11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month....

[IanD]

Let us never forget.................................
To Fathers, Mothers, Sisters and Brothers everywhere, you are not forgotten.

[ssim]

Well said. We have because they gave.

[Tom W]

In Flanders Fields

by Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D. (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.


Let us not forget our Veterans.

[dewmuw]

In Flanders Field still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Always on active service. We thank you all.

[Belmondo]

Amen.

[CyberDyneSystems]

It seems much of the nation of the U.S. has forgotten what Armistice day is about.

It is unlikely that there are many US citizens who will remember to stop in reflection at 11:00 today...

Still Veterans day is a noble replacement, without doubt..

...but even that is being overshadowed in my own homes humble State Capital. It seems that to those on "The Hill" here in Providence,. the Red Sox - World Series Championship Title is a more important celebration.

Today there is a rally on the State House Lawn to celebrate the World Series champs with guests and speakers etc...

Frankly.. this is one of the States most embarrasing moments.. and this in a State that is well known for it's embarassing moments.

Oh well..
With a view of the State House Lawn from where I work (Veterans Memorial Auditorium) I for one will NOT be cheering baseball heros at 11:00am.

Thank you for your sacrifices.

[dewmuw]

I went to the same school that Wilfred Owen had attended. I think this is the best of his poems. For those who are not familiar with Owen, he was a WWI poet and was killed in action in 1918.

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.


Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!-An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.


In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.


If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

[HJMinard]

Thanks for that, dewmuw ... that's a moving piece. It reminds me of my grandfather (paternal) ... who died after the war due to complications from mustard gas exposure. He served in the Canandian Royal Mounted Rifles (I think that's what they were called - sorry if I messed it up). Sadly, I never met him (my father was just a child when he passed).

Some gave all ...

[Moppie]

"Lest we forget"


It happened yesterday here, but it was done with some pomp and ceramony.

We had a Forgotten solider returned to NZ from a grave in Europe.
He was laid to rest in a new tomb added to the War memorial in Wellington.

Per head of population NZ sent more soliders to both WWI and WWII than any other allied nation, and given the reaction to the return of the forgotten solider it will be sometime yet before we as a nation forget that.

[theflyingkiwi]

"lest we forget"

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~markpc/IMG_1925.jpg

Taking last year at the war memorial in Hamilton NZ.

[tommykjensen]

It seems much of the nation of the U.S. has forgotten what Armistice day is about.


Forgive me for asking but what is this about?

[Moppie]

Forgive me for asking but what is this about?


http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=11th+hour+11th+day&meta=

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918AD a cease fire was called to bring an end World War One.

[theflyingkiwi]

the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month.... is the end of the WWI

[CyberDyneSystems]

In times past.. around the world.. including in the US,. at the stroke of 11:00 am the church bells that would have been ringing loud for past 1/2 hour or so would have all stopped...

..for two minutes there was an international moment of silence..


...people in the streets would stop to reflect.. business would cease,.. for two minutes all would stop to consider,. and remeber,. and give thanks before going about there business again.


This is what has been lost.

As US soldiers have returned in the thousands from afar battered and missing limbs from war.. I would have thought we would pay more heed this year than in years past.

Instead we celebrated Baseball Heros?

Odd.

[Belmondo]

Instead we celebrated Baseball Heros?

Odd.

Oh, don't get me started. You've touched on two extreme aberrations of our society---disdain for heroes, and adulation for overpaid, immature, snotty millionaires.

What a world.

[Tiger1]

:x Ditto Belmondo :?

Sore Subject :!: :!: :!:

[BrandonSi]

Wow. Thanks for bringing this up. I'd never even heard of Armistice day. Always nice to get a free history lesson.

[dewmuw]

In the UK we wear poppies to mark the day - all people on TV will be seen with them on. At 11am on the 11th the national radio and tv stations held a minutes silence and lots of people stopped work to mark the moment.

Do they wear poppies elsewhere?

[Moppie]

We wear poppies on ANZAC day, its our primary day of rememberance, named after a very badly planed attack on Turky by the Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) in WWI. The attack was badly planed by the British and lead to massive casualties on all sides.

[drisley]

Yup, we wear poppies on Remembrance Day, Nov 11, in Canada.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=47770