At the 11th hour- of the 11th day- In the 11th month . Take a minute to honour all those, civilians and military, who died to protect our freedom to choose.

Amen to that Tudy,

My dad is 94 and served in the Second World War and tomorrow at 11am he is going to be presented with a Medal at the Retured Services Assn here in New Zealand I for one will be observing a minutes silence tomorrow.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

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.


The following is a link to a Canadian artist who wrote a song called a "Pittance of Time". This site also has a link to the music video for the song. It is a wonderful song and video that honors the men & women who died to keep us safe and to those who are caught in conflict today.

http://www.army.gc.ca/chief_land_staff/rem...nglish/home.asp

Thanks for sharing, Traveller...
That's just beautiful.

Let's all take a minute to honor our brave men and women who have/are making the sacrifice for their countries.

It takes a special person to do this....SALUTE!

Very nice Traveller thank you for posting ,

To give a minute of our time is nothing compared to the thousands of life times that a lot of brave men and women have given up for us so we may live in peace .

as are the war poets of the first world war, I’m in two minds about the poem “in Flanders Fields” which almost certainly originated the whole poppy motif. I freely acknowledge the heroism of those who fought in wars as my own father like Silverballz, fought in the Second World War and I am certainly steeped in that history.

There were three war poets, Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen who saw their share of battle and I think it was Wilfred Owen who put a different side of the coin in his poem,”The General”

“He’s a cheery old card”
said Harry to Jack
as they slogged up to Arras
with rifle and pack
but he did for them both
with his plan of attack.”

Tragically Wilfred Owen was killed in action a week before the armistice along with, I presume John McCrae in the same year. Regrettably, it has to be said that this year’s Armistice ceremony is taking place against a backdrop of the needless war in Iraq, one that a top general has condemned in pretty scathing terms. Would that other parts of the world be able to live in peace.

Maybe some people here would like to share stories about their grandparents who lived in the war?

It might be a nice way to pay tribute with some stories... :xmas5