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Remembrance Day - 11/11/11

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Leto, Nov 11, 2011.

  1. Leto

    Leto Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Toronto
    Just concluded the minute of silence followed by the reading of In Flanders Fields.

    My thoughts and respect to all veterans on this day of Remembrance and the poem written by Canadian Lietenant Colonel John McCrae:

    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
    Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
    during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium

    http://www.flandersfieldsmusic.com/thepoem.html
     
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  2. Fangirl

    Fangirl Very Tilted

    Location:
    Arizona
    [​IMG]
    At a makeshift memorial to Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa, Nov. 11, 2006. (Tom Hanson/The Canadian Press)

    Why the poppy?

    The association between the poppy and war dates back to the Napoleonic wars, when a writer saw a field of poppies growing over the graves of fallen soldiers.​
    During the Battle of Ypres in 1915, Canadian Lt.-Col. John McCrae was inspired to write the poem In Flanders Fields on sighting the poppies growing beside a grave of a close friend who had died in battle.​
    The poem was a great inspiration in adopting the poppy as the Flower of Remembrance in Canada, France, the U.S, Britain and Commonwealth countries.​
    The first poppies were distributed in Canada in 1921.​
    Today the volunteer donations from the distribution of millions of poppies is an important source of revenue for the Royal Canadian Legion that goes toward helping ex-servicemen and women buy food, and obtain shelter and medical attention.​

    At public gatherings in Ottawa and around the country, Canadians pay tribute with two minutes of silence to the country's fallen soldiers from the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Afghanistan conflict and peacekeeping missions.
    Also known as Veterans Day in the U.S., Remembrance Day was first held throughout the Commonwealth in 1919. It marks the armistice to end the First World War, which came into effect at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, a year earlier.
     
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  3. superdave

    superdave New Member

    everybody knows a Vet, go find them and thank them for there service
     
  4. greywolf

    greywolf Slightly Tilted

    Stood in the rain for an hour at the service... thankfully it was still quite warm. It's very hard for the older vets to be out for any length of time now. Good friend of mine, a pilot in the Battle of Britain, died last year. I really missed him on the 11th.