In Flanders Fields. Remembering Our Fallen. 5/25/2015

Good Morning,

I am enjoying a hot cup of Door County Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti Coffee this morning. I am sipping on it slowly and enjoying it because I can.

I am free today and have been all of my life. It is because of those who fought hard for my country and other countries. Today in America we honor those who have fallen in battle for freedom. They gave the ultimate sacrifice.

John 15:13New King James Version (NKJV)
¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 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.

Inspiration For Flanders Fields During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2^nd May, 1915 in the gun positions near Ypres. An exploding German artillery shell landed near him. He was serving in the same Canadian artillery unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrae.
As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.

Today take time to honor the fallen. Pray for their families. Thank God for the brave men and women of our past and present who have given it all for us.

God bless,

Marty