11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

[AussieMan]

They shall not grow old, as we are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
From the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them

LEST WE FORGET

[fxsttcb]

Amen

[AussieMan]

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 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.

[CP1207]

Ah yes.
One reason my family is as small as it is.
Quick to enlist, slow to duck.

God Bless Them All.

[brad kaste]

They shall not grow old, as we are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
From the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them

LEST WE FORGET

So well stated AussieMan. Unfortunately,...for so many today it's just another day off from work. Or no mail delivery. I remember my mother telling me when she was a child how everything stopped,...and persons bowed their heads on the 11th hour,...on the 11th day,...on the 11th month of the year. And the poppies still blow over Flanders fields...

[Tako_Kichi]

So well stated AussieMan. Unfortunately,...for so many today it's just another day off from work. Or no mail delivery. I remember my mother telling me when she was a child how everything stopped,...and persons bowed their heads on the 11th hour,...on the 11th day,...on the 11th month of the year. And the poppies still blow over Flanders fields...
In the UK the event is commemorated on the 11th hour of the Sunday nearest to the 11th day hence 'Remembrance Sunday'. However I do remember teachers calling for a minute's silence during class if the 11th day fell on a school day.

Here in Canada both my daughters were in the grade school and high school bands (non-marching type) and they performed annually at the town's remembrance service at the cenotaph outside the local Legion branch.

[olaf1924]

Veterans day always meant alot to me as my dad's dad was on the american side and my mom's dad was in the austrain navy serving in the adriatic aboard a cruiser. :salute:

[HouseHobbit]

Thank God for our Vets..
To all who have suffered and served..
:ernae:
:salute: :salute: :salute:

[SgtT]

Here, here, our vets understand that freedom is not free. Some have paid the ultimate price, we shouldn't just remember them on a particular holiday but everyday. Thanks to all of you that have served.

T.

[Daveroo]

thanks to all who have sacraficed

[middle]

I was just telling one of my grandsons that a lot of good folks died just so we could eat our breakfast and live our lives freely. God bless 'em all....

[srgalahad]

My dad served in the Canadian Army during WWII. He never went overseas but he was also rarely 'home'. It was only after the war was over that he could tell my mother he'd been working on something called "RADAR" and had spent most of his time installing, testing and training others on coastal defence systems on the west coast.

Years later he took ill and I went to look after him in his final days. He'd retired not far from the place he couldn't talk about for all those years and we sat and talked one last time about what he'd done 'back then'. His illness got worse and he was confined to bed but he insisted that I get out and have a break every day so we got a nurse to come in for a couple of hours. One of those days was Nov. 11 and it only seemed natural that I go to the Remembrance Day ceremony since he couldn't. Amazingly warm for a west coast fall day, the sun shone, the band played, a formation of Harvards flew past and then it was time to go home.

I sat beside him and told him all about it, and I think he heard. He quietly slipped away a couple of hours later.

Je me souviens.
(I remember)

"Yes, we remember. We remember the past and its lessons, the past and its misfortunes, the past and its glories."
Thomas Chapais