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I WILL NOT FORGET NOVEMBER 11

REMEMBERANCE

POPPY SYBMBOL

IN FLAANERS FIELD

A CONDENSED REVIEW OF THE POPPY

GIFTS

Remember November 11th.and take a few moments at 11 AM to honour all the men and women who gave their lives so we can enjoy freedom in this great country.

I Will Not Forget

I know I will never forget, nor will my children and grandchildren. Not only the ones who gave their lives, but all those who lost parts of their bodies, and if they were lucky to come back in one piece, seeing their buddies blown to bits next to them. Sometime they wished they had bought it too, having to live with the nightmares of war.

Many got over the nightmares in the first couple of years, only to start getting flashbacks' when they reached their late 70's, and later. It affected them more when they got older then when they first came back.

I had 5 brothers, 2 sisters in world war two. One brother lived through the Dieppe and Normandy invasion, was wounded twice. Another spend his 16th birthday in a POW camp, was in on the death march, spend over 6 months in hospital after he was freed.

Another brother was in the Merchant Marines, (he was only 15). When war broke out the CPR ship he was on had just left England, was the first ship lost when it was sank by a German u-boat. They were picked up by another ship the next day and returned to England. He joined the RCNVR, had 4 different ships he served on all torptoed by U-Boats. (Remember 1939-43 was happy hunting for German U-Boats in the Atlanta Ocean).

Just a strange footnote: The brother that spend his 16th birthday in a German prison camp, when he came home applied for a policeman position. Passed all the tests, but had to produce a birth certificate. He didn't get the job because he had to be 21 years of age to carry a gun. Welcome home.

During the war in Canada you had to register on your 16th. Birthday. You didn't have to produce a birth certificate to register. A lot registered when they were only 14. Registration, not birth certificate was used during the war. Now I can remember being refused service in a beer after the war when all I had to prove my age was my discharge papers.

No I will not forget.

Remembrance Day November11, Poppy Symbol

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. - John McCrae

Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote it on May 3, 1915, after he witnessed the death of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, the day before.

An official adaptation into French, used by the Canadian government in Remembrance Day ceremonies, was written by Jean Pariseau and is entitled Au champ d'honneur. To see it run your cursor over d'honneur above.

We Shall Keep the Faith by Moina Michael, November 1918

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 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.

A CONDENSED REVIEW OF THE POPPY

On 29 September 1920, the National American Legion convened in Cleveland and agreed to make the Flanders Fields Memorial Poppy its national emblem of remembrance.

In September 1921, delegates at the Auxiliary to the American Legion Convention agreed that disabled American war veterans could make the poppies sold in the United States, thus generating much needed income for veterans who had no other income. The Auxiliary provided all the material and had it pre-cut for forming into flowers.

Madame Guérin visited Earl Haig and persuaded him to adopt the Flanders Poppy for the British Legion, which was done in the autumn of 1921.

In 1921, Field-Marshall Earl Haig, the former Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies in France and Belgium and the principal founder of the British Legion, was sold on Madame Guérin's fundraising idea and approved organization of the British Poppy Day Appeal by the Legion to raise money for poor and disabled veterans.

The same year, Madame Guérin visited Canada, and convinced the Great War Veterans Association (predecessor to the Royal Canadian Legion) to similarly adopt the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in aid of fundraising.

Today, the Poppy Campaign is one of the Royal Canadian Legion's most important programs. The money raised from poppy sales provides direct assistance for ex-service people in financial distress, as well as funding for medical appliances and research, home services, care facilities, and numerous other purposes.

In Canada, from 1920 to 1980 the Royal Canadian Legion used black for the centre of the poppy. In 1980, the legion formed a committee, which decided that the centre should be green to represent the fields of France. This proved to be an unpopular decision and in 1986 they decided to return back to the traditional black centre.

However, a large quantity of green felt had already been purchased, so it was decided to keep the green centre until all of the green was used up. It took until 2002 for the green felt to run out and then the black centre reappeared.

Since the poppy symbol is largely associated with Remembrance Day in Canada, the Canadian Mint has released a series of quarters into circulation that have the poppy imprinted on them in the centre of the coin.

Last Wednesday I was in a hurry to leave my home to pick up my wife. As it was raining I grabbed a jacket, seen it had the red poppy, so I wore it. When I met my wife and granddaughter, my granddaughter pointed out to me I was wearing the wrong poppy. The one I had on was an old one with the green centre. I felt like I was cheating, so I bought another even though I had bought 2 others with the black just 2 weeks before.

I hope you all remembered and wore a poppy from October 31, to November 11th.

Thank you for reading my extra article to honour our veterans.