At a time when our young people are still bravely holding the line against the forces of evil, let us not forget those who made the ‘supreme sacrifice’ and laid down their lives to keep us free.
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.
(Written by Lt.-Col. John McCrae on 3rd May, 1915, in memory of his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer who he’d seen killed the previous day.)
Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen”,
They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Note: At 11 o”clock on the 11th day of the 11th Month… we observe a minute’s silence as a mark of respect.
The Eclectic Interweb 
How strange that you should have posted that – on Saturday night at the Albert Hall Remebrance Service, Katherine Jenkins sang the words of Flanders Fields which has been set to music and I am not ashamed to say her voice the melody and words brought tears to my eyes. The words stuck in my mind and to make sure I didnt forget them I wrote them down on the wall diary i have by the kitchen door-
How strange that you have printed them – I thought of all my old crew, as I do very often = and that I am now the only survivor. (for many years to come I hope)
Just never forget how proud we are of you. You and the people who flew and fought with you did what needed to be done.
As bad as the world sometimes seems, if you and they *hadn’t* been there the world would be a much sadder place today.
Thanks Dad.
It brings tears to my eyes just reading them
From ninety years on it still seems such a waste.
Those two massive wars killing and maiming untold millions and ruining the lives of millions more.
What was so sad wasn’t ‘just’ the loss of those individuals, but the loss of entire cultures wiped out as if they’d never been.
During those thirty years the world lost so much that was irreplaceable and was changed forever.
It was and is a blight on the face of history.