In Flanders Field the Poppies Grow

[Occhidiangela]

Today I am reminded of my British friends, in the Royal Navy and the Army, who wore the red poppies on their sweaters when we came to work. It was a uniform variation allowed in honor of the fallen from The Great War (aka the slaughter of a generation) and as time goes on, other wars.

We call it Veterans Day here in the U.S. I'd like to give a shout to the veterans here: Pete, Tal, Ta Me Olta, and now my memory betrays me. King Jim, weren't you in the Navy all those years ago? I know we have a few more.

Lurkers one and all, if you've served under the colors, no matter the flag or nation, please just post a quick hello here. This thread is for you.

In other news, the war within took a few more with it at Fort Hood last week. The memorial service was big news since the President showed up. I think it was well done of him to deliver the personal touch. I find it curious to note that of all the commentary I've seen on the Lounge of the years, this topic didn't get a thread.

I wonder why.

We had a memorial service last week down here, for two pilots who died in a crash along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. They died doing what I used to do a couple of decades ago. Only one body found. Plane and the other body not found. I have two friends in the Coast Guard who were part of the search. Frustrated, they were. There but for the grace of God went I, displaced in time, feeding some random fish while the family weeps. Were it not for an alert crew on an oil rig, the pilot's body that was recovered would not have been spotted, and would probably have drifted out to sea by now. The wind flow was seaward for most of the week after the crash.

The young men had both served over in the hot and nasty part of the world, as most servicemen get the opportunity to do these days. Here are their names:

Lt Brett Travis Miller (He's from Wisconsin)
Lt John Joseph Houston (He's from Houston, Texas)

http://www.caller.com/news/2009/nov/02/nav...ek/?partner=RSS

Graduates of the Naval Academy in 2000 and 2001, they missed by a week Navy's glorious victory over Notre Dame, an event which underscored for me the unimportance of college football. And yet it is something that binds me to so many other friends and strangers, the connection we make over these bizarre rituals played out, in the fall or spring, by champions carrying our colors.

I have noticed that with a war actually on, the metaphors used to describe athletic contests have begun to steer away from war. Not sure why, but I am grateful that I don't hear of gridiron wars anymore, though occasionally I see a game described as a dog fight or a battle. At best, sports competitions are faux battles of champions, or teams of champions, for a school, a city, a state, a nation.

The real thing isn't a game, except in the most cynical sense, the games played by politicians the world over. Game theory gets used sometimes to craft and pursue strategy, grand strategy that includes pouring blood and treasure into pursuit of a goal -- funny, goals are scored in soccer games, and field goals in basketball games. The cross referencing has become embedded in our language, and through that, perhaps in how we think and conceive. Dynamic feedback.

Enough musing, I am not at work today. Maybe I'll putter about the house, and maybe I'll spend an hour or two playing at a war game, like Starcraft or Diablo. Or a quick game of War, with cards, with my son when he gets home from school today.

It permeates.