November 11, 1918 at eleven in the morning, the guns of World War I fell silent across Europe. In 1919, that day was marked to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians in times of war for the Commonwealth of Nations (aka: British Commonwealth) and its allies.
Originally known as Armistice Day (France, New Zealand, and many other Commonwealth countries), also known as Poppy Day (Malta and South Africa), it has become known as Remembrance Day in Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month please observe two minutes of silence and remember those that sacrificed all so that we may live in peace and freedom.
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.— John McCrae
Posted on November 11th, 2007 by Leo
Filed under: Lucid Thoughts
Well done for posting this Leo. As a proud Australian i`ve observed Remembrance Day for as long as i can remember. The 11th of November is a special day in our history and one that shouldn`t be forgotten, spending a few silent minutes at 11am is the least we can do in memory of those that sacrificed so much for us.
`Ode of Remembrance`
They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not 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.
Outstanding, it is important that we all take the time to remember those that fought for our countries. We call it Veterans Day here and I am honored to say my son is a US Verteran.
God Bless all countries and my peace find all.
One of my late uncles served with the Canadian Military in Europe during WW2. He never spoke of it after he returned home though. I guess the memories and personal pain were just too great to recount to others.
My grandfather (father’s side) was like that too. I heard some of his war stories from my father and mother. He fought the Communists, then the Japanese, then the Communists again in China. Apparently he spent some time as a POW as well, he escaped when he and a few others killed their guards.
God bless the millions of souls who fought for freedom.
A couple of months ago I watched a 10-episode BBC documentary called The First World War - it was pretty long but quite interesting. I learned quite a few things I never saw at school during the history lessons about WWI.
Nice post Leo.
I heard a sad thing about a school planning make a point of talking about “conscientious objectors” instead of those who paid the price of freedom. I can think another day would be far better than Veteran’s day for that discussion.
A Moment Of Silence…
-Mike
You going to pho this weekend? I will be there with 2 special tshirts, so my regular clothes don’t end up smelling like freakn beef broth.
Yes, I was there last week too but you were a no-show. Cya Saturday!