In school, I never truly appreciated Remembrance Day when it came around. I was more thankful for the day off than I was for the ceremonies that took place and the veterans standing wearing their uniforms. But now, as an adult, and after watching our country and our neighbors go to war on several occasions, as well as having met several friends in the military, I see Remembrance Day in a different light. I think on the soldiers who lost their lives so many years ago, and on the current members of our armed forces who work so hard to keep our country safe. I do not agree with our troops being sent to fight a battle over the many petty and selfish causes that concern us today (oil, pride, monetary gain, etc.) but I do feel proud to know men and women who patrol our waters keeping our seas safe from pirates and smugglers, or who dropped everything and hopped onto the first ship taking volunteers to
Haiti after the earthquake.
I am thankful for their sacrifice, for the labors of their family. I pray for their safety and remember them 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.
- John McCrae
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