Go-Fly
Where Are My Shoes?
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- Mar 2, 2010
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Tell a vet thank you today. Thank you.
Yes.
Are your kids off school today?
Kids here no longer get today off.
What a disgrace.
In Flanders Fields
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.
In Canada its a similar day here, except our main focus is more like Memorial Day in the states. When I was in school, it wasn't a day off, unless you had a parent in the police or military. We had the entire school assemble in the gym. We watched documentaries on WWI and II. We even had veterans speak after the documentaries. When I started school, some of vets of WWI spoke. It was 1977. Now they are all gone. It won't be long before all the WWII vets are gone. I wish our schools still did this!!!!!
My Canadian ski friends brought this to my attention.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/s...-cherry-fired-comments-immigrants/2567386001/
Yes.
Are your kids off school today?
Kids here no longer get today off.
What a disgrace.
Where is this ?i took this pic last year at my grandfathers grave. in 2015 he was one of the few out there. in 2018 his section was full.
Sacramento valley national cematery. ( dixon ca)Where is this ?
BeautifulSacramento valley national cematery. ( dixon ca)
"In Flanders Fields" is a WWI poem, written in 1915 by Major John McCrae, an artillery officer in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
He is said to have written it after the death in battle of a close friend, which occurred during the Second Battle of Ypres. The destroyed village would be the site of four intense battles over the course of the war, including the bloody Battle of Passchendaele, which began on July 31, 1917.
Those four battles produced almost a million casualties, including about 300,000 deaths. The artillery shelling was so intense it destroyed every structure and tree for miles around, and when the Battle of Passchendaele was at its peak, it rained heavily for several days. The tens of thousands of shell holes filled with water, which caused the drowning deaths of an estimated 20,000 personnel.
This is a photo taken near Ypres during the 1917 battle. Entire forests were blasted into kindling wood.
Some of the trenches and shell craters still exist to this day, 102 years later. This photo was taken in 2016.
More photos taken in the last few years are here:
https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/photo/561353/
WWI was brutal beyond compare. Eleven million soldiers were killed during the conflict, about 6,700 every day for 4½ years.
I posted this to raise awareness of WWI and to provide an indication of how horrible it was. While the number of battle deaths in WWII exceeded those of WWI, the battle area of the second war was much larger, making a direct comparison difficult.
Today is the day we remember all of those who have fought in our Armed Forces. Since July 19, 1776, the date a Colonial militia fought with British soldiers at the North Bridge in Concord, MA, the men and women in uniform have defended our country and kept the light of freedom burning brightly.
Let them know you appreciate their service.
Whenever in Kanas City be sure to see the WWI Museum. Awesome and humbling.