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"A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country."
Texas Guinan
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"A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country."
Texas Guinan
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Alan: The song below (which you may want to hear before reading on), is based on "a series of widespread, unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas 1914, during World War I. Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and Britishsoldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the point that individuals would walk across to talk to their opposite numbers bearing gifts. On Christmas Eveand Christmas Day, many soldiers from both sides—as well as, to a lesser degree, from French units—independently ventured into "no man's land", where they mingled, exchanging food and souvenirs. As well as joint burial ceremonies, several meetings ended in carol-singing. Troops from both sides were also friendly enough to play games of soccer with one another.[1]
Christmas Truce, 1914 (Wikipedia) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce
"Truce: The Day The Soldiers Stopped Fighting" - http://www.amazon.com/Truce-The-Soldiers-Stopped-Fighting/dp/0545130492/ref=pd_sim_b_3
"Silent Night: The Story Of The World War I Christmas Truce" - http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Night-Story-World-Christmas/dp/0452283671/ref=pd_sim_b_3
The movie, "Joyeux Noel" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeux_No%C3%ABl
The History Channel documentary, "The Christmas Truce" - http://www.amazon.com/The-Christmas-Truce-World-War/dp/B000T28PJ2/ref=pd_sim_b_5
In the words of one of the young soldiers who was on the peaceful front that night: “We had rather an interesting time in the trenches on Christmas Eve. … We were in some places less than 100 yards from the Germans, and had conversations with them across. It was agreed in our part of the firing line that there should be no firing and no thought of war on Christmas Eve and Day, so they sang and played to us several of their own tunes and some of ours … while we did the same for them … The singing and playing continued all night, and the next day, Christmas, our fellows paid a visit to the German trenches, and they did likewise … every one, friend and foe, were real good pals.”
"Christmas in the Trenches" composed and sung by John McCutcheon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?