Lest we forget

By -
Dear Diary,




In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

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.
The Canadian War Monument, Vimy Ridge, France
I had the honour to visit this piece of Canada in France in 1999 and it was a truly moving and humbling experience. We live so many years after the Great War that it tends to just become history, something that happened in the past. However, once you see the row upon row of graves, names, ages of those who died, it becomes real. Those who say freedom is free are wrong.
Lest we forget. Please respect the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour with a moment of silence for those who died in all the past wars and currently at war.