Last updated on November 12th, 2016 at 08:19 am
Originally a day to commemorate the end of WWI almost one hundred years ago, November 11th has become a day of remembrance for all of those who gave their lives in conflict. Remember to take a minute’s silence at 11:00 am today, and be sure to wear a poppy to recognize the freedoms we enjoy today.
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, a Canadian from Guelph, Ontario, penned In Flanders Fields while sitting in the back of an ambulance just outside of Ypres, on May 3, 1915.