Easy Company

“And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,”
Henry V,
25 October

A Brigadier-General once asked us a question,

Q : Has any country of our size and prosperity, ever lasted more than a hundred years in the past five hundred years?
Ans: None

When the button is pressed, can you trust the person standing next to you?
Can you stand up and be counted for?

Man in the Arena

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt,
“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Food for thought. Are we the blacksmith who repairs the chinks in others armor? Or the minion in numbers who throws little stones into the gaping holes of the armor?

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Written by English poet William Ernest Henley. At the age of 12, Henley became a victim of tuberculosis of the bone. A few years later the disease progressed to his foot, and physicians announced that the only way to save his life was to amputate directly below the knee. In 1867 he would successfully pass the Oxford local examination as a senior student. In 1875 he wrote the “Invictus” poem from a hospital bed. Despite his disability, he survived with one foot intact and led an active life until the age of 53.

Brilliant little poem written by a man who has withstood the test of time and life. I think we could all learn a lot from a person like him. Take nothing for granted, pick up the courage to say no to pain and walk on. We could move on to become stronger individuals, perfecting self-mastery and with limitless threshold. Thats what differentiates men from heroes and legends.

Designing

Was thinking of a match up between Arsenal and Liverpool when i felt like designing. Tell me what you think,

I had a bit of difficulty trying to get the Liverpool pictures at the back. pardon me heh

My Repent

Couple of ups and downs lately, mostly up though. Not too long ago, I’ve had the chief hand me my beloved and long awaited sword. The week after, came my comissioning. Finally my promotion. A long, long wait for my kit kat. 9 months of pleasure, pain, blood, sweat, toil and tears. Thinking back the last 9 months had been very fruitful. Learnt a lot about myself, my limits, my strengths, my weaknesses. I guess this journey has really been worthwhile.  The day after, something special happened. Funny how it all began, turns out it was unexpected. From friends to lovers. God knows what awaits us. Add another week to that, I’m taking my cadets already, though not entirely my own, but learning from scratch. The last 3 weeks has been real fun.  To all my brothers out there, the last 9 months was something special, I’ll keep it close to me for sure. To my babe, lets look forward with faith and believe that we’ll get there. To all my friends, thanks for being a part of my life until now. Cheers people.