Sunday, November 11, 2012

In Remembrance

Today in Canada it is Remembrance Day. We remember and honour the contributions of our military in times of war. As my husband's father and uncles were all in the war, we remember them and their contributions especially at this time of year.

There is an interesting interview with one of our uncles (age 91) regarding his service in Sicily, just posted by CTV Montreal. He is a vibrant and active veteran who is concerned with the preservation of history and the honourable treatment of veterans. He is also featured in a piece about a commemoration of Operation Husky, in Sicily
Veterans remember the invasion of Sicily | CTV Montreal News

And there is also an article about another member of this same family, who contributed to the war effort at home in a very unusual way, before enlisting in the air force. This year we are seeing quite a few mentions of our family in the press, which is quite amazing, and so meaningful.




I'd like to finish by sharing my favourite poem for Remembrance Day, written by a Canadian doctor in WWI and familiar to all Canadian schoolchildren:



By John McCrae



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

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915 

during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium


4 comments:

  1. I just read the article about your uncle Frank, so moving. And watched the video clip of the ceremony today at the War Memorial.
    I never made it out there today, but my own silence this morning was broken only by the two fighter jets that went roaring right past my apartment, pretty much at eye level for me up here. It was very awe-inspiring.
    Lest we forget.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful post today, a lovely tribute to the military, past and present.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kailana & Suko, thanks so much :)

    Cip - how great that you were within eye's reach of those planes! I watched the Ottawa ceremony via livestream and enjoyed it as always. Too many people for me though; I prefer watching from a distance! Thanks for looking at Uncle Frank's interviews -- ctv has a strange setup where videos rotate even under a headline, if you keep scrolling through the videos on the right side of the big one eventually his video comes up again!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by ~ I always enjoy hearing your comments so please feel free to leave some!