Today in the US it is Veterans day and in the UK it is Remembrance Day. It seems it has become just another day. Oh well we seem to forget everything except ourselves in our world now. We have become so self-centered that we seem to forget the things that are important. On this day of remembrance of those who fought to keep this country safe let us pause for just a second, in our busy lives and say thank you.
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.
–Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae (1872-1918).
Fr. Peter: My life was full of heros. Mario,my father-in-law. My dad, Wm. guarding the coast and delivering supplies, my first husband, Bob, sleeping in the mud in Viet Nam during monsoons,Larry parachuting into enemy territory, Gerry land warfare, Leo, and Paul on the seas, Albert,(war hero, a small, short man who could go where no one else could fit, Roland, who used to reuse his tea bag, by hanging it to dry. They all came home to their families. All were from Southbridge and in part, Canadian French. It is good to remember them,as they have now gone home.
Still with us are Mike, Jeff, Russell,and Joe, all from the same family.
Our town has a monument dedicating their service.
Incredible poem – still brings a tear to my eye whenever I read it….