First of all, WE ARE OPEN!!
And, remember to come to James Weigand’s author talk this evening at 6:00 pm!
Now that I have that out of my system, Veterans’ Day is a time that we remember our military, especially the service men and women who fought for us and given their lives. It originated in 1919 with the signing of the peace treaty that ended World War I. While only a very few of the soldiers who fought then are still alive, still we remember and honor all those who fight so that we may have the little luxuries that we seem to require for happiness. Almost my entire family has served in the military, and so this holiday is actually very important to me. However, a poet named John McCrae wrote far more eloquently than I ever will, and his poem is the more poignant for the fact that he died three years later. He never saw the end of the war that claimed so many of his friends, and finally himself.
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.
