(I'll remember my brothers ...) "In Flanders Fields"

[TahitiNut]

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.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Thank you, TahitiNut for posting this classic poem!

It is so very appropriate for this Memorial Day...and so beautiful as well...Very moving.


:patriot:

[banjosareunderrated]

2. For the V.F.W., right?

their poem is rightly remembered.

God speed to all of our sons and daughters and fathers and mothers. It is for your sacrifices that we fight the fight against the wrong fight.

I'm sorry we failed you this time, but we will not fail you the next time.

We promise.

[TahitiNut]

9. Yes, I imagine every VFW post has this poem framed on some wall.

It has a somewhat different import to those of us who've served in a combat zone -- one that might be hard for others to fully grasp. You see, pretty much independent of any other reason a soldier may have enlisted (or been drafted) and any attitude about the 'right' or 'wrong' of the military action itself, one thing is very immediate and common among all combat veterans. That is that we covered each other's butts. The "reason for being there" becomes very "here and now" and very personal - fighting to keep each other from being killed. Almost nothing else counts. "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unim" and "One Nation" and "We The People" all take a backseat to facing the common threat of being blown away. There's NOBODY ELSE a guy can count on -- and it's about "keeping the faith" in one another. I've never experienced any other relationship in my life that was quite as unambiguous and life-or-death intense as that. I really don't think it can be forgotten.

[banjosareunderrated]

10. I empathize, but not sympathize...

that poem is on the back of the M.V.F.W. brochures that my company sends out. I'm a fundraising manager that raises funds for several different charities. The V.F.W. is our main group that we raise funds for. On the third page of the brochure, this poem is written. Our biggest program is the "buddy poppy" program and with all poppies, a leaflet is given out with In Flanders' Fields written on the back.

By the way, I live in Warren and I saw your tahiti sticker on 75 a long time ago. I waved and you waved back. If you ever see a white 93' Cherokee with a DU, Darwin, Straights for Gay Marriage, Evolution is Just a Theory and So Is Gravity, and What Schools Need is a Moment of Science stickers, you found me. Thanks for waving.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

3. What a beautiful poem.

May I post a companion to this? Americans should never forget that Europeans lost an entire generation of young men in WWI.

"Green Fields of France"
Well how do you do, young Willie McBride,
do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside.
And rest for a while ´neath the warm summer sun.
I´ve been working all day and I´m nearly done.
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen,
when you joined the great fallen in nineteen-sixteen.
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean.
Or Willie McBride, was it slow and unseen.

CHORUS: Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death-march as they lowered you down?
And did the band play the Last post and chorus?
Did the pipes play the ´Flowers of the forest`?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
Although you died back in nineteen sixteen
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enclosed and forever behind the glass frame
In a old photograph, torn and battered and stained
And fade to yellow in a brown leather frame.

CHORUS

The sun now it shines on the green fields of France
There´s a warm summer breeze, makes the red poppies dance
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds
There´s no gas, no barbed wire, there´s no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it´s still no-man´s-land
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man´s blind indifference to his fellow man
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned.

CHORUS

Now young Willie McBride I can´t help but wonder why
Do all those that lie here know why did they died
And did they believe when they answered the cause
Did they really believe that this war would end wars
For the sorrows, the suffering, the glory. the pain
The killing and dying was all done in vain
For young Willie McBride it all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again

[TahitiNut]

4. .

:kick:

[rasputin1952]

5. Last year, I was reading an archeology report where a section

of French soldiers had been found, buried alive after a shell burst behind them.

A couple was walking in the Somme area, and saw several rusted bayonets sticking out of the ground, all in a row. They alerted local officials, and a dig was begun.

13 French soldiers were found in what had been a trench, all lined up against the Eastern Wall of the trench, as if ready to go 'over the top', It was surmised that a large German shell, most likely from a Railway Gun, fell some 15 yards behind them, and buried them alive. They rested there, unknown since 1917.

Regimental Tabs and other items identified most, and relatives were being notified. It was decided to rebury them, as they were. The sentiment being they had fought and died together so long ago, they should be in each others company in perpetuity.

One must wonder, what went through these men's minds as they faced the enemy, and then, so suddenly, had their lives snuffed out, to be forgotten for so long.

[TahitiNut]

6. It's a pity I have to 'kick' this.

So much for all the hot air on DU. :shrug:

[rasputin1952]

7. I find it a pity as well TH...

there are so many out there that have had members in their families, as well as their own stories to tell.

I venture to wage that many do not realize that Memorial Day was begun as Remembrance Day, to remind us of the sacrifices that were made during the Civil War. It has evolved over the years, and has become just another 3 Day Weekend for some.

The same warm air we breathe today, is the same warm air that soldiers, sailors and Marines breathed, when they passed from this earth. We owe these Servicemembers a great debt, and we find it difficult to pay that debt with just a small kind thought on Memorial Day.

Most people have no idea what carnage war is, and the sacrifices made to ensure that a fellow Servicemember is kept safe from the ravages of that war.

Those that have borne the steel and shed the blood deserve all we can give them, respect is such a simple, but noble thing.

:patriot:

[enigmatic]

8. It's a berautiful poem

And one of the great things about being up here is Rememberance Day, and the sea of Poppy Pins on everyone during that month. It's touching, and it makes me proud to have Canada as my home now.