Lest We Forget

November 11th is approaching, a time to reflect on past wars and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

My motivating spirit had 3 great-uncles who fought in WWII, all of whom were fortunate enough to return home to their friends and family. Last year, the last of the great-uncles passed away, one of whom had the most interesting story to tell about his experience in WWII.

Uncle Pat never did talk about what happened. My motiviating spirit knew he had been injured, receiving schrapnel in his leg, but other than that, he didn't talk about it and no one really pushed him into talking. So, it was not until his funeral, that all was revealed.

The day after Pat's birthday, he joined countless other young men in the Normandy invasion. He stormed the beaches with many of his friends and peers. He was injured when he was trying to get a friend of his to safety, unsuccessfully. After he was injured, he was shipped to a hospital in England in an unconcious state, but somehow he was not listed with the injured and was put on the MIA list instead. For months no one back home, nor his two brothers overseas with him knew where he was or what became of him. His eldest brother, Rex, risked life and limb himself, looking for him, avoiding capture by the German troops, missing landmines and he finally located him and sent word home.

Remembrance Day has always been an important day to my motivating spirit. It is not a day that should be taken lightly or brushed off. Real sacrifices were made, real lives lost. It is a day to reflect, remember and learn how perhaps we today can do things differently to avoid such costs. Having said that though, sometimes war is the only answer, after all other measures have failed.

For those of us in SL, I have taken the liberty of making a wearable poppy and a wreath (which is a tad primmy, I apologize). You can find them at Rosehaven Recipes. The poppy box is on the table inside the bakery and the wreath is in the window and they are both free. I believe my beloved will also be offering a lower prim wreath, for those who have tight prim budgets.


In Flanders Fields ~ by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, Canadian Army (1872-1918)

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky,
A lark 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 with 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