I think more than anything it is the bond that happens during the thick of battle that draws me. Doolittle's Raiders and E-company of 101th Airborne division meet year after year as I suppose many from "the greatest generation" do.
I think the scene that encapsulates it all for me is the one in The Return of the King where the four hobbits meet at the pub and everyone is impressed with the small happenings of the day and they all silently make eye contact and drain their pints. Everything in Hobbiton has remain the same: they are the ones who have changed.
Paul said it this way toward the end of his life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Tim. 4:7. I hope to say so as well one day.
VIKINGS REBORN
Men of Rohan, in you the Vikings are reborn.
To hear the pounding hooves of your steeds and horns
is to strike fear in any heart of darkness
trembling with fear in all of its starkness.
In the midst of battle caution you fling.
You fight with a lust that finds voice as you sing.
The glimpse of the conqueror is found in you.
Song of the North-wind, its breezes are true.
Echoes of Rohan fills us with delight.
We shiver with thrills from Valhalla’s height.
WAR’S SYNCOPATION
There’s a pause at the start of a battle…
a gathering of your breath
a tighter grip on your sword.
It is only a moment of stillness
but it can be felt by all.
It is like a running current under your feet
the beating heart of every man
to the sound of war’s syncopation.
TO CONQUER
The earth will heal its scars--
over the ground of Helm’s Deep
the end of evil to mar.
The power of the wind to carry the stench away.
The dispelling of the night to bring a dawning day.
The marching of the Orcs
drowned out by marching trees.
Destroyers of the land…
destroyed is what you’ll be.
The power of Iluvatar to heal and to restore
is given to the earth to conquer as before.
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