Lest We Forget

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.

Why Canada Remembers World War One more than any other:

It was our first BIG war like the American Civil War where many of our male citizens served.

We went in as a colony and came out as a nation with a seat at the table at Versailles and a reputation for getting the job done.

Proportionally more Canadian men died in the First World than the Second and in the first our Army "The Canadian Corp." was in action from 1915 to 1918 four years in all almost always as one unit.

In the Second World War the Army was in action from 1943 to 1945 about two and a half years and other efforts were more diverse. We did not have the same sense of national identity as our troops did not serve as long in one large unit. This time we had a navy that served quietly in the North Atlantic fighting no major fleet actions and an air force that served all over from Burma to Alaska not just in one place.

Finally we have "In Flanders Fields" and the Poppy to help us remember it. Other wars do not have the same symbols.