In Flanders Fields the Poppies Grow.

History | UNK | Joel McCrea

[Little Bill]

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

Flanders fields.

[Little Bill]

I kind of get all snivvily about this time of year, Veterans Day, thinking of my Grand Fathers and Great Uncles, who fought in "Flanders Fields". The great conversations we had when I became an adult, after returning from Viet Nam.

This does not exclude the ANZAC's, Candians, New Foundlanders, Germans, Turks, French, and others that I run have across on FR.

Bill

[bmwcyle]

I had to memorize this in third grade and can repeat it any time.

[neodad]

Now it will be "In Flanders Fields the Crescents Grow"

[GOP_Party_Animal]

I feel ashamed to ask but what is Flanders?

[rdax]

....stupid Flanders.

Doh!

[tutstar]

bttt

[FormerACLUmember]

An entire generation of males were slaughtered in the great European civil war, AKA WW1:

[tutstar]

ping a ling...

[FormerACLUmember]

Flanders: the flat farmland of Northern France and Belgium that ran red with blood 1914-1918.

[Little Bill]

I forgot the Limies, mental block, with out them and a thousand years I would German, LOL.

[rdax]

[bmwcyle]

Click here

[dinoparty]

Back when Canada was a REAL ally...

[RegulatorCountry]

"Now it will be "In Flanders Fields the Crescents Grow"

Like hell they will.

[bvw]

The killing and burial grounds of WWI -- Belgium and France. The poppies grow like grass, they are stunning red flower, a fragile and very short-lived bloom. The petals of a poppy are lighter than onion-skin paper. So beautiful.

And beneath them, lay the bones of thousands of young men. Most of whom died very ugly deaths.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

I can never hear or read this poem without tearing up a bit. Probably because it was written by a soldier in the midst of battle (who was himself killed shortly afterward).

The last stanza is particularly relevant today -- what with all of the Code Pinkers, Cindys, and others calling for a retreat on the WOT.

[Joe 6-pack]

Although I don't believe in reincarnation, there are a few certain periods of history that maintain an inexplicable allure for me: WWI and the early 20th Century is one of those periods. This poem has always held a special meaning for me, and I remember many years ago, as a young kid, getting a poppy-pin from the VFW and wearing it proudly knowing it was something very special, even if I didn't know quite why.

[thulldud]

We had a near-miss over here with the "Crescent of Embrace".

The dead must wish they could get up and beat some sense into the living, sometimes....

[Little Bill]

These people have no knowledge of history, they would rather be slaves than FRee men. I was on an ANZAC site the other night, the bravery of those people was beyond words.