There is more to life than increasing its speed. ~ Mohandas Gandhi
2007-Nov-11 - Veterans Day, November,11th
I was watching Songs of Praise on BBC and was thinking of all those lives killed in action. I was thinking of my dad who had to sail during WWII , and who saw how many ships were torpedoed either by the Germans or by the Japs.They sailed in convoy. There are many poems written about these wars.
The poem most often cited and most closely linked with this day belongs to Lt Colonel John McCrae of the Canadian Army’s medical service.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Beneath the crosses row on row
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard beneath 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 falling 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.
John McCrae died in France in 1918. McCrae’s observations of the debt we owe to those who died are now celebrated on Memorial Day, originally May 31st. Take up his torch and remember - always - the evil of war. Buy a poppy for May 31st, because now they support veterans care organizations.
2 comments:
Very nice post. For someone who is old like me, it means something when people remember the Korean War which was the time when I was in the Army. My friends and my relatives were in the Second World War. My grandparents were in our Civil War on both sides. I lost a nephew in Vietnam. Fortunately none of my reltives have yet died in Iraq but my granddaughter served there.
Yes and you know something? I still don't see why wars are started. What did Hitler achieve for Das Deutsche Reich? Who is the winner, who the loser..
Thanks Abe for the comment, this means much to me.
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