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.
by John McCrae, May 1915
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
by Laurence Binyon, September 1914
PB: 2661 | He's blue...If he were green he would die | No mod would be stupid enough to do that
Thank you for posting this - we fight a war game here, but there are so many out there who fought real wars and for many, are still fighting them in their heads, bodies and families.
Regardless of who you are and your stance on war, remember the individuals who didn't come home, and work for those who left something behind.
Retired. Please don't PM me about forum stuff any more.
Victor Sullivan wrote:Though technically isn't Veteran's Day supposed to honor the survivors of wars, while Memorial Day honors those who died in battle?
That would be the American take on it. I'm not sure other countries celebrate Armistice Day the same way we do.
Victor Sullivan wrote:Though technically isn't Veteran's Day supposed to honor the survivors of wars, while Memorial Day honors those who died in battle?
Flanders is appropriate in one way though. Veterans day marks the end of WWI, so picking a battle from that war makes sense.
The author of that poem was Canadian (in fact, the first verse is printed on the C$10 bill). Up there, it's Remembrance Day, which encompasses the meanings of all three of our "military" holidays (Veterans' Memorial, and Armed Forces
silverpie wrote:The author of that poem was Canadian (in fact, the first verse is printed on the C$10 bill). Up there, it's Remembrance Day, which encompasses the meanings of all three of our "military" holidays (Veterans' Memorial, and Armed Forces
I'm happy I read that and now know this, actually. It's enlightening (:
Victor Sullivan wrote:....... Veteran's Day ......
There is no apostrophe in Veterans Day
and here's a few tid-bits
Veterans Day was created by Dwight Eisenhower in 1954. Originally known as “Armistice Day,” a commemoration proclaimed by Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and made an annual holiday by Calvin Coolidge in 1938. Armistice Day was “dedicated to the cause of world peace” but was more popularly about commemorating the heroes of World War One. The date is November 11 because the armistice between the Allies and Germany took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.
The “Uniform Monday Holiday Act” of 1971 moved Veterans Day to the fourth Monday of October, but in response to popular sentiment, Veterans Day was moved back to November 11 in 1978.
With irony heaped upon irony, this year’s Poppy Appeal was started in the UK at the Radway Green facility, owned by none other than BAE, one of Europe’s largest arms dealers. High ranking officials from the company that rakes in billions from international wars watched as veterans laid down wreaths. The excruciating irony of their presence passed unnoticed in a country that seems to have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of remembrance. The Poppy was originally created as a symbol of the horrors of war by a generation of people who, all too vividly, had experienced it.
I fully appreciate that whilst there were clearly defined moral distinctions of right and wrong regarding the combatants in WW2 and why conflict was unavoidable, however many other wars we and our allies have been involved in, do not carry the same clearly defined paths. The Poppy is in danger of becoming the panacea for the difficult task of reviewing whether what we are doing is right or wrong.
Call me disrespectful if you may, but like Harry Patch, the last British WW1 veteran who died last year, I find the wearing of poppies by British Government Ministers, with their notorious attitude to support of veterans quite sickening and full of hypocrisy. War is futile and always will be, meanwhile these Politicians and companies like BAE continue supporting wars and then ignoring the tragic human cost attached in the vainglorious pursuit of their own careers.
Having said this, there are great reasons for supporting (in the UK) the Royal British Legion, a great institution with a noble cause at heart, but I truly fear for what is happening to us when the likes of the skin crawling Simon Cowell or the saccharine Cheryl Cole decide that a common or garden paper Poppy is no longer fitting and feel the need to wear poppy pins encrusted with Swarovski crystals.
As the UK heads for this Remembrance Sunday, we should remember that those Politicians we will see on TV in Whitehall looking suitably grave and serious have cheerfully authorised the decimation of jobs, welfare and public education, whilst showing a complete ineptitude towards the armed Forces. They have sacrificed the life chances of a generation of young and working-class people while making rhetorical sops towards "the national interest", and that is not remembrance, nor is it any way to honour the memory of the Great Generation. Like Cowell and Cole, this is, in fact, just show business.
Due to current economic conditions the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off
Fruitcake wrote:With irony heaped upon irony, this year’s Poppy Appeal was started in the UK at the Radway Green facility, owned by none other than BAE, one of Europe’s largest arms dealers. High ranking officials from the company that rakes in billions from international wars watched as veterans laid down wreaths. The excruciating irony of their presence passed unnoticed in a country that seems to have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of remembrance. The Poppy was originally created as a symbol of the horrors of war by a generation of people who, all too vividly, had experienced it.
I fully appreciate that whilst there were clearly defined moral distinctions of right and wrong regarding the combatants in WW2 and why conflict was unavoidable, however many other wars we and our allies have been involved in, do not carry the same clearly defined paths. The Poppy is in danger of becoming the panacea for the difficult task of reviewing whether what we are doing is right or wrong.
Call me disrespectful if you may, but like Harry Patch, the last British WW1 veteran who died last year, I find the wearing of poppies by British Government Ministers, with their notorious attitude to support of veterans quite sickening and full of hypocrisy. War is futile and always will be, meanwhile these Politicians and companies like BAE continue supporting wars and then ignoring the tragic human cost attached in the vainglorious pursuit of their own careers.
Having said this, there are great reasons for supporting (in the UK) the Royal British Legion, a great institution with a noble cause at heart, but I truly fear for what is happening to us when the likes of the skin crawling Simon Cowell or the saccharine Cheryl Cole decide that a common or garden paper Poppy is no longer fitting and feel the need to wear poppy pins encrusted with Swarovski crystals.
As the UK heads for this Remembrance Sunday, we should remember that those Politicians we will see on TV in Whitehall looking suitably grave and serious have cheerfully authorised the decimation of jobs, welfare and public education, whilst showing a complete ineptitude towards the armed Forces. They have sacrificed the life chances of a generation of young and working-class people while making rhetorical sops towards "the national interest", and that is not remembrance, nor is it any way to honour the memory of the Great Generation. Like Cowell and Cole, this is, in fact, just show business.
babinator wrote:Lest we forget the sacrifice made by so many to keep us free.
no they sacrifice themselves to keep the Europeans "free"
we where perfectly safe
Freedom is not just an American thing. A free world also promotes safety and stability and does much towards keeping us safe and out of conflicts...
well the world was still going to be "free" no matter who won we (Canada) only entered the was because we had to (just like every other country who was fighting)
