Remembrance Day/Armistice Day/Veteran's Day

[Nicolas King]

Ninety-two years ago, the "Great War" was ended, with the allied forces having prevailed through one of the world's darkest times.
Such victory came at a price; a price higher than is imaginable for many of us.

Brave men (and women, in later wars) have fought, and in some cases laid down their lives, for "King and country" - and it is our responsibility to hold their sacrifices dear to our hearts, to remember the actions they took to secure our continued safety and freedom, be ever thankful for such people, and desire a better world where such sacrifice ceases to be necessary.

The poem that I think of for this day of remembrance is In Flanders Fields (that's the Canadian in me. ) by John McCrae.

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.

However, a more well known verse is the 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.

Today, take the time to think of the sacrifices made by our forgoers which have made possible the lives we lead today - the lives that are free from tyranny, and of oppression.

Nous nous souvenons.
Lest we forget.

 

[Charlotte Bouvier]

They that fought with guns and bombs
With fear and friends,
Hear this their song.

Them that fought to their sad ends
For us, for all
We make amends.

We who judge will never know
What death is like,
Bright blood on snow.

They gave their lives, they gave their hearts
They gave their friends
From the start.

Bless all the men, bless all the boys
Who stood and fought
With wicked toys.

We who live, shall not forget
We shall remember
Their war regrets.

Lest we forget

 

[Hadan Winters]

*salutes*

 

[Shiloh Denton]

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died

Your uniform, branch of service, it matters not to me
Whether Volunteer or Conscript, or how it came to be
That politicians' failures, or some power-mad ambition
Brought you too soon to your death, in the name of any nation

You saw, you felt, you knew full well, as friend and foe were taken
By bloody death, that your life too, was forfeit and forsaken
Yet on you went and fought and died, in your close and private hell
For Mate or Pal or Regiment and memories never to tell

It was for each other, through shot and shell, the madness you endured
Side by side, through wound and pain, and comradeship assured
No family ties, or bloodline link, could match that bond of friend
Who shared the horror and kept on going, at last until the end

We cannot know, we were not there, it's beyond our comprehension
To know the toll that battle brings, of resolute intention
To carry on, day by day, for all you loved and hoped for
To live in peace a happy life, away from bloody war

For far too many, no long life ahead, free of struggle and pain and the gun
And we must remember the price that was paid, by each and every one
Regardless of views, opinions aside, no matter how each of us sees it
They were there and I cannot forget, even though I did not live it

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died.

Kenny Martin
© 2003

At the going down of the sun,
and in the morning,
we will remember them.

*salute*