Please Remember
Nov 8th 2007, 8:05 pm
#31
ModerĪ±tor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 30,768
Re: Please Remember
Now two minutes is considered too long for the little dears to stand still. Our bugler is hoping to aim for a whole minute on Sunday....
Nov 8th 2007, 8:07 pm
#32
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Joined: Dec 2006
Location: Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC
Posts: 1,377
Re: Please Remember
I am so impressed with the Canadian attitude to Remembrance Day. Our local paper sums it up as follows:
"Every year on November 11 Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve, our country during times of war, conflict and peace".
My grandfather fought in the Canadian Forces in both WW1 and WW2. My father fought in WW2. They were both volunteers who left their homes to help defend "the mother country" many thousands of miles away.They were both fortunate to return home safely.
I look forward to Remembrance Day as my first opportunity to actually be in Canada to take part in the remembrance of their service.
Canada gives the right emphasis to this occasion - it makes me proud to be a Canadian.
"Every year on November 11 Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve, our country during times of war, conflict and peace".
My grandfather fought in the Canadian Forces in both WW1 and WW2. My father fought in WW2. They were both volunteers who left their homes to help defend "the mother country" many thousands of miles away.They were both fortunate to return home safely.
I look forward to Remembrance Day as my first opportunity to actually be in Canada to take part in the remembrance of their service.
Canada gives the right emphasis to this occasion - it makes me proud to be a Canadian.
Nov 8th 2007, 8:12 pm
#33
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: New Caledonia
Posts: 1,810
Re: Please Remember
Keeping it going. Check out the video.
Sunday, November 11
Lest we forget.
Take the time to remember those that were lost, those that came back and loved ones left behind. In the haste of life it is too easy to forget. Please spare two minutes on Sunday 11/11 at 1100 your local time.
A Pittance in Time
http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/pittance_en.htm#
Click on the 'Video'
In Flanders Field
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.
by Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp officer, Dr. John MacRae [1872-1918]
Sunday, November 11
Lest we forget.
Take the time to remember those that were lost, those that came back and loved ones left behind. In the haste of life it is too easy to forget. Please spare two minutes on Sunday 11/11 at 1100 your local time.
A Pittance in Time
http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/pittance_en.htm#
Click on the 'Video'
In Flanders Field
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.
by Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp officer, Dr. John MacRae [1872-1918]
Nov 8th 2007, 8:19 pm
#34
Magnificently Withering
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Oakville, ON
Posts: 6,891
Re: Please Remember
I am so impressed with the Canadian attitude to Remembrance Day. Our local paper sums it up as follows:
"Every year on November 11 Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve, our country during times of war, conflict and peace".
"Every year on November 11 Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve, our country during times of war, conflict and peace".
I'm also really impressed that the Royal British Legion has had such overwhelming support for its campaign over the last few years to mark the two minutes' silence on 11 November itself in the UK, rather than just on "Remembrance Sunday."
A couple of years ago on 11/11 I was on my way across London to a meeting, just passing the junction of Kingsway and Holborn, when every bus and cab pulled over to the side of the road (or just stopped in the middle in some cases), everyone got out and stood in contemplative silence. The one driver who tooted his horn at the stationary traffic wasn't shouted at, but was simply stared down by everyone until he realised what was going on, looked sheepish, and turned his engine off until the two minutes finished.
(the same thing happened the week after the 7 July bombings, except that on that occasion every single office building seemed to empty out onto the street as well. That was really quite eerie, thousands of office workers standing still on the pavement, hundreds of vehicles stationary and silent on the roads.)
Nov 8th 2007, 8:23 pm
#35
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2007
Location: Antrim, Northen Ireland
Posts: 85
Re: Please Remember
Keeping it going. Check out the video.
Sunday, November 11
Lest we forget.
Take the time to remember those that were lost, those that came back and loved ones left behind. In the haste of life it is too easy to forget. Please spare two minutes on Sunday 11/11 at 1100 your local time.
A Pittance in Time
http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/pittance_en.htm#
Click on the 'Video'
In Flanders Field
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.
by Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp officer, Dr. John MacRae [1872-1918]
Sunday, November 11
Lest we forget.
Take the time to remember those that were lost, those that came back and loved ones left behind. In the haste of life it is too easy to forget. Please spare two minutes on Sunday 11/11 at 1100 your local time.
A Pittance in Time
http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/pittance_en.htm#
Click on the 'Video'
In Flanders Field
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.
by Royal Canadian Army Medical Corp officer, Dr. John MacRae [1872-1918]
Nov 8th 2007, 8:24 pm
#36
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,020
Re: Please Remember
I choose to remember my Granddad who spent most of WW2 hiding in the mountains in Wales, distributing pacifist propaganda. I bet that took real courage.
Nov 8th 2007, 8:28 pm
#37
ModerĪ±tor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 30,768
Re: Please Remember
At the risk of coming across as glib, were there many other (non pacifist) people hanging out in the welsh mountains to distribute it to?
Nov 8th 2007, 8:28 pm
#38
Magnificently Withering
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Oakville, ON
Posts: 6,891
Re: Please Remember
"In Flanders Fields" is a really beautiful poem. The familiar words from British services are from "For The Fallen" by Laurence Binyon. It's a bit "dulce et decorum est" at the beginning (but bear in mind it was written in 1914 when the war was only a couple of months old), but the fourth stanza has become the standard form of words for the act of remembrance:
For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, 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.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, 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.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Nov 8th 2007, 8:39 pm
#39
Joined: Feb 2006
Location: Red Deer, Alberta
Posts: 10,612
Re: Please Remember
I can't remember a time when I didn't know what Remembrance Day was all about. Growing up as an Army brat it was pretty much a given. My grandfathers both fought in WW2, both in the Burma campaign; maternal grandfather was killed outside Rangoon, paternal grandfather was taken prisoner and worked on the Thai-Burma railway.
It all became rather more poignant when the father of one of my schoolfriends, one Col "H" Jones, was killed in the Falklands.
My school's chapel was on the (UK) first floor, reached via a stone staircase on the walls of which were carved the names of the hundreds of old boys who had been killed in both World Wars. As the senior trumpet-player in the school, I was asked to bugle the Last Post and the Reveille either side of the two minutes' silence at the Remembrance Sunday services. Even now, the memory of standing at the bottom of the staircase and calling the Last Post, to hear it reverberate around the memorial stairs, raises goosebumps.
It all became rather more poignant when the father of one of my schoolfriends, one Col "H" Jones, was killed in the Falklands.
My school's chapel was on the (UK) first floor, reached via a stone staircase on the walls of which were carved the names of the hundreds of old boys who had been killed in both World Wars. As the senior trumpet-player in the school, I was asked to bugle the Last Post and the Reveille either side of the two minutes' silence at the Remembrance Sunday services. Even now, the memory of standing at the bottom of the staircase and calling the Last Post, to hear it reverberate around the memorial stairs, raises goosebumps.
Your phrase 'Growing up as an Army Brat' pretty much sums up why you have always known the reasoning for remembrance day.
I like many others were fortunate to have surviving WW veterans. I also had parents that didn't recognize the actual day other than the 2 min silence and wearing of a poppy. I can never remember being taught by either my school or my parents what it was all about.
My Dad was an evacuee as my Mums parents were. None of them EVER spoke about the War, it was pretty much a given that we didn't speak of such things.
My thoughts on Sunday will be for those who have lost their lives to make a better world for us as well as those who are still fighting.
Nov 8th 2007, 8:54 pm
#40
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Joined: Sep 2007
Location: Vancouver since Aug 2008!!!!!
Posts: 904
Re: Please Remember
I will be remembering all those who've died for us - and given us our freedom, both in the past conflicts of the world and those still going on around us.
By that I wish to remember not only those in the milatary, but all those who served in other ways, such as the Land Girls, and all those left behind to look after those not sent to war.
I for one have relations who lost thier lives through the wars, and one cousin who's currently serving in Bagdad, and who recently lost 2 of the men in his command.
2 Minutes is not alot to ask for and I'm pleased that the new memorial in the UK recently opened will provide another focal point behond the Cenotaph in London - sadly it does still have room for more names :-(
B
By that I wish to remember not only those in the milatary, but all those who served in other ways, such as the Land Girls, and all those left behind to look after those not sent to war.
I for one have relations who lost thier lives through the wars, and one cousin who's currently serving in Bagdad, and who recently lost 2 of the men in his command.
2 Minutes is not alot to ask for and I'm pleased that the new memorial in the UK recently opened will provide another focal point behond the Cenotaph in London - sadly it does still have room for more names :-(
B
Nov 8th 2007, 8:59 pm
#41
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,020
Re: Please Remember
What about those who were killed in Iraq fighting for the cause of cheap oil? Are we supposed to be remembering them too? It doesn't feel like a very noble cause.
Nov 8th 2007, 9:03 pm
#42
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2007
Location: Antrim, Northen Ireland
Posts: 85
Re: Please Remember
They didn't choose to fight in Iraq, they were only acting on their governments instructions. You cannot blame the soldier, sailor or airmen for the decisions of politicians!
Nov 8th 2007, 9:03 pm
#43
Magnificently Withering
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Oakville, ON
Posts: 6,891
Re: Please Remember
Your phrase 'Growing up as an Army Brat' pretty much sums up why you have always known the reasoning for remembrance day.
I like many others were fortunate to have surviving WW veterans. I also had parents that didn't recognize the actual day other than the 2 min silence and wearing of a poppy. I can never remember being taught by either my school or my parents what it was all about.
My Dad was an evacuee as my Mums parents were. None of them EVER spoke about the War, it was pretty much a given that we didn't speak of such things.
My thoughts on Sunday will be for those who have lost their lives to make a better world for us as well as those who are still fighting.
I like many others were fortunate to have surviving WW veterans. I also had parents that didn't recognize the actual day other than the 2 min silence and wearing of a poppy. I can never remember being taught by either my school or my parents what it was all about.
My Dad was an evacuee as my Mums parents were. None of them EVER spoke about the War, it was pretty much a given that we didn't speak of such things.
My thoughts on Sunday will be for those who have lost their lives to make a better world for us as well as those who are still fighting.
Most of what I learned of Remembrance Sunday came from school and, I suppose, through a process of osmosis from the sermons preached in military chapels and garrison churches to a congregation of squaddies.
I certainly wasn't trying to belittle anyone else's position... the point I was trying to make in my last couple of posts (sorry if I didn't make it well) is that I'm glad I know what it's all about, and I'm glad that there seems to be a resurgence of interest both here and in the UK in finding out what it's all about - especially as the massive casualties of the two World Wars are increasingly the subjects of history books rather than living memory. All the more so because we should memorialise (if that's a word) those who have died in conflict in any theatre of operations, at home and abroad, since the World Wars - especially since both Britain and Canada have troops on active service, fighting and dying in "some corner of a foreign field" even as we sit here.
Nov 8th 2007, 9:04 pm
#44
Magnificently Withering
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Oakville, ON
Posts: 6,891
Re: Please Remember
Cheap shot, Bazzz, even for you. You don't have to agree with the politics to commemorate the deaths of the participants.
Nov 8th 2007, 9:05 pm
#45
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,020
Re: Please Remember
Why not? I'm not sure if I buy this "just doing my job" argument. Does this mean you'll also be remembering all the German, Japanese and Italian soldiers that died in the wars as they too were only acting on instructions?