Memorial Day

For Memorial Day, I want us all to reflect on exactly what it is that we are remembering. Memorial Day isn't just a day to eat hotdogs and corn-on-the-cob, it's a day to honor those who have fought, particularly those who have died. So I present the poems, In Flanders Fields, and America's Answer:

In Flanders Fields
By John Mcrae

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.



America’s Answer
R.W. Lilliard

Rest ye in peace, ye Flanders dead.
The fight that ye so bravely led
We’ve taken up. And now we will keep
True faith with you who lie asleep
With each a cross to mark his bed
In Flanders fields.

Fear not that ye have died for naught.
The torch ye threw to us we caught.
Ten million hands will hold it high,
And Freedom’s light shall never die!
We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught
In Flanders fields.