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May '10
Re: Thank You
Flanders fields?
Sep '10
Re: Thank You
In Canada, today -- Remembrance Day -- is a national holiday in all but 3 provinces.
Re: Thank You
Yes. As a child, I remember going with my mother to the post office where she'd be given a small, paper lapel poppy. It always made her cry. I didn't understand why until I became an adult.
Aug '10
Re: Thank You
To all our veterans, living and dead: We offer you our deepest gratitude and thanks.
We owe these men so much. Let us honor their sacrifices by taking up the colors and fighting for our freedoms without flinching. While they faced bombs and bullets, we face only slander and calumny.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
From the 1919 collection of poems by John McCrae, WWI veteran
May '10
Re: Thank You
John McCrae was more than a poet, he was a surgeon, and a proud son of Canada. He wrote In Flanders Field after losing a good friend and former student in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.
Lt. Col. McCrae lies in the sandy soil of Wimereux, France, a victim of pneumonia in January of 1918.
As we remember our own this Veterans Day, let us also drink a toast to our brothers in arms, particularly those of the Anglosphere (British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealanders) who serve beside our boys today as they have so many times in the past.
Nov '10
Re: Thank You
I had my son (who is becoming quite the military historian) read this poem a few days ago. He is a bit too young to quite grasp the level of butchery that characterized World War One, but he is beginning to understand what it means to serve and sacrifice. The poem is beautiful and heart-wrenching all at once.
Also, to River and EJHill - well said.
Re: Thank You
That is a beautiful, and now knowing where it is, haunting picture. My grandfather fought in the trenches as a British solider in WWI and sustained life-long health problems from mustard gas. His medals hang in a glass box in my home, as do my mothers and fathers (RAF and CRAF respectively) as a constant reminder of sacrifice and service. Thank you, Ursula.
Re: Thank You
Oct '10
Re: Thank You
Adam Freedman · Nov 11 at 2:09pm
Small world, Adam. My grandfather was at Ypres as well. He was a Russian born Canadian immigrant. He was gassed at Ypres and had chronic respiratory problems for the remaining 60 years of his life. When I was 15 he gave me one of his most prized posessions: his commemorative medal from the battle; a pin in the shape of a miniature bayonette with a mother of pearl handle, with the simple inscription, Ypres. It is now one of my most prized posessions!
Nov '10
Re: Thank You
Don't y'all only have, like, nine provinces?
May '10
Re: Thank You
I remember as a kid in school we talked about "Decoration Day" without really getting into a lot of detail of what that really meant. There is so much WWII media out there and very little WWI. There is a very good description of Harry Truman's experiences with a WWI artillery company in David McCullough's biography of Mr.Truman, who was a courageous foreign policy guy and a near-socialist at home.
Aug '10
Re: Thank You
Has slightly different overtones, given the kind of poppies they have in Afghanistan.