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| Monocacy battlefield, near Frederick, Maryland, 2012 |
My fellow blogger Roy wrote a fascinating blog post on its personal meaning to him.
And I wrote this post last year.
My father was a World War II veteran. My spouse is a peacetime veteran. I know, unfortunately, mothers of other veterans (Iraq/Afghanistan) whose sons have suffered due to their wartime service. Our country still has a long way to go in helping these men and women.
Years ago, I visited the Peace Tower in Ottawa, Canada. There is inscribed a poem called "In Flanders Fields". I am not much of a poetry lover but this one of several poems that I have loved for years.
Here it is: written in May, 1915 by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, M.D. the day after his friend died in battle. If you've ever wondered what Flanders Fields looked like right after the war, here's a photo.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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| Reenactment of 1862 battle of Antietam, Maryland September 2012 |
I've walked on many battlefields in the United States - a handful of Revolutionary War battlefields (in New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina) and Civil War battlefields (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas). I have never been off the North American continent. One day, I hope to travel abroad and pay my respects to those who died in the War that was supposed to end all wars.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who reached out to me due to my post yesterday. It's my cousin (and his wife) who are truly suffering and, today, I want to reach out and thank my cousin for his service in the United States Navy on a submarine. If any of you have ever been on a submarine, you know that it is a very different type of service, requiring a different kind of bravery.
I thank him, and all others who fought for our freedom.
If only World War I had truly been the war that ended all wars, but it wasn't. There was a young foot soldier who had fought for the Germans. His name was Adolf Hitler.....
I thank him, and all others who fought for our freedom.
If only World War I had truly been the war that ended all wars, but it wasn't. There was a young foot soldier who had fought for the Germans. His name was Adolf Hitler.....
The war to end all wars ... and 100 years later ... the next world war could literally destroy the planet.
ReplyDeleteMay the One who makes peace in the heavens bring peace to us and to all the world.
I find it interesting that so horrible a conflict as World War I produced some outstanding literature, including poetry. What is most surprising is that some of the best poems came from those who were actually serving in those terrible trenches and still found a way to express their experiences through poetry.
ReplyDeleteWar to end all war. It sure haven't happen.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
A very interesting and thoughtful post. I hope your cousin and his family find comfort somehow. That is a bad hand to have to play.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking just today also that my family was much affected by WWI. My grandmother was born and raised in a village just east of Ypres and her family home was occupied by a German platoon; the family was forced to live in the barn for 4 years. On the road outside their home, Granny would see young German troops, singing songs, marching to the trenches. Later in the day horse carts going in the other direction filled with the mud covered bodies of the dead.
Granny left Europe for North America in 1919, alone, at age 19, and never looked back.
When late in 1918 the German platoon high-tailed it out of Granny's village as the Allies finally broke through, the German platoon Lieutenant left behind his sterling silver monogrammed spoon he used to eat with, a spoon I inherited and still have.
What a beautiful poem. It's so vivid, I almost felt like I was there.
ReplyDeleteIt is truly sad that war-mongering Generals and soldiers on both sides continued fighting on November 11 with over 11,000 men killed on both sides.
ReplyDeleteI have an aunt who has saved wonderful historic artifacts throughout her life. She has my grandfather's papers from the World War. It does not have a one in it because it wasn't supposed to continue.
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible war that was! The war to end all wars failed to actually end all wars. I am still hoping that our sad and sorry world can learn that there are better ways than all of that violence to resolve international disputes.
ReplyDeletePlease, please, please let us learn from the past...
ReplyDeleteArmistice Day is felt so strongly abroad. Visiting my niece and her family in England this summer directions are given in every village using "the old boys statues" as a reference point. A generation lost and those that survived lost their sons in the next World War!
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day there will be no more war. It is something to aspire to.
ReplyDelete