In years past, I had a tradition of linking to MacMinute on Veterans Day. The late Stan Flack would post “In Flanders Field,” a poem by Canadian Soldier Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD, dedicated to the fallen soldiers of World War I.
Since Stan passed away, MacMinute has ceased publication. So I’ll carry on his tradition here, with the wish that we all take a moment to honor all those who sacrificed their safety or their lives on our behalf. The politics of any war aside, it is they who pay the price; they who selflessly put themselves in harm’s way in order to secure and defend the blessings of liberty for the rest of us.
They deserve our respect and our solemn promise to do our best to ensure that did not die in vain and to work towards a time where none need pay the price they did.
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.