has also served as an adviser to Petraeus's staff. "Having said that, I think where Gen. Petraeus will struggle will be looking at the broader global responsibilities of intelligence."   For Petraeus, Pakistan is likely to be a particularly nettlesome trouble spot. A series of recent ruptures — including the arrest of a CIA contractor in Pakistan — have undermined cooperation against al-Qaeda and prompted threats by Pakistan to place new limits on drone strikes. Petraeus has been a frequent visitor in Islamabad with key players, including Army Chief Ashfaq Kayani and intelligence director Ahmed Shuja Pasha. But he has engendered the resentment of Pakistani officials because of his demands that they do more against the Afghan Taliban. Many of them believe he is too transparently ambitious — a criticism that he has at times faced among his peers in the United States.   During an interview late last year in Islamabad, a high-ranking Pakistani intelligence official repeatedly referred to the U.S. commander as "Mr. Petraeus," refusing to acknowledge his military rank. "I call him Mr. Petraeus because he's less of a general and more of a politician," the official said, alluding to rumors that Petraeus might run for president. The Pakistani official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the interview dealt with sensitive intelligence matters between Pakistan and the United States.   Petraeus seems unlikely to encounter significant opposition from Capitol Hill. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which will consider the nomination, signaled support for Petraeus but stopped short of a formal endorsement. "He is clearly a very accomplished officer and familiar with the parts of the world where many of the threats to our security originate," Feinstein said in a statement. But being a military commander "is a different role than leading the top civilian intelligence agency," Feinstein said, adding that she would "look forward to hearing his vision for the CIA."   Petraeus's nomination triggered some grumbling among CIA veterans opposed to putting a career military officer in charge of an agency with a long tradition of civilian leadership. Others voiced concern that Petraeus is too wedded to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — and the troop-heavy, counterinsurgency strategy he designed — to deliver impartial assessments of those wars as head of the CIA.   Indeed, over the past year the CIA has generally presented a more pessimistic view of the war in Afghanistan than Petraeus has while he has pushed for an extended troop buildup. "The question is, what does [the administration] want the intelligence service to be?" said a former senior CIA officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Are they going to have a civilian intelligence service or is it going to be a giant counterterrorism center?"   Obama administration officials said that Petraeus would retire from the military to take the CIA job. Even so, a U.S. official close to the general said he is likely to view running the agency largely through the prism of his experience as a wartime commander. The official said Petraeus would likely make frequent visits to CIA stations around the world, and defer to the Director of National Intelligence on Washington-based issues such as budgets and big-ticket technology programs.   Petraeus has spent relatively little time in Washington over the past decade and doesn't have as much experience with managing budgets or running Washington bureaucracies as CIA predecessors Leon E. Panetta and Michael V. Hayden. But Petraeus has quietly lobbied for the CIA post, drawn in part by the chance for a position that would keep him involved in the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen.   As top commander in Iraq and Afghanistan, Petraeus has relied heavily on CIA and special operations forces to capture and kill mid-level and senior insurgent leaders. But he has insisted that the targeted strikes be a part of a broader and more comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign — putting him at odds with advocates of a more surgical approach, including Vice President Biden.   Petraeus, 58, is intensely organized and has relied on a network of trusted advisers, many with biographies similar to his own, with stints in combat units, graduate school and teaching at West Point. CIA veterans said it would be a mistake for Petraeus to arrive with an entourage. "If you look like you're coming in to fix us and show us how to do things," one former official said, "the antibodies start rejecting the transplant."   SOLDIER, SAILOR, RICH MAN, THIEF... by BD Jayal Thursday , April 21 , 2011   It is dangerous to ignore corruption in the armed forces, writes Brijesh D. Jayal       The army recently held a three-day exhibition in Ahmedabad named Know Your Army. Reportedly, the seniormost army officer posted in the state showered praises on the chief minister, who was the chief guest, likening him to an army commander who sets targets and then sets about to achieve them. Praising him for his vision for the development of the state and the nation, the major-general then requested the state to follow the example of other states in allocating land for the Army Welfare Housing Organization to help serving and retired military personnel. Looked at objectively and not through heavily tinted political lenses, all that the general was doing was softening up the chief minister before going in for the request. Perfectly fair tactics.   Judging by media reports, this rather innocuous incident pushed up eyebrows in Lutyens' Delhi and the ministry of defence sought an explanation from the major general for allegedly violating the army code of conduct, which does not allow soldiers to make political statements of any kind. When this writer was commanding South Western Air Command then located in Jodhpur, the area of responsibility extended through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa. This was in the early 1990s and the then Gujarat chief minister had been supportive in offering the air force a large tract of land in the Ahmedabad area to set up permanent headquarters for the command, which has since shifted there. On more than one occasion the undersigned had openly acknowledged the generosity and help that the chief minister and the state government were extending to the services. Earlier, when commanding Eastern Air Command, one recalls public occasions when similar platitudes were exchanged. The national political climate was relatively benign then. None of these instances drew unnecessary debate because they were seen for what they were: genuine respect by the armed forces for the civilian leadership in the wider context of civil-military relations. Indeed, in the true apolitical ethos of the armed forces, all that mattered was to use civil-military relations for the larger good of the forces serving within the state's borders and maintaining a good working rapport should a situation warrant unforeseen aid to the civil authority. The recent episode in Gujarat possibly followed the old spirit. It is the fractious and recriminatory politics of the country that is drawing the armed forces into its ever-strengthening vortex. Since healthy civil-military relations are the bedrock of a vibrant democracy, this brittleness at a time of mounting security challenges, both internal and external, does not bode well for the Indian state. Today, unbridled corruption has become the hallmark of the democracy. It is no longer limited to the political, bureaucratic and corporate worlds, but has engulfed the fourth estate and the armed forces too. Yet the nation across political dispensations has shown no determination to stem this rot. The conclusion is obvious — all are to some degree complicit and are beneficiaries. So it was with considerable cynicism that the nation watched the two Houses of Parliament indulging in a supposedly serious debate over what is called the 'cash for votes scam'. The incident occurred in 2008 in the run-up to the debate on the controversial nuclear deal. It was public knowledge that trading in members of parliament had taken place. A parliamentary committee to look into the allegations did not find conclusive evidence and recommended further investigation. For three years, the law was taking its own course. And this happy state would have continued, had not the cables from the American embassy in Delhi been revealed by the media courtesy WikiLeaks. Suddenly the conscience-keepers of the nation were aroused — leading to a futile debate in Parliament. The only meaningful point in it was when the prime minister expressed sadness that he was addressing the House when the country faced enormous challenges: "I thought that this august House would use this opportunity to reflect, not in a spirit of partisan upmanship, but as one, as people charged with the responsibility of governing this country to work out a viable strategy as to how we should and we can deal with these emerging events." The prime minister, having made a point of national import then failed to follow up — presumably because even he does not really care. Otherwise, he could have drawn the attention of the House to the decline in the one national institution that must remain untouched by the rot that is eating into the vitals of our polity, the armed forces. To drive home the point, he could have said that in the recent past no less than three erstwhile service chiefs, six lieutenant generals and three major generals have been put under investigation for gross irregularities. Of these, one lieutenant general has been committed to trial for divulging sensitive information to vendors, and another to three years' rigorous imprisonment for a scam relating to rations. An Indian air force officer was found taking bribes to show favours to a French company at the Aero India show and a top secret file relating to the lucrative combat aircraft purchase was found on the roadside. These are not individual aberrations but reek of systemic rot. It is possible that just this one statement would have aroused a clamour for a full debate. The prime minister, in turn, would have emerged a moral crusader for offering a constructive platform to prepare for the challenges he cautioned against. The brittleness of civil-military relations is evident from the unresolved issues relating to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the army's consequent unwillingness to commence training in Chhattisgarh until the government issues clear rules of engagement with respect to any Maoist interference — something the civil authorities will find difficult to resolve in the climate of trust deficit that prevails. Grievances of veterans have been ignored for years even when the Supreme Court has issued favourable judgments. Today, at regular intervals, veterans are returning their medals to their Supreme Commander — who has not once thought fit to meet them. No self-respecting democracy is so callous towards the sentiments of its veterans. This lack of respect is not lost on those serving; it is also received with some glee across our borders. But to our politicos and parliament this means little. The fragility of civil-military relations has other adverse effects. Modernization will continue to be sabotaged by vested interests which will raise the bogey of wrongdoing at critical times in the process of procurement. The lack of consensus on the appointment of a chief of defence staff ensures that we cannot develop an integrated fighting capability so crucial to combating modern security challenges. Inability to set up a national defence university ensures that we are denied the opportunity to educate and train leaders, both military and civil, who will be better prepared for the emerging security challenges. It is crucial for the nation to decide what place it wants to accord its armed forces in the national scheme of things. This writer had pleaded in these columns ("Through thick and thin", June 3, 2009) for a Blue Ribbon Commission to make recommendations to Parliament, which could then take a final call. Now that the debate in Parliament has shown the country how fragmented our polity is and how unreal our priorities, perhaps on the issue of national security and the role of the armed forces there is an opportunity for our polity and Parliament to redeem themselves and display that elusive unity. This is one debate that the guardians of our nation's borders — the armed forces — will watch with great interest as will our friends and potential foes. But it will need more than poetry and innuendoes. The author is a retired air marshal of the Indian Air Force     A salutation to the Bold and the Brave Small Pain In My Chest by Michael Mack   The soldier boy was sitting calmly underneath that tree. As I approached it, I could see him beckoning to me. The battle had been long and hard and lasted through the night And scores of figures on the ground lay still by morning's light. "I wonder if you'd help me, sir", he smiled as best he could. "A sip of water on this morn would surely do me good. We fought all day and fought all night with scarcely any rest - A sip of water for I have a small pain in my chest." As I looked at him, I could see the large stain on his shirt All reddish-brown from his warm blood mixed in with Asian dirt. "Not much", said he. "I count myself more lucky than the rest. They're all gone while I just have a small pain in my chest." "Must be fatigue", he weakly smiled. "I must be getting old. I see the sun is shining bright and yet I'm feeling cold. We climbed the hill, two hundred strong, but as we cleared the crest, The night exploded and I felt this small pain in my chest." "I looked around to get some aid - the only things I found Were big, deep craters in the earth - bodies on the ground. I kept on firing at them, sir. I tried to do my best, But finally sat down with this small pain in my chest." "I'm grateful, sir", he whispered, as I handed my canteen And smiled a smile that was, I think, the brightest that I've seen. "Seems silly that a man my size so full of vim and zest, Could find himself defeated by a small pain in his chest." "What would my wife be thinking of her man so strong and grown, If she could see me sitting here, too weak to stand alone? Could my mother have imagined, as she held me to her breast, That I'd be sitting HERE one day with this pain in my chest?" "Can it be getting dark so soon?" He winced up at the sun. "It's growing dim and I thought that the day had just begun. I think, before I travel on, I'll get a little rest .......... And, quietly, the boy died from that small pain in his chest. I don't recall what happened then. I think I must have cried; I put my arms around him and I pulled him to my side And, as I held him to me, I could feel our wounds were pressed The large one in my heart against the small one in his chest. Small Pain In My Chest by Michael Mack   The soldier boy was sitting calmly underneath that tree. As I approached it, I could see him beckoning to me. The battle had been long and hard and lasted through the night And scores of figures on the ground lay still by morning's light. "I wonder if you'd help me, sir", he smiled as best he could. "A sip of water on this morn would surely do me good. We fought all day and fought all night with scarcely any rest - A sip of water for I have a small pain in my chest." As I looked at him, I could see the large stain on his shirt All reddish-brown from his warm blood mixed in with Asian dirt. "Not much", said he. "I count myself more lucky than the rest. They're all gone while I just have a small pain in my chest." "Must be fatigue", he weakly smiled. "I must be getting old. I see the sun is shining bright and yet I'm feeling cold. We climbed the hill, two hundred strong, but as we cleared the crest, The night exploded and I felt this small pain in my chest." "I looked around to get some aid - the only things I found Were big, deep craters in the earth - bodies on the ground. I kept on firing at them, sir. I tried to do my best, But finally sat down with this small pain in my chest." "I'm grateful, sir", he whispered, as I handed my canteen And smiled a smile that was, I think, the brightest that I've seen. "Seems silly that a man my size so full of vim and zest, Could find himself defeated by a small pain in his chest." "What would my wife be thinking of her man so strong and grown, If she could see me sitting here, too weak to stand alone? Could my mother have imagined, as she held me to her breast, That I'd be sitting HERE one day with this pain in my chest?" "Can it be getting dark so soon?" He winced up at the sun. "It's growing dim and I thought that the day had just begun. I think, before I travel on, I'll get a little rest .......... And, quietly, the boy died from that small pain in his chest. I don't recall what happened then. I think I must have cried; I put my arms around him and I pulled him to my side And, as I held him to me, I could feel our wounds were pressed The large one in my heart against the small one in his chest. Small Pain In My Chest by Michael Mack   The soldier boy was sitting calmly underneath that tree. As I approached it, I could see him beckoning to me. The battle had been long and hard and lasted through the night And scores of figures on the ground lay still by morning's light. "I wonder if you'd help me, sir", he smiled as best he could. "A sip of water on this morn would surely do me good. We fought all day and fought all night with scarcely any rest - A sip of water for I have a small pain in my chest." As I looked at him, I could see the large stain on his shirt All reddish-brown from his warm blood mixed in with Asian dirt. "Not much", said he. "I count myself more lucky than the rest. They're all gone while I just have a small pain in my chest." "Must be fatigue", he weakly smiled. "I must be getting old. I see the sun is shining bright and yet I'm feeling cold. We climbed the hill, two hundred strong, but as we cleared the crest, The night exploded and I felt this small pain in my chest." "I looked around to get some aid - the only things I found Were big, deep craters in the earth - bodies on the ground. I kept on firing at them, sir. I tried to do my best, But finally sat down with this small pain in my chest." "I'm grateful, sir", he whispered, as I handed my canteen And smiled a smile that was, I think, the brightest that I've seen. "Seems silly that a man my size so full of vim and zest, Could find himself defeated by a small pain in his chest." "What would my wife be thinking of her man so strong and grown, If she could see me sitting here, too weak to stand alone? Could my mother have imagined, as she held me to her breast, That I'd be sitting HERE one day with this pain in my chest?" "Can it be getting dark so soon?" He winced up at the sun. "It's growing dim and I thought that the day had just begun. I think, before I travel on, I'll get a little rest .......... And, quietly, the boy died from that small pain in his chest. I don't recall what happened then. I think I must have cried; I put my arms around him and I pulled him to my side And, as I held him to me, I could feel our wounds were pressed The large one in my heart against the small one in his chest. Small Pain In My Chest by Michael Mack     The soldier boy was sitting calmly underneath that tree. As I approached it, I could see him beckoning to me. The battle had been long and hard and lasted through the night And scores of figures on the ground lay still by morning's light.   "I wonder if you'd help me, sir", he smiled as best he could. "A sip of water on this morn would surely do me good. We fought all day and fought all night with scarcely any rest - A sip of water for I have a small pain in my chest."   As I looked at him, I could see the large stain on his shirt All reddish-brown from his warm blood mixed in with Asian dirt. "Not much", said he. "I count myself more lucky than the rest. They're all gone while I just have a small pain in my chest."   "Must be fatigue", he weakly smiled. "I must be getting old. I see the sun is shining bright and yet I'm feeling cold. We climbed the hill, two hundred strong, but as we cleared the crest, The night exploded and I felt this small pain in my chest."   "I looked around to get some aid - the only things I found Were big, deep craters in the earth - bodies on the ground. I kept on firing at them, sir. I tried to do my best, But finally sat down with this small pain in my chest."   "I'm grateful, sir", he whispered, as I handed my canteen And smiled a smile that was, I think, the brightest that I've seen. "Seems silly that a man my size so full of vim and zest, Could find himself defeated by a small pain in his chest."   "What would my wife be thinking of her man so strong and grown, If she could see me sitting here, too weak to stand alone? Could my mother have imagined, as she held me to her breast, That I'd be sitting HERE one day with this pain in my chest?"   "Can it be getting dark so soon?" He winced up at the sun. "It's growing dim and I thought that the day had just begun. I think, before I travel on, I'll get a little rest .......... And, quietly, the boy died from that small pain in his chest.   I don't recall what happened then. I think I must have cried; I put my arms around him and I pulled him to my side And, as I held him to me, I could feel our wounds were pressed The large one in my heart against the small one in his chest.   Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) Followers Blog Archive ►  2026 (17) ►  April (2) ►  March (9) ►  February (6) ►  2025 (16) ►  November (1) ►  May (8) ►  April (1) ►  March (2) ►  February (3) ►  January (1) ►  2024 (24) ►  November (4) ►  May (4) ►  April (3) ►  February (4) ►  January (9) ►  2023 (4) ►  December (3) ►  April (1) ►  2022 (1) ►  January (1) ►  2021 (12) ►  August (1) ►  July (2) ►  May (3) ►  April (3) ►  March (3) ►  2020 (5) ►  November (4) ►  October (1) ►  2013 (1) ►  July (1) ►  2012 (4) ►  November (1) ►  March (3) ▼  2011 (6) ▼  May (5) 'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir,or do you want to... RARE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES(DONT FORGET TO SEE T... Obama’s Pentagon and C.I.A. Picks Show Shift in Ho... 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