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Remembrance Day - Last Post - bugle call:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4NtSqZcT_4
Perhaps Rising Sun’s posts and mine should be moved to another thread as there seems to be some interest, Also it will allow the memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to remain in context.
digger
What do you want to call that thread?
Rising Sun is a man of few words;) He may have a better idea.
digger:D
Well, for a start, I don’t have ideas so much as fleeting impressions which I try to convert into words before they become fully formed concepts, let alone coherent arguments. I am a little picture man. My wife says I’m more of a jigsaw man, with most of the pieces missing. 
I think my last post should be put into a thread entitled “Drunken ramblings of a certified but fairly harmless dickhead.”
I don’t disagree with anything I said (I rarely disagree with myself, but there have been a couple of nasty incidents which we - me and the other me who’s not allowed to post here - won’t go into) in my last post, but I just think I took a bit too long to say it.
I think I’ve pretty much answered whatever the question was. 
Last Post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Post
Last Post is a bugle call used at UK and Commmonwealth military funerals and ceremonies commemorating those who have fallen in war. The Last Post is also the name of a poem by Robert Graves describing a soldier’s funeral during World War I.
Last Post was originally a bugle call used in British Army camps to signal the end of the day. The name derives from the practice of inspecting all the sentry posts around such a camp at the end of the day, and playing a bugle call at each of them. The “last post” was thus the last point of this inspection, and the bugle call signalling that this post had been inspected marked the end of the military day. This custom dates from at least the 17th century, and originated with British troops stationed in the Netherlands, where it drew on an older Dutch custom, called Taptoe. The Taptoe was also used to signal the end of the day, but has more prosaic origin. Taptoe originated signaling the moment that beer barrels had to be shut, hence that the day had ended. It comes from the Dutch phrase Doe den tap toe, meaning “Turn the tap off” (not to be confused with Taps which has a similar function but different tune and origin).
During the 19th century, Last Post was also carried to the various countries of the British Empire. In all these countries it has been incorporated into military funerals, where it is played as a final farewell, symbolising the fact that the duty of the dead soldier is over and that they can rest in peace.
Last Post is used in public ceremonials commemorating the war dead, particularly on Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations (known as Veterans Day in the United States). In Australia and New Zealand it is also played on ANZAC Day.
Since 1928 Last Post has been played every evening by buglers of the local Last Post association at the war memorial at Ieper (Ypres) in Belgium known as the Menin Gate, commemorating the British Empire dead at the Battle of Ypres during the First World War. The only exception to this was during the four years of the German occupation of Ypres from 20 May 1940 to 6 September 1944, when the ceremony moved to Brookwood Cemetery in England. On the evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres, the ceremony was resumed at the Menin Gate, in spite of the heavy fighting still going on in other parts of the town. These buglers are quite often mistaken as being from the local fire brigade, however they are present everyday, in function and name of the Last Post Committee, they are indeed members of the fire brigade, and can sometimes be seen wearing the uniforms, it is not the Fire Brigade that organizes Last Post.
Last Post was used by British forces in North America in colonial times, but its function was taken over in the United States by Taps, which has been used by the United States Army since 1862.
Last Post was incorporated into the finale of Robert Steadman’s In Memoriam - a choral work on the subject of remembrance. Last Post is also incorporated into Karl Jenkins’s mass The Armed Man and Peter Sculthorpe’s chamber orchestra work, Small Town from the Fifth Continent.
Ode of Remembrance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_of_Remembrance
The “Ode of Remembrance” is an ode taken from Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen”, which was first published in The Times in September 1914. Binyon wrote it while sitting on The Rumps in Cornwall.
The seven-verse poem honoured the World War I British war dead of that time and in particular the British Expeditionary Force, which had by then already had high casualty rates on the developing Western Front. The poem was published when the Battle of the Marne was foremost in people’s minds.
Over time, the third and fourth verses of the poem (although often just the fourth) were claimed as a tribute to all casualties of war, regardless of nation.
[b][i]They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.[/i][/b]The line “Lest we forget” is often added to the end of the ode, which is repeated in response by those listening. In Australia, Canada and New Zealand (and often in the United Kingdom), the final line of the ode, “We will remember them”, is repeated in response.
The “Ode of Remembrance” is regularly recited at memorial services held on days commemorating World War I, such as ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day, and Remembrance Sunday. In Australia’s Returned and Services Leagues, it is read out nightly at 6 p.m., followed by a minute’s silence. In New Zealand it is part of the Dawn Service at 6 a.m. Recitations of the “Ode of Remembrance” are often followed by a playing of the Last Post. In Canadian remembrance services, a French translation is often used along with or instead of the English ode.
“They shall grow not old…” was set to music by Douglas Guest in 1971, and has become a well-known feature of choral services on Remembrance Sunday.
Time of our Darkness is the title of a novel by South African author Stephen Gray. The last two lines of For the Fallen are ‘As the stars are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end they remain.’
‘Condemn’ or ‘contemn’?
There has been some debate as to whether the line “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn” should end with the words ‘condemn’ or ‘contemn’. Contemn means to ‘despise’ therefore either word would make sense in the context of the stanza.When the poem was first printed in The Times on 21 September 1914 the word ‘condemn’ was used. This word was also used in the anthology The Winnowing Fan: Poems of the Great War in 1914 in which the poem was published later. If the original publication had contained a misprint Binyon would have had the chance to make amendments, so it seems unlikely that the word ‘contemn’ was meant.
The issue of what word was meant seems only to have arisen in Australia, with little debate in other Commonwealth countries that mark Remembrance Day.
George
Thanks for that.
Received wisdom on my part was that the correct word was contemn, but that condemn was normally misused.
I haven’t been in an RSL http://www.rsl.org.au/ club for decades when the ceremony is performed, but I used to find it quite moving. The lights were dimmed, everyone faced ?the honour board?, the words were recited and, I think, a recording of the last post was played at the end. It might have varied a bit from club to club.
That was in the days when the membership was largely WWII servicepeople. Not many Vietnam veterans, because the RSL was often hostile to them. If you read personal accounts by Vietnam veterans, you’ll find them being disparaged by the WWII diggers as not having been involved in a real war and so on. There’s still a lot of bitterness about it.
Now the RSL clubs are all feeding on poker machines and everybody can join, although not as an ex-service member, so if they still perform the ceremony it’s probably meaningless to most of the drongoes feeding their pay and pensions into poker machines.
You’re welcome RS, and thanks for the link to the Returned and Services League (RSL) 
I think the American counterpart would be the American Legion.
To me it seems that either word (contemn or condemn) has about the same effect.
I first remember hearing the “Ode of Remembrance” recited in the movie, Anzacs: The War Down Under during a scene that takes place in Australia years after the First World War ended. I thought the scene was very moving.
The “Last Post” is also a very beautiful bugle call; I personally like the melody better than it’s American counterpart “Taps”.
Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen”, the “Ode of Remembrance” and the “Last Post” just seemed so fitting for this thread. And I also wanted to share them with others who may not be familiar with the customs of the UK and Commonwealth countries on “Remembrance Day” (Veterans Day in the U.S.).
George
I have to confess that I find the Last Post quite moving. In the right circumstances it’ll bring me close to tears.
Is there anything in the US like our Legacy http://www.legacy.com.au/pages/about_us.php , which is quite independent of the RSL and has entirely different objectives? It’s ex-service and service people have done brilliant and selfless work for the past 85 years, e.g.
http://www.brisbanelegacy.com.au/children.html
http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1117/topstories/story15.htm
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Hi RS,
The “Last Post” is quite moving, I think the melody has a haunting quality.
Is there anything in the US like Australia’s Legacy?
Yes, here is a partial list of similar American organizations, but there are just so many. More can be found in the related links.
Armed Forces Relief Trust
http://www.afrtrust.org/
Army Emergency Relief
http://www.aerhq.org/
related links:
http://www.aerhq.org/links.asp
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society
http://www.nmcrs.org/
related links:
http://www.nmcrs.org/links.html
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/oifassist
Air Force Aid Society
http://www.afas.org/index.cfm
related links:
http://www.afas.org/links/body_links.cfm
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance
http://www.cgmahq.org/
related links:
http://www.cgmahq.org/HomePageDocs/Links.htm
NMFA National Military Family Association
http://www.nmfa.org/site/PageServer
America Supports You
Our Military Men & Women
http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/index.aspx
http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/AmericaSupportsYou/about.html
Operation Family Fund
http://www.oeffamilyfund.org/
related links:
http://www.oeffamilyfund.org/Links.htm
T.A.P.S. Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors
http://www.taps.org/team/
Fallen Patriot Fund
http://www.fallenpatriotfund.org/
http://www.fallenpatriotfund.org/about.html
KIA Fund
Killed In Action Fund
http://www.killedinactionfund.org/
Gold Star Wives of America
http://www.goldstarwives.org/
http://www.goldstarwives.org/about-wives.htm
related links:
http://www.goldstarwives.org/related-links.htm
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation:
http://www.mcsf.com/site/c.ivKVLaMTIuG/b.1677655/k.BEA8/Home.htm
http://www.mcsf.com/site/c.ivKVLaMTIuG/b.1678275/k.160A/About_MCSF.htm
Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation
http://www.mc-lef.org/
The Fisher House™ Program
http://www.fisherhouse.org/
http://www.fisherhouse.org/aboutUs/aboutUs.shtml
related links:
http://www.fisherhouse.org/links/links.shtml
Those are really beautiful Mike. I think the first is the best rendition that I’ve ever heard of “Taps”. And “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes…fantastic. Thank you
I have always liked the bagpipe tune “Flowers of the Forest”
“The Flowers of the Forest”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhZ2IknXetg
This funeral tune commemorates the battle of Flodden (1553).
“The Flowers of the Forest” Bagpipes @ Weavers Needle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYBAhJxtXME
Piping on the Two Sisters, Falkland Islands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO0qkvdI5UQ
playing “Flowers of the Forest” as a memorial to all the men who were killed on this hill.
Piping on Remembrance Sunday 12-11-05
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYZX7qqH9M8
Remembrance Sunday London 2006 Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is-IgqP8djo
Remembrance Sunday London 2006 Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBp4iY5_oi4
THE SOMME 2006 Menin Gate - The Last Post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xIJLp4vCZ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2jFrezg4do
Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme
1st july 1916 - 1st July 2006
Remembrance Day - The Last Post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4NtSqZcT_4
Amen - Westminster Abbey Choir & Last Post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT62IiG6Qks
The Queen Mother’s funeral. Westminster Abbey Choir and Chapel Royal choristers sing a long amen after the benediction, then buglers play the Last Post.
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You bet, they are so good that I saved both to my hardrive.
That must have been quite an experience in 1995.
Mitchell Paige (August 31, 1918–November 15, 2003)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Paige
Colonel Mitchell Paige, U.S.M.C. (Retired)
http://www.homeofheroes.com/mitch/index.html
Obituary:
http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-11029.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CEEDC1E38F93BA25752C1A9659C8B63
Copied and merged Armistice Day thread from WWI Forum.
Returned to active duty…