Veterans’ Day
For most of today, I wasn’t focused on November 11th being Veterans’ Day. It was my birthday, and a day off from work. I went for a run, ran some errands, had lunch with a friend, went to see the Incredibles with my family.
And then, washing dishes, I heard this NPR story talking with the producer of HBO’s Last Letters Home. And hearing people reading out loud from their loved ones’ final letters, I started to cry. We don’t get HBO, so I probably won’t get to see the documentary, but that little sample was enough to remind me to be grateful for every night that I get to put my sons to bed, even if they sometimes make me crazy in the process.
Veterans’ Day is November 11 because it was Armistice Day after WWI. A friend told me that in Canada some people still wear poppies — I’ve never seen anyone marking the day that way. I was inspired to look up the "Flanders Field" poem, which I had never read in its entirety before:
In Flanders Fields, by 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."
I was struck by how martial a memorial it is, especially that line "take up our quarrel with the foe." Not for McCrae is the ambiguity of Archibald MacLeish’s offering: "Our deaths are not ours; they are yours; they will mean what you make them."
My thanks to all those who serve and served in our name, and to their families who share the burden.
November 12th, 2004 at 9:09 am
Thanks for a very moving post and for reminding me of that beautiful poem. I had read it many years ago but had totally forgotten about it.
November 12th, 2004 at 3:32 pm
First of all, happy birthday! Second, something about the poppies. From my childhood, I think I remember veterans collecting donations, and if you gave money you got a red poppy. They weren’t real flowers though. I grew up in a small town in Arkansas. Does this sound familiar?
November 12th, 2004 at 9:16 pm
Poppies still on the Brits. All over BBC news last night. Gives me the willies these days when people talk about naming their girls Poppy.
November 17th, 2004 at 5:45 pm
Happy birthday to you!!
We’re 2 days apart….!