As we come upon another Remembrance Day, we are once again greeted with the spectacle of red poppies on lapels and backpacks and hats and things. We wear them as a mark of respect for all those who went to the various wars and either died fighting or came back to tell their tales. A Canadian physician (and solider) Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem, In Flanders Fields after losing his friend at the Battle of Ypres. It goes like this:
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.
Because of this poem, we wear those little red poppies to remember the folks who went to various wars to protect our freedom and as a mark of respect for those who came back. It is but a small gesture. Most of us will never know what war is like, thankfully; and a lot of that can be attributed to the sacrifices of these men and women.
It is amazing that after all the horror stories and sadness that we hear about war that people are still willing to go to one. What is worse is that we as a people can't seem to get past war or conflict as a way to resolve our differences. Whether it is through terrorist acts or large scale militarised battle, we are not free of the clutches of the quarrel that Dr. McCrae wrote about.
A few years back, when I wandered by the war memorial gym at UBC, I recall seeing a plaque stating the facts related to war and why the gym was called that. Apparently, almost 700 students went to war during the first world war, 78 of whom didn't come back. For the second world war, 1680 or so souls went to fight, and 169 didn't come back. It is really sad that young students who had so much going for them decided to trade education to go fight for King and Country. I don't know if anyone today would do that; generally, university campuses are quite anti-war these days.
Anyway, I don't quite know where I am going with this post. Let me say this much: on this Remembrance Day, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, take a minute to remember those who you likely don't know who went to fight a war for their country. And if you have a poppy, wear it. And hope/pray/wish that we don't have any more wars and nonsense to lose more people in.
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