To all our military, both past and present... THANK YOU! Thank you for your courage, your fortitude, and your many, many sacrifices that have been so dear. I will never forget that it is because of what you do that my family and I continue to enjoy a life of FREEDOM. May God bless and protect all of you that are serving far away from those that you love and dearly miss, and may He bring each of you home again safely very soon. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Much love and blessings, you are all heroes in my heart. Trish

"Amen!" Zelma

Be it Armistice Day, Veteran's Day or Rememberance Day, I am looking forward to the ceremonies which will be honouring Our Fallen in World Wars I & II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the Iraqi Invasion. I am including a Poem written in 1915 by a Medical Officer serving in France.


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.

Dr. McCrae died of pneumonia in 1918.

This poem makes me cry.

Linderful

Thank you, Trish, for reminding us what Veteran's Day is all about.
And to all of those that are now a Hero - both past and present - thank you. For our freedom.

Hugs

I think I forgot to mention the men & women from the Bosnia/Herzogovena Peacekeeping effort. And I am not too sure what to call the current action in Iraq. Iraqi War? Iraqi Invasion? Iraqi Liberation? Please educate me.

Linda

This is the Day dear Ladies. November 11. Let's try to remember our moment of silence at 11:00 AM.
Through their sacrifices we are able to experience the freedoms we now enjoy. I shall be forever thankful.

Linderful

Linderful - Amen to that.

In my city, we have an interesting Geography and History Field Trip for grade 9 students. The Youth are bussed to the waterfront on Lake Ontario and are attired in warm clothing with waist high wading boots. They are loaded up with a 20 kg {44 lb} back pack. They then have to run through the shallow water and thick sand and beach scrub for a given distance, sorry I don't know what the distance is. Elbow Crawling is also part of the excercise. They then return to the point of origin. They are being given a taste of what it was like for the soldiers who stormed the beaches at Normandy. This program was introduced by a WWII Veteran who was at Normandy. He is still alive and represents Canadian Veterans while explaining the course to the students. The packs worn during WWII were at least twice the weight which were carried by the grade 9 students.
I really like that this is being practiced because too many of our youth do not know who were the Allies and who were the Enemies in WWII. When asked, one teenager thought that Russia was the enemy at that time. No Idea at all that Russia was an Ally and that Germany and Japan were the primary Enemies.

An old Saying. "We must remember History or we are doomed to repeat it." I have probably not quoted it correctly, word for word, but the general Idea is there.

Stay safe ladies.

Linderful

What a great idea to give young people the experience of what our fathers and grandfathers went through. It's all too easy to forget.
I watched a veteran of WW1 yesterday on the TV - he's 109! He laid a wreath in France in memory of his fallen comrades, brought tears to my eyes.

Our thoughts go to those men and women who are still on operations, and to their waiting families.