11 th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

We will remember them.

Obligatory, but still poignant:


In Flanders Fields

John McCrae (1915)

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.

I offer my sincere condolences on your loss. I lost my father in 1999 on July 3, and my mother on Veteran's Day of the same year. It gets easier with time, although I still feel a bit wistful, especially this time of year.

My father served in WW2. He joined the Wisconsin National Guard for 2 years voluntarily in 1941, got married in October, and was inducted into the Army after Pearl Harbor for the duration. He stayed stateside and was discharged as a Master Sergeant in the quartermaster corp. One of his brothers was a pharmacist's mate in the Navy in the Pacific, the other was a Marine who served in Europe.

All are gone but not forgotten.

Although this day is for the remembrance of the fallen, should we not each day remember those who continue to pay the price of our freedom?


Thank you Soldier
By Chris Woolnough

Have you stopped to thank a veteran today?
For the price of freedom they had to pay?
Did you gaze into those distant eyes?
Did you see the ghosts he can't deny?
Did you think a soldier's heart was made of steel?
Because he was trained to kill, he couldn't feel?
Did you see the guilt written on his face,
For the loss of life he can't replace?
Did you know he mourns the lives he couldn't save,
And walks with comrades in their grave?
Did you remember the boy with innocence lost?
Do you really know war's ultimate cost?
Have you felt the blast of artillery fire?
Do you have the courage it would require?
Have you stood in trenches consumed with fear?
Felt the enemies breath so very near?
Have you walked with God on a battleground?
Seen your brothers dead or dying all around?
Have you stopped to thank a vet today,
Or did you just turn and walk away?
From the pain he'll carry for the rest of his life,
Did you consider his family, his children, his wife?
That watch him suffer in silence each and every day,
As he's haunted by memories that don't go away?
Did you care that the soldier is still pulling guard?
That his heart, mind, and soul will forever be scarred?
Do you know how he suffers from ptsd?
Or that our precious freedom is never free?
Do you care that he still hears the blood curdling screams?
Or that he returns to the war each night in his dreams?
Have you felt the sorrow of a combat vet?
Or would you rather just forget?
That war has pierced his hardened heart,
And torn this soldier all apart?
Would you rather our heroes just fade away?
Or will you stop to thank a vet today?

We all owe veterans a debt of gratitude. I was never able to serve, I have flat feet and they would not take me. There are times I wish I perhaps had tried more to get in.

As tomorrow is Veterans Day, it also is (or was) called Remembrance Day or Armistice Day, for the end of WW 1. Here in Kansas City, MO, we have the National WW 1 museum, at Liberty Memorial. If you eve get a chance, you should visit it, as it is a very moving experience. Now we are losing our WW 2 vets daily as well. Fly the Flag tomorrow, and to all of the Veterans out there -- Thank-you.

Freedom has a taste the protected will never know.

wvengineer: I'm sincerely sorry for your loss. Not to diminish it in any way, but on the plus side, it sounds like your grandfather lived a full and rich life and contributed significantly to the world in his lifetime. The world is a better place for having had him and people like him.

freegan and Loki: I'm copy/pasting both your posts into an e-mail and sending it to a friend of mine.

He was in Basrah, Iraq with the Danish Army Engineers back in '04 and still suffers from battlemind and PTSD from the things he experienced there. He used to be my platoon leader in the Home Guard, but demoted himself to private because he couldn't handle the responsibility because of his PTSD. He doesn't come out with us that often anymore. We all try to keep in touch with him and encourage him to come out and share his knowledge and experience and hang out with the guys, but he can't muster the mental strenght to leave his apartment most of the time.

I was in Iraq too, but thankfully, I never saw or lived the same things he did. What i did encounter there, although horrifying at times, I luckily had the mental resilience to get through unscathed. But it might as well have been me.

Both your posts are beautiful. I thank you for taking the time to share them and I hope they'll help my friend, even if only a little.

In the middle west of Germany, we celebrate the start of "the fifth season" (Carnival season) at 11/11 11:11:11 which lasts until Lent.