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Lest We Forget...

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Started 8 months ago by PeterH
Latest reply from Stormy1

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PeterH

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```
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.

- John McCrae
```
The 11th of November falls on next Tuesday. Whether we call is Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, Armistice Day or Poppy Day, we, as citizen of a free world, have a duty to remember those who fought for us, fell for us, and those who continue to fight in our name. I was going to put up a $0 wish, for the sole purpose of raising awareness, but decided differently. My wish centers around a Canadian musical artist, and his experience in a store in 1999, during the moment of silence. It must be one of the most touching videos I have ever seen. I am asking that this wish be granted, so that the money can be donated to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23, here in town.
I will not be here on Tuesday, as I will be standing at the local ceremony, along with the thousands of people who come each year to pay their respects. I ask that for your own time zone, you observe 2 minutes of silence, and that you ask it to be observed by the forum when it comes.
http://www.greedyorneedy.com/cast-your-votes/wish/id/26122
# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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Lieutenant Colonel McCrae's voice was heard not just by his countrymen, but across the globe. Here is the response of a YMCA worker in New York, Miss Moina Michael, in 1918:

"We Shall Keep the Faith"

Oh! You who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet-to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With all who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valour led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy red
We wear in honour of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

Please carry on this torch. Rate this thread, favourite the wish, talk to everyone you know, not to grant this wish, but to keep the memory alive. In 2003, Canada lost the last infantry veteran of the Battle of Vimy Ridge at the age of 103, one of the most decisive battles of the war, and the first time in our history that our soldiers stood together not as soldiers of the Empire, but as Canadians. Soon, very soon, we will only have their stories. Let's see to it that those stories are remembered.

# Posted 8 months ago
Stormy1

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I'll try to remember to post a reminder but, I'm planning on taking my daughter and granddaughter to our local Veteran's Park for the ceremony there.
We bought a 'brick' for my husband in the park and since he was cremated, that's kind of where we go for our 'remembrance' time.

Speaking of veteran's...Minnesota is doing a cool thing this year. They are having a 'vote in honor of a veteran' promotion.
They are sending out buttons to anyone that requests them and you fill in the name of the veteran you are voting in honor of.

http://www.sos.state.mn.us/home/index.asp?page=874

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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Thank you, Stormy. What is most important is that we keep the memory alive. The best way to do that is to get our young people involved. They will carry the torch of legacy soon enough.

# Posted 8 months ago
Ambrotos

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Edward will be participating in three ceremonies this year as a cadet for the first time.

One at the armories on Sunday and then on tuesday the march to the cenotaph and one at a school.

# Posted 8 months ago
KenH

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A tribute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdA4NlJiikM&feature=related

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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I am most pleased that Edward will be donning the uniform. You should should up a little early for the Sunday service at the church, if you can make it. Captain Drouin will most likely want him to take part there as well.

# Posted 8 months ago
sweetblonde65

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Quote:
Stormy1 said:I'll try to remember to post a reminder but, I'm planning on taking my daughter and granddaughter to our local Veteran's Park for the ceremony there.
We bought a 'brick' for my husband in the park and since he was cremated, that's kind of where we go for our 'remembrance' time.
Speaking of veteran's...Minnesota is doing a cool thing this year. They are having a 'vote in honor of a veteran' promotion.
They are sending out buttons to anyone that requests them and you fill in the name of the veteran you are voting in honor of.

http://www.sos.state.mn.us/home/index.asp?page=874

I will have to ask my dad about these Stormy...
I would love for him to send me his.....id wear it proudly.
I call him on this day always, while he doesn't share much....he always asks if that is the reason I have called him..lol I just always say Thanks dad.....and that I love him.
WW2 vets are getting more scarce.

# Posted 8 months ago
Stormy1

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Quote:
sweetblonde65 said: I will have to ask my dad about these Stormy...
I would love for him to send me his.....id wear it proudly.
I call him on this day always, while he doesn't share much....he always asks if that is the reason I have called him..lol I just always say Thanks dad.....and that I love him.
WW2 vets are getting more scarce.

I don't know how well publicized the project was. I just stumbled on it, I think. Prolly isn't enough time for him to get them by election day now but, I think they are still taking orders on the site.

# Posted 8 months ago
luvmydoxi

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Peter, this is a wonderful thread, and I thank you for bring awareness to a day that some do not understand the importance of honoring. Thank you.

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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It's the least I can do.

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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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.
-- Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

# Posted 8 months ago
THE HUG MONSTER

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my dad is a deceased veteran of wwII. n I will have to celebrate it here at home......he is cremated and his ashes were thrown in the ocean that it was faught in.

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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Which front did he fight on?

# Posted 8 months ago
THE HUG MONSTER

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all I know right now he was a merchant marine on one of the main battle ships.....my mom won't even let me see his papers ......she said not until she passes i dunno why. I will have to see if i can get the info from her again i realy want to know what his rank was

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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If he was merchant marine, there's a good chance he ran convoys in the North Atlantic. It was the life line to Europe, and one of the most critical factors to winning the war on the Western Front. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the war, spanning 1939-1944.

Thanks to Doug for making this thread into a Sticky. It's important that the word be spread.

# Posted 8 months ago
THE HUG MONSTER

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once I find more info out I will let ya know :)

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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Thank you. I always enjoy hearing about the stories of those who fought. We used to have a local veteran, LCdr (RCN Ret.) Lionel Gauthier come in. He would tell us of when he was serving aboard the corvettes, escorting ships in the North Atlantic.
One particular story, which he enjoyed telling was of a submarine which had been harassing ships outside the harbour. So they went out, and searched for it using the ASDIC (early version of SONAR), and couldn't see it. Realizing that they'd gone below the thermal layer, he ordered that depth charges be dropped. They forced the sub to surface, and as it did, it began to turn its guns on their ship. LCdr Gauthier gave the order, engines full ahead. Ram them. It was one of only a few (3 I think) U-Boats to be sunk by ramming during the course of the war.

# Posted 8 months ago
THE HUG MONSTER

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my dad told me a storey bout how when they washed the deck of his ship that when they threw the water out of the buckets to empty them the water came back and splashed them in the faces ..i couldnt help but laugh at it ,,,i was 8 when he told me

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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Apparently this was the condition many had to endure while on the convoy routes, during the winter months. I've deal with snow and ice, and I've sailed oceans. But I can't begin to imagine combining the 2, while protecting a fleet of civilian ships.

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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I finally found a place with a box of poppies today! So I stuck a few dollars in, and pinned it to my jacket. I was beginning to get worried, as they are generally common place by now.

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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# Posted 8 months ago
HeavenLeigh123

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Nice wish :)

I never forget. November 11th was my father's (also a veteran) birthday.

# Posted 8 months ago
KenH

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Canadian War Memorial Vimy Ridge, France

# Posted 8 months ago
KenH

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WW2
my father and uncle in the RCAF, Another uncle in the medical core.
My mom was at home working in a factory building aircraft instrunts.

# Posted 8 months ago
Mightymom239

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The Legion puts a box of poppies on the counter by the cash at the Timmies where I work (Tim Hortons Coffee Shop) and I am very happy when I see how many people, even some who are already wearing a poppy on their lapel, put their change into the box when they get a coffee for themselves.

# Posted 8 months ago
4leafcloverwishes

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I have the utmost respect for all our Vets! You know what, I have never seen those poppies down here. They're very popular back home, we always bought and wore them.

# Posted 8 months ago
gerrissister

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This thread is wonderful.I first heard the Flanders Field poem in the movie,"Mr. Holland's Opus,"and It touched my heart.I am glad that the Veteran's Day holiday hasn't disappeared like so many of our old holidays.I will be flying my flag on November 11th.

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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Quote:
gerrissister said:This thread is wonderful.I first heard the Flanders Field poem in the movie,"Mr. Holland's Opus,"and It touched my heart.I am glad that the Veteran's Day holiday hasn't disappeared like so many of our old holidays.I will be flying my flag on November 11th.

The Flanders Fields poem was written by a Canadian soldier during battle. If memory serves, he was actually a medic. It is one of the most noted poems in Canadian culture, and is recited at every Remembrance Day service across the country.
I worry for the future of this event. Right now, it is the Legion in Canada that runs it, but how long will that last? Many Legions cannot afford to stay open anymore. They are not getting new members, and the old ones are quickly passing. Each of us must do our part to keep their story alive, even after they are gone. We must never forget.

# Posted 8 months ago
PeterH

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Quote:
KenH said:
Canadian War Memorial Vimy Ridge, France

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was but one effort, in a massive campaign across the Allied Front, attempting to breach the Hindenburg Line. Vimy Ridge was the single most fortified point on the defences. It was assigned to the Canadian corps after they had earned their reputations in earlier battles as fierce warriors (or as the Germans coined, "Storm Troopers"). Vimy was the first mission assigned to the entire Canadian Corps, under Canadian leadership. For months, they prepared for this attack. They built a replica of the battle field to the last detail, and choreographed the advance to the last step. They had to, because right in front of the advancing infantry, would be a constant barrage of artillery shells, fired by over 1,000 guns, decimating everything in their path. At the same time, tunnels were being dug beneath the battle field, in order to breath the catacombs that the Germans were entrenched in on the Ridge.
Prior to this Battle, over 200,000 had died on the Ridge, attempting to take it. The Canadian offensive alone would involve over 100,000 troops. Canadians took over 10,000 casualties in the Battle, nearly 4,000 of which were killed. Despite being the most entrenched of all German positions, Vimy was the only battle of the offensive that was successful.
Something few people know: this memorial is actually designed to mimic the sights on the Lee-Enfield Mk1 rifle, used by the British, Canadians, and Australians during the Great War. The sights point from the highest point in the area, into the German industrial heartland, and victory.

# Posted 8 months ago