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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.

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, became the focal point of reverence for America's veterans. Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation's highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour...

Fighting is for men Barbara Kay National Post Wednesday, November 09, 2005 As soon as Remembrance Day lapel poppies make their annual appearance, wars, old and new, occupy my thoughts. I am especially keen to see the film Jarhead, which tells the story of a U.S. Marine who fought in the first Gulf War. By all accounts, Jarhead follows on other classics of the war-movie genre by answering the timeless question of why young males are willing to face torturous training, brutal hazing, long-term celibacy, excruciating tedium, dust, mud and the risk of death (or worse) in war. Jarhead...

Vets win right to sell poppies in post officesSteve Lambert Canadian Press November 03, 2005 CREDIT: Ottawa Citizen - Pam Champagne (right) is shown adjusting a poppy on Ernie Pelletier's blazer as the Bells Corners Legion poppy campaign was kicked off. WINNIPEG -- Veterans have won a battle far removed from the front lines of Europe, Asia and Africa. They've gained the right to sell poppies inside Canada Post offices across the country. The Royal Canadian Legion's annual poppy campaign got off to a rocky start in the northern Manitoba town of The Pas last week when veterans were told...

Queen honours nation's war dead The Queen led the tributes to Britain's war dead at the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday. Following a two-minute silence, the Queen laid a poppy wreath in memory of the dead, including 21 troops killed in Iraq this year. Her grandson Prince William took part in the National Service of Remembrance for the first time. Political leaders, including Tony Blair, joined some 9,000 veterans from 20th century conflicts at the event. Two-minute silence The Queen, dressed in black, emerged from the old Home Office building in Whitehall just before 11am and took up her...

Something's rotten in the land of Anne Frank In Holland, this week marks Remembrance Day. This year's proceedings take place against the disturbing backdrop of a new wave of anti-Semitic violence that is sweeping not just The Netherlands but the whole of Western Europe. In France and Germany, this new violent anti-Semitism has been around for almost a decade now. In Holland, however, violent incidents used to be just that: incidents, rare disturbances in an otherwise tranquil society. But lately, something is rotten in the land of Anne Frank. In Amsterdam, a Turkish man, apparently mistaken for a Jew, was...

When the nation bows its head Sunday evening for Remembrance Day it will be marking the 20,196 servicemen and women who have fallen in defense of the state since November 1947. In the past year 184 members of the Israel Police, IDF, Border Police, Prisons Service, General Security Service, and other organizations were killed in the service of the state. Including all those who fell defending the Land of Israel since 1860, the number reaches 21,781. Remembrance Day officially begins at 7:30 Sunday evening when President Moshe Katsav open the memorial day at the Western Wall. Representatives of bereaved parents...

Holocaust Remembrance Day will begin with an official state ceremony at 8 PM this evening in Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Six Holocaust survivors will light torches, in memory of the more than six million Jews who were massacred in the Nazi Holocaust of 1939-1945. Commemorations will continue tomorrow with a two-minute siren in which almost the entire country will stand in silence or recite a prayer. Yad Vashem is continuing its quest to increase the names of known Holocaust victims. At present, the names of only some three million victims are known. The stories of individual survivors whose families were...

The nation will pause to mark the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day Sunday night, to commemorate the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The official state ceremony will take place Sunday night at 8 p.m. at Yad Vashem will be broadcast live on channels 1, 2 and 10 as well as on Israel Radio and Army Radio. Both Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Moshe Katsav will make formal addresses at the ceremony, which will culminate with the lighting of six torches, in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. All places of entertainment will be closed Sunday...

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have unveiled a new war memorial in London's Hyde Park to pay tribute to Australian servicemen. The unveiling of the Australian War Memorial coincided with national Remembrance Day ceremonies at 11am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the moment when the guns fell silent at the end of the First World War in 1918. The dedication was attended by The Duke of Kent, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard. A group of 28 Australian veterans and war widows, members of the British Legion, a British veteran contingent...

Yesterday morning I went to church as normal. I live in an English village, and the village church still has a place at the heart of the community. Yesterday was Remembrance Day, and so we had an act of remembrance. We were given a list of those on the village war memorial, detailing those from our community who died in the first and second world wars. Among them was a soldier who died in the battle for Basra 1916. Today British soldiers are back in Basra, and many have fought and died. Spare a thought, and prayer for our brave...

Harold Radford in 1999 HALIFAX - The last known Nova Scotia-born man to serve during the First World War died Friday, leaving fewer than a dozen veterans from that conflict alive in Canada. Harold Radford was 106. He had been in good health until days before his death. Radford died at the Camp Hill Veterans' Memorial Building, where he lived for the last six years. He developed pneumonia last month after falling down. He served with the Nova Scotia Regiment in Vladivostok, Russia from 1918-19. Radford, a star baseball player in Halifax, was to be shipped off to the...

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.

The Royal British Legion has stopped supplying pins with its poppies because it fears compensation claims from "injured" members of the public. A number of legion branches across the country have instructed members not to use pins to attach the paper poppies for health and safety reasons, claiming that they could cause pain if people accidentally stab themselves with them or damage workplace machinery if they fall off. The legion, the largest charity for ex-servicemen, sells about 30 million poppies each year to mark Remembrance Day. Traditionally, buyers get a steel pin to attach the poppy to their lapel. Branches...

Dear Families, Night is falling on the eve of Remembrance Day for the Fallen Soldiers. The State flag has been lowered, and soon a siren will sound. From thousands of pasts, from all battlefields, it is as though a convoy of shadows is winding its way to Jerusalem. It is a convoy which is over one hundred years old, comprising the protectors of the people who marked the path of revival and victory with blood and glory the convoy of Israels freedom. On Remembrance Day, as is customary in Israel, memorial candles will be lit in every home, and in...

A siren's wail ushered in Remembrance Day Monday and the nation paused to observe two minutes of silent respect for more than 20,000 men and women who gave their lives in the defense of the State of Israel. President Moshe Katsav and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon will attend the central ceremony at the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem. The ceremony, which is open to the public, will be broadcast live on radio and television. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will attend a smaller, more intimate ceremony at the Jerusalem center of Yad Labanim Bereaved Families Organization. Other...

A siren's wail at 8 p.m. tonight will usher in Remembrance Day and cause the nation to pause and observe two minutes of silent respect for more than 20,000 men and women who gave their lives in the defense of the State of Israel. President Moshe Katsav and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon will attend the central ceremony at the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem. The ceremony, which is open to the public, will be broadcast live on radio and television. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will attend a smaller, more intimate ceremony at the Jerusalem center of...

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. I have linked to the US Holocaust Museum for more information. I have decided to start a thread of silent posts though I certainly know many Freepers are emotionally connected to the issue. Please feel free to add whatever you wish.

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.

Britain fell silent for a solemn two minutes in Remembrance Day services across the country to honour those killed in conflict. The Queen led the largest Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in central London, joined by thousands of war veterans and military personnel joining to remember those who died serving their country. Crowds of onlookers, many of them elderly, braved driving rain to pay their respects to the fallen in conflicts across the world. The strike of Big Ben and a gunshot rang out to mark the start of the two minutes silence at 1100GMT. It ended with another...