Lest We Forget

arielaonthegoOthers

On the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Canadians celebrate Remembrance Day. We wear poppies on our shirts to show that we honor the veterans and the soldiers that fought in World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Afghanistan War, and all the wars that the Canadians participated in.

My grandfather’s brother died in the World War II so my family makes sure to go to the town’s cenotaph. A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument that is erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. My grand uncle’s body is actually buried in France. People gather around the cenotaph sometimes in freezing temperatures. The ceremony starts with the honor guard, and they mention the names of the fallen soldiers one by one. At the end of the ceremony, everyone gets a chance to lay their poppies they wear on the wreath. This year will be different because of COVID-19. So, I’m guessing it will live stream.

Pictures are taken from the internet

My favorite war poem was written by John McRae, a Canadian physician. He wrote this poem during WWI.

In Flanders Fields

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 we 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.

27 thoughts on “Lest We Forget”

  3. I don’t know what’s going on but the app preview for this post is about Birdmas. Clicking “read more” is the post about Remembrance Day (“Veteran’s Day” in the US).

    I love the red poppy tradition.

      1. It kept popping back and forth. I couldn’t find a post to go with the Birdmas preview. And my comments kept disappearing.

        It usually means WP is doing background updates.

    1. It’s okay, this is a good question. Wearing poppies was inspired by the poem. The author wrote the poem after his friend died in the war. He saw poppies growing in the battle field.

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