Remembering

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
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.
-- Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian
physician, after witnessing the death of his soldier-friend the day before.

This is Veterans' Day in the U.S., and Remembrance Day in the countries of the United Kingdom. First observed as Armistice Day and still called that in many countries, it commemorated the symbolic end of World War I on November 11, 1918, with the signing of the armistice between the Allies and Germany. In Belgium, part of the Flanders Fields region, it is known as The Day of Peace. For us, it has become the day to honor all, both the living and the dead, who have served in our country's armed forces during any conflict.

As elementary school students, we read "In Flanders Field," and while war was a difficult and faraway concept for us to grasp, we had a great deal of respect for those who were keeping our country free and safe. Because we lived in a rural area, there were no veterans standing on street corners to give out artificial red poppies in return for a donation to benefit their disabled buddies. Instead, we took the crepe paper poppies home to our parents and brought the dollars and dimes back to school for "the soldier boys." Patriotism, during those times, was an honorable thing.

Though we are in difficult times, I am not so wearied and disillusioned that I can forget what it has cost other men and women to keep my little world free and safe. I am grateful.

Read the 2008 post, "I Will Remember" [here].

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/