Remembrance Day

Every year, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we pause to remember those men and women who have died or suffered in all wars, conflicts and peace operations since the beginning of the 20th century.
A symbol of remembrance in Canada and in many parts of the world is the red poppy. The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician Colonel John McCrae's poem “In Flanders Fields”.
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 poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. In 1922 Moina Michael (USA) thought the flowers should be used as a symbol in remembrance of the war. She turned to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) who helped make the Memorial Day poppy official. Although poppies are used to honor both Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day, it is traditionally done on the latter. Read more about the history at:
http://www.suite101.com/content/history-of-the-memorial-day-poppy-a114676
Unfortunately, after the 1st world war came the 2nd world war which was to end all wars; well it didn’t; men and women in uniform, as well as innocent civilians are still making the ultimate sacrifice because of wars which may or may not be the only option to resolve conflicts.
At our church on this past Sunday we remembered those parishioners who made the ultimate sacrifice during the 2nd World War. I was deeply touched by the words of one of our members, a retired Lt. Commander, who gave the homily; he said Remembrance Day is not for the glorification of wars but to remember the fallen soldiers. I also feel that we need to remember the innocent civilians who are often casualties of wars. I experienced the horror of living as a civilian in the war zone in Hungary when I was just 7 years old. My parents built a bunker in our back yard just before the German-Russian front reached our village. The entrance was covered with hay so nobody would suspect that it was a bunker. When the fighting reached our village my parents, grandfather and I took food and warm blankets with us to the bunker. At night we heard solders running outside, shouting in German, then in Russian. The fighting lasted for over a week as our village changed hands several times. When the fighting appeared to have stopped, my father took me back to the house to get more supplies. As we were returning from the house, the shooting started again, soldiers were chasing each other, as well as a low flying plane was spraying machine gun bullets to the side of our house. My father picked me up and run with me as bullets were hitting the ground and miraculously we made it back to the bunker. That was over 65 years ago and I still remember how scared we were. But we survived while thousands of civilians didn’t.
So, let us remember all who lost their lives in wars and work towards ending all wars. I want to see a World where my grandchildren and their children can live in peace.