In Flanders Fields – John McCrae
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.
“In the spring of 1915 bright red flowers began poking through the battle ravaged land across northern France and Flanders (northern Belgium),” Barbara Maranzani wrote for history.com.
“Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, who served on an Allied artillery unit, spotted a cluster of the poppies shortly after serving as a brigade surgeon during the bloody Second Battle of Ypres.
“The sight of the bright red flowers against the dreary backdrop of the war,” she continued, “inspired McCrae to pen the poem, “In Flanders Fields,” in which he gives voice to the soldiers who had been killed in battle and lay buried beneath the poppy-covered grounds.”
The United States was not to enter the war for another two years, in April 1917. It was the month and year my father was born in Buffalo, N.Y. It was exactly one year before my wife’s father was born in St. Louis, MO. Archie and Bob.
Both served bravely in World War II: My wife’s father building hospitals for injured soldiers across Europe; my father at the controls of an M4 Sherman tank prowling Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. My wife’s mother, Pearl, born in Chicago in 1923, also served overseas in the U.S. Army during the war. That’s where Pearl met Bob.
Archie, Bob and Pearl were part of what Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation.” They were among those who returned to their families.
This month we honor all the men and women who didn’t make it home, who gave up their lives in too many wars.
Earlier this year, before Covid-19 struck, Memorial Day events had been planned in communities throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The “better part of valor,” however, as Shakespeare’s Falstaff reasoned in Henry IV, Part I, might still have us in stay-at-home mode at the end of the month.
One hundred years ago the country was still trembling from the devastation of the Spanish Flu. It killed an estimated 675,000 Americans between 1918 and 1920, more than were killed during the Civil War.
It was that same Civil War that sparked Union General John Logan to establish “Decoration Day” on May 30, 1868 to honor the estimated 620,000 who died in the four-year struggle. The name was later changed to Memorial Day and set for the last Monday in May.
One hundred years ago there were Memorial Day celebrations throughout Florida — in Tampa, Miami, Orlando — but at least one nearby city chose a different path.
“No Plans For Observance of Memorial Day,” read a headline on the front page of the Palm Beach Post, May 18, 1920.
“No preparations are under way for observance of Memorial Day,” the story read. “There is no post of the G.A.R and no organization of the Confederate Veterans or Spanish War Veterans” planning events for the day.
The G.A.R. was the The Grand Army of the Republic, the fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Navy, Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War.
After World War I Memorial Day was expanded to honor Americans killed in all wars. It became an official federal holiday in 1971.
This year, this month, again for “the better part of valor,” the Indianapolis 500, traditionally held on Memorial Day, has been postponed to August 23.
Still in its infancy a century ago, the race was held as scheduled on Monday, May 31. It was the race’s eighth running at The Brickyard.
Gaston Chevrolet, brother of the man who started the Chevrolet car company, won the race, posting an average speed of 88.6 miles per hour. The average speed at the 2019 race was 175.8 miles per hour.
Whatever Memorial Day events are allowed this difficult year and whomever you’re with, the Parklander joins all of you in honoring those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Richard Battin, Editor
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.
Wikipedia page on Memorial Day
Wikipedia page on In Flanders Fields
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