Lest We Forget

[Wayne Lomman]

98 years since the Armistice of WW1. Just observed 1 minute silence at 11am following 'The Last Post' broadcast over the radio.

"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."

My maternal grandfather was a veteran of this conflict.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

....and I think of the folk song "And the band played Waltzing Matilda".......

[Malcolm McLeod]

My maternal grandfather was a veteran of this conflict.

My paternal grandfather spent his formative years at Vimy Ridge with the Canadian forces. In his honor...

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 Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

[Frederick Skelly]

The Christmas Truce, the first year.
Gallipoli, with its brave Aussies. (Ken's oh so haunting folk song).
The foolish officers who wanted that one last assault before the end.
Flanders Fields.
France lost an entire generation. Brittain too.
There are still unexploded munitions from both wars on the ground in France.

WW-I was one of the greatest mistakes in western history.

God rest their souls.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The Christmas Truce, the first year.
Gallipoli, with its brave Aussies. (Ken's oh so haunting folk song).
The foolish officers who wanted that one last assault before the end.
Flanders Fields.
France lost an entire generation. Brittain too.
There are still unexploded munitions from both wars on the ground in France.

WW-I was one of the greatest mistakes in western history.

God rest their souls.

When the verse "Never knew there were worse things than dying" appears.....it's a very haunting song that provides the less glorified side of war.

My wife has a great uncle buried in France. Her great-grandmother was one of the war mothers for whom the US government provided a trip to France to visit the mass grave her son was buried in. Just this past summer, her journal of her trip to France and photographs were found, copies of which were given to all the family members.

[Stewie Simpson]

And to think that same mistake was repeated again just 21 years later with WW2. The travesty of another wasted generation. RIP.

REMEMBRANCE DAY

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Lest we forget

[Keith Westfall]

I have said before, but will again.

My dad fought so I wouldn't have to, so my kids wouldn't have to, and so my grandchildren don't have to.

Yes, Lest we Forget, a terrible price was paid for by many for the freedoms we have today.

Thank you to all of you, past, present, and future that have given this to my family.

Thank you. I will not forget...

[David Helm]

Thank you for this post. One of the things about Armistice Day (only changed to Veteran's Day in the 1950s) is that it honored all people killed or wounded in WWI, including civilians, from all the countries who participated. This is what this 73 year old veteran celebrates today. My Veterans for Peace friends have expanded this to include non-human casualties of wars. I honor this along with the entire environment of this beautiful planet we live on.

Oh Yes, USN ATW-2, 1961 to 1966

[paul cottingham]

My maternal grandfather was a sniper in the First World War. I think he was 16. He was a major in WWII. My dad was an artilleryman, and my uncle was merchant marine. This Remembrance Day was particularly poignant for us, as my great aunt who was 102, and a battlefield nurse in WWII, (and among the first troops into Auswitz) passed away a month ago. The experience damaged her so badly, she broke off an engagement, and never married.

A sobering day.

[Dok Yager]

Paternal Grandfather served in WW1 on a Battleship. Dad served in WWII in the Solomons, the Philippines and eventually was a member of the First troop ship in the harbor and then on the ground in Nagasaki after the bomb was dropped. I have multiple pictures he took. Many friends that served in Vietnam. I will Never forget all those who gave all so that we may live the lives we enjoy!!