Posts Tagged ‘Remembrance Day’

On November 11th Canadians all across the country will stop and pay tribute to the men and women killed in Canada’s wars and military operations. Some will remember friends and relatives long dead. Others – like yourselves perhaps – will pause in tribute to those in harm’s way even today.

For millions of Canadians the poppy has long been the flower of Remembrance. It is a reminder of the blood-red flower which grew in the fields where many Canadians died in a place called Flanders. It remains the flower of Remembrance today.

We must remember. If we do not, the sacrifice of those Canadian lives will be meaningless. They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for Canada. The meaning of their sacrifice rests with our collective national consciousness; our future is their monument.

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.

Last Post (listen to the Last Post)

The Last Post is sounded at military funerals and commemorative services… to indicate that the soldier has completed his life’s work and has entered into his rest.