If Ye Break Faith – small dead animals

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.

Delisle Cenotaph
The procession to lay the wreaths is led each year by bagpipers, and an RCMP honour guard. The small red plastic poppies scattered at the base are worn on lapels across Canada to honour the fallen in the days leading up to Nov.11.

5 Replies to “If Ye Break Faith”

I was in England last year for rememberence day. I will always be confused that the U.S. falls so short in the way it observes 11 Nov. Especially in comparison to the Commonwealth.
Thank you Kate. And I will remember, and hold sacred the sacrifices of your countrymen, with you.

Kate, I wanted to tell my Canadian friends that I salute all of my fallen comrades on your side of the border.
Remembrance Day makes me recall a time when we fought the same fight, appreciated the same values, died to secure the same vision and shared the same heart and soul.

Not may Americans truly understand how the Canadian military “punched above their weight” at that time. The story of the taking of Vimy Ridge in WWI, a volunteer force of Canadian farmers and trademen succeeded in routing the Germans where the British and French had failed disasterously.
At the end of WWII, Canada had the third largest naval force in the world.
How things have changed.

It is indeed sad what successive governments have done to our military. But even today Kate, our military is punching above its weight when you consider what they are asked to do, lack of equipment and personnel notwithstanding.
I have mentioned this before but look to Bosnia and Afghanistan as two examples of how our Armed Forces still shine. In my humble opinion, man for man and woman for woman, they are still the best. I am proud to have served with them for tweny years.

Veteran’s Day (as it is called in the USA) is not as big a deal as Rememberance Day in the Commonwealth countries or Memorial Day in the USA. None the less, many of us do remember the day and salute our veterans. Thank you, Kate, for this beautiful and appropriate rememberance. And thank you, Mike P., for serving in the Armed Forces of a loyal ally, even in difficult times.

5 Replies to “If Ye Break Faith”

Navigation