Veterans Day & Remembrance Day

Originally conceived as a commemoration of the end of the Great War, Armistice Day became Veterans' Day in America and Remembrance Day in the UK, Canada, and elsewhere after the Second World War.

I wonder why we diverged; perhaps because America did not suffer such grievous losses in WWI, we tend to avoid the more somber connotations.

Since then, more Americans and members of the Commonwealth have answered the call, many to the sacrifice of their own lives.

All I can do is thank you. For the freedoms that I am able to enjoy, unlike so many, thank you.

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.