Thursday, July 04, 2013

THE LAST FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION

"The last full measure of devotion" are words from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address. It was the phrase Lincoln used to honor the dead: They gave the last full measure of devotion. Poetic words that ring true on the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg battle.

But the words do not honor just the dead of Gettysburg. The phrase has come to be used to honor Americans who gave their life for their country, their community, their home.

Mike Barnacle, the Boston Globe columnist, used Lincoln's phrase to honor the 19 firefighters who dies fighting a fire in Arizona last week. The 4:23 video gives a short synopsis of each of the brave young men who died giving their last full measure of devotion.

We are thinking of those men on this Fourth of July.

The Declaration of Independence  famously states Jefferson's immortal phrase:  "We hold these truths to be self evident, That all men are created equal. . ."

But when it comes to bravery, not all men are equal.



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16 comments:

  1. Great post rump. BTW- ABC
    Always Be Closing.

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  2. more odd couple trvia

    1. what rare baseball play did oscar miss when felix nagged him at a baseball game?
    2. what minor character actor on the show played a role on jack klugmans next big tv show?

    3. what was oscar's father's nickname?

    4. what was the name of oscar's longest girlfriend on the show?

    5. what sixties-seventies pop star (who kinda sucked btw) had a guest starring role?

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  3. Triple play. Prates at Mets btw.
    Speed was poker player and was on Quincy ME.
    Dr Nancy Cunningham. Partner of Dr Melnitz.
    There were a few pop stars. Having a freeze right now. One was a female with big sunglasses. Other was that small guy. Jezze. I know their names. Well that's it for now. Oh wait- Paul Williams. And woman was....aarrgh.

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  4. Oh. Oscar's dad? Hmmm. Pop but I think that was Felix. Oh wait- Blinky. I remember the episode. He owned a speak easy.

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  5. That was a very difficult trivia q especially while I'm driving my boat

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  6. Here are mine:
    oscar's wife's maiden name.
    Oscar's bookie.
    The address of the apartment.
    Murray's wife's name.
    Felix's kids names.
    Where did Oscar take his wife on their honeymoon?
    On a plane with Felix suffering from fear of flying, he reads the lips of two mechanics outside. What does he think they say?
    What sportscaster came on the show and was an opera lover?
    No googling.

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  7. You do not "drive" a boat.

    You operate your vessel.

    Just sayin

    The Real Captain

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  8. Oh yeah? Capt Quint disagrees. From Jaws: "Hooper drives the boat chief"

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  9. Enjoying the 4th in the shade at the beach with a big ol Shumie cigar I picked up last night at the shumie cigar store 4th of july smoke-out. Can't beat a Romeo-y-Julieta from you know where. Shssssh.

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  10. paul williams and blinky are great calls. those were my toughest.

    gotta think on yours

    oscars wife spent honeymoon with him at fort dix

    135 central park west

    i can see felixs kids cannot recall their names Edna is one.

    mildred is murrays wife

    i am done you stumped me

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  11. Land of the Corona, home of the shum.
    Bless america and Hialeah.

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  12. Give you half credit for ft nix. She also mentions in an episode that she was hit by a hockey puck at a rangers game for their honeymoon. Her name: Blanche Jefferson Madison.
    Felix's kids- leonard and edna.
    Oscar's bookie is my bookie- 52nd street Irwin
    Howard cosell was the opera loving sportscaster.
    On the airplane Felix freaks as he reads the mechanic's lips: I fear much damage to the fuselage frederick.
    Hilarious.


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  13. You spend your life waiting for a moment that just won't come.

    Badlands.

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  14. Poor man wanna be rich
    Rich man wanna be king
    And the king ain't satisfied till he rules everything.

    Badlands.

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  15. What a great day to be an American. We are so very fortunate to live in the greatest country on this earth. We take it for granted so often. Until you look around the world and see what it going on all around us.

    And we have come so far. That dream of our forefathers 237 years ago. Think about what our greatest President, Lincoln had to endure, 150 years ago, just to lead this country through what could have been the end of that dream. We got a little spoiled during the 20th century. We led the world in everything we did, from inventions like electricity, the automobile, the assembly line, and the industrial revolution, to the tech age, we have always shown that American ingenuity cannot be beat.

    Now we find ourselves in a new century, one with more competition from around the world. But, as always, we will endure and we will continue to be the best nation on earth.

    Sure there are problems in our country. There always will be and we should always strive as a people to leave this earth knowing that we did our best to make it a better country and a better place to live.

    This experiment has been such a great one and today I am proud to say that I AM AN AMERICAN.

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  16. Touché re boat

    But quint is right even when he's wrong

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