Monday, July 12, 2010

For my Men in Kilts

This song made me think of my Warrior Men in Kilts.  I hope we never come to this on our own soil!  Lord - hold back judgement....







A little history on Sgt MacKenzie,

Joseph MacKenzie wrote the haunting lament after the death of his wife, Christine, and in memory of his great-grandfather, Charles Stuart MacKenzie, a sergeant in the Seaforth Highlanders, who along with hundreds of his brothers-in-arms from the Elgin-Rothes area in Moray, Scotland went to fight in the Great War. Sergeant MacKenzie was bayoneted to death at the age of 35, while defending one of his badly injured fellow soldiers in the hand-to-hand fighting of the trenches.

His great grandson said:

To the best of my knowledge, and taken from reports of the returning soldiers, one of his close friends fell, badly wounded. Charles stood his ground and fought until he was overcome and died from bayonet wounds. On that day, my great grandmother and my grandmother were sitting at the fire when the picture fell from the wall. My great grandmother looked, and said to my grandmother "Oh, my bonnie Charlie's dead". Sure enough a few days passed, and the local policeman brought the news - that Sgt. Charles Stuart MacKenzie had been killed in action. This same picture now hangs above my fireplace. A few years back my wife Christine died of cancer, and in my grief I looked at his picture to ask what gave him the strength to go on. It was then, in my mind, that I saw him lying on the field and wondered what his final thoughts were. The words and music just appeared into my head. I believe the men and woman like yourself who are prepared to stand their ground for their family - for their friends - and for their country; deserve to be remembered, respected and honoured. "Sgt. MacKenzie", is my very small tribute to them.

2 comments:

  1. This song is kind of the theme song for "We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young."

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwY2MACi2SY&feature=related

    Bill Smith

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  2. Very moving music. I wonder how many men in America today have the courage to stand their ground? I pray we never have to find out.

    I know those who serve in the military have the courage, but the military is a much smaller group than in days past.

    I am not a man and I don't wear a kilt (nor a skirt anymore), but I pray I have the courage to stand my ground if the need arises.

    NoCal Gal

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