I found out today that a good friend of mine is coming home from Iraq on Friday. Way to go JCCE. I’m so proud of you, my heart is almost ready to burst. I wish I could be there to give you a hug – although I’m sure your wife and family will be there with much joy.
Today is Rememberance Day, and I think that’s why it was of particular symbolism that this news came.
For those of you that don’t know, The poppy worn on Remembrance Day is the red-corn poppy, which grows abundantly in Europe, including Flanders Fields.
‘In Flanders Fields’ is a poem, written by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae on May 3, 1915, and was written about the small red flowers growing on the battlefields of France amongst the death and blood from the men who died fighting for their country.
The poem and the poppy, have now become iconic symbols of both the World Wars, and now plastic versions are sold prior to Remembrance Day to remember those who died.
The poem:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, 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.
– John McCrae
I hope that you’ll take a moment, stop, and remember all those who died en masse in the two World Wars and hope that we can learn to resolve our differences without War.
Both photos here were from my trip to the Stansdorf Cemetery on November 1, the Day of the Dead. It warmed my heart to see that yes, even Here in Germany, the British government remembers their WW1 dead.
