Remembrance Sunday

[Flyboy]

This is a British memorial day, but I thought I'd share it with the board.

November 11th marks the anniversary of the end of the First World War and is the day in which we in Britain show our respect and appreciation to those who died in combat over the past century in whatever war. We also pay respects to those currently deployed throughout the world fighting to make the world a better place or just make a small difference to the lives of others. Given the nature of the occasion, I'd like to avoid making this a political debate. But if you'd all be willing to spare a thought for those who died and those who are still fighting for all of us.

"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."

[dipsofjazz]

Nicely said.

[Flyboy]

We're coming up to that day again, so once again, I'd like to bring this to people's attention and ask that this Sunday, no matter what you're doing or where you are, that at 1100hrs you take a minute just to reflect on those that have died. Whether it be the needless and horrific bloodshed of 'The Great War', fighting for our freedom in World War II, or those that have died in combat since, regardless of how we may view the politics surrounding these conflicts.

The military is a tool of policy, and whether we agree or disagree with the reasons our governments send us to war, we should respect those who have the courage to lay their lives on the line for their country, and be willing to die to protect those they've never met.

They deserve our Remembrance.

[P-90_177]

I shall salute our fallen heroes. Already have bought a poppy......or four........I keep losing them. But I don't mind. More money for a fine cause.

[Missster.Freeman]

Wow. Stickied. Nice one. Way to go Mods, and thank you, whoever it was.

[Pocus]

For all soldiers, no matter the country! I appreciate all they do and all they sacrifice. I'm not sure who wrote this, but I received this in email a few years ago and I love to pass it along...

A Different Christmas Poem

Spoiler:

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know.
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright.
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

[Skydiver]

i remember AT2, which was thanksgiving 2006, and all the poppies all over the place. It's a lovely symbol to remember your dead.

It's a bit different for us because, beyond hawaii an a couple of barely known places on the west coast, our land was mostly untouched by the war, while the brits and others had it in their back yard.

[Muh_tuttles]

Rilla of Ingleside has for a long while been one of my favourite books. Written by L. M. Montgomery, it is about a girl whose brothers go to fight in WWI. It is beautifully written. One of her brothers dies, but before he dies he writes her a letter, part of which I have copied here.

"Is there laughter in your face yet, Rilla? I hope so. The world will need laughter and courage more than ever in the years that will come next. I don't want to preach–this isn't any time for it. But I just want to say something that may help you over the worst when you hear that I've gone 'west.' I've a premonition about you, Rilla, as well as about myself. I think Ken will go back to you–and that there are long years of happiness for you by-and-by. And you will tell your children of the Idea we fought and died for–teach them it must be lived for as well as died for, else the price paid for it will have been given for nought. This will be part of your work, Rilla. And if you–all you girls back in the homeland–do it, then we who don't come back will know that you have not 'broken faith' with us.

And when the war ended and her brother came home again, he said this to her.

"'We're in a new world,' Jem says, 'and we've got to make it a better one than the old. That isn't done yet, though some folks seem to think it ought to be. The job isn't finished–it isn't really begun. The old world is destroyed and we must build up the new one. It will be the task of years. I've seen enough of war to realize that we've got to make a world where wars can't happen. We've given Prussianism its mortal wound but it isn't dead yet and it isn't confined to Germany either. It isn't enough to drive out the old spirit–we've got to bring in the new.'

Let us keep faith and not forget why so many of these wars were fought.

[discodiva]

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

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.


My husband's family live in Belgium and before the motorway was fully built we had to pass along by those Flanders Fields and "No Man's Land" when crossing the borders from France to Belgium........it was always a very "reflective" part of the journey....

Deeds xx

[Pandora's_Box]

It's quite a significant day in Canada as well.

I remember every year in elementary school and then high school, we'd have an assembly during which there'd be the requisite recitation of In Flander's Fields and then various videos to commemorate the veterans.

And there's always a nice memorial outside the government building in Ottawa involving the surviving veterans. Apparantly there's only one veteran alive in Canada from WWI. That's staggering.

Always thankful and mindful of the sacrifices people made in the past.

Sad to see that there are still men and women making those same sacrifices today. Here's to hoping they come home soon.

[./freelancer]

Heh, two weeks ago I'd never heard of Remembrance Sunday, then I heard about it in a Spooks episode.

1100hrs, is that 11am? I'll probably be asleep then, but I'll definitely take a minute sometime on Sunday.

Here's to the heroes...no, ordinary men and women who have given their lives for their country!

Alone in the forest, surrounded by trees
They're shooting at someone, shooting at me
Some call me a killer, some call me a hero
I'm just an ordinary man, who wants to be free

[The_Carpenter]

the old lie: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

[Madeleine]

Final scene of Blackadder

I have the utmost gratitude and respect for our armed forces, and those of all the allies who have gone to bat for us when we needed a hand.

Anyone like model railways? Hornby do little war memorials for their 00 range, with a teeny poppy wreath. My son has one, it's nice.

[Flyboy]

Final scene of Blackadder

I have the utmost gratitude and respect for our armed forces, and those of all the allies who have gone to bat for us when we needed a hand.

Anyone like model railways? Hornby do little war memorials for their 00 range, with a teeny poppy wreath. My son has one, it's nice.

Oh good lord... that Blackadder episode is one of the finest moments of television ever. I'm not ashamed to say that I well up every time I see it. It captures the sheer horror and emotion of the event perfectly, and there was no more fitting way for that series to end.

I'll be parading tomorrow as usual with my squadron, anyone else going to be attending a service or parade?

[TameFarrar]

I will be attending a service honoring our Veterans here in the USA tomorrow.

I will be forever grateful to all of our military for choosing to stand up for each of our Countries