- published: 10 Aug 2015
- views: 525585
In general, a civilian is "a person who is not a member of the military or of a police or firefighting force", as defined by Merriam Webster's Dictionary. The term also includes chaplains and medical personnel who are not part of the organizations mentioned in the preceding sentence, as well as those who are not perpetrators, in order to distinguish between those who are law-abiding people and those who are dedicated criminals. From the U.S. Department of Defense perspective, Chapter 18 of Title 10 United States Code refers to non-military law enforcement officers as civilians, since they are employees rather than enlisted personnel, and also in order to distinguish itself from military police.
Under the laws of war (also known as international humanitarian law), a civilian is one not being a member of the armed services and does not take a direct part of hostilities in times of armed conflict. The term "civilian" is slightly different from a non-combatant under the laws of war, because some non-combatants are not civilians (for example, military chaplains attached to the belligerent armed forces or neutral military personnel). Under international law, civilians in the territories of a Party to an armed conflict are entitled to certain privileges under the customary laws of war and international treaties such as the Fourth Geneva Convention. The privileges that they enjoy under international law depends on whether the conflict is an internal one (a civil war) or an international one.
The carriage horses stamp and fume
Until all color's gone
They leave the street in black and white
And bring the eventing coming on
Lovers tug their way out of gloves
Out of shoes, and gray chiffon
The driver pulls his blanket high
And pretends to look beyond
Oh, pray for you, pray for me
Sing it like a song
Life is sort but by the grace of God
This night is long
Girls crowd into bathroom stalls
The boys smoke in their cars
The general, he's in civilian clothes
Standing at the bar
He waves at the deaf flower lady
"Come sit by me, sweetheart"
He draws a napkin battle plan
Says, "This is where we start"
Oh, pray for you, pray for me
Sing it like a song
Life is sort but by the grace of God
This night is long
There are no more hummingbirds
Like there used to be
They're fat and slow and careless now
They've turned blue and mean
And the parrots sound like monkeys
Screamin' from the trees
As the decent people
Fumble for their keys
We used to spend the night in town
Down by City Hall
And the water works of Irish Beach
Just below the falls
We'd walk down to the Park Hotel
Past the Baptist Veteran's Mall
Back then, a man in uniform
Might mean anything at all
Oh, pray for you, pray for me
Sing it like a song
Life is short but by the grace or cruel