In Flanders Fields

In Flander's Field
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.


The above was written by a Canadian Dr, serving in WWI it's become the symbol for the atrocity of war..and Poppies the symbol of Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day all over the world. IT brings tears to my eyes everytime I read it.
It's sad that none of the kids I know have ever hear it, They no longer read it, or hear the story of it's writer. The sacarfices of Heros past and present are lost to them...but they grow up thinking people like Michael Jordan and Snoop Doggy Dog are "Heros". Yeah sure. Nothing against either but Hero doesn't cut it.
A Hero is the man who take a stand and lets his buddies escape often at the expense of his own life. A Hero is the woman who gives up her life at home and goes to tend the wounded as Many did in wars past..or these days you might find woman on the battle field too...also letting her buddies escape. There are heros who go to sea and rescue others, for storm tossed sea or from a ship that's disabled by war or failing parts....There are heros who train these others to be the best - who give them the skills to stay alive, the courage to keep going, the supplies to stay alive,,,,then there are heros that treat the fallen and their families, who tend the wounded, who make the broken as whole as possible.
They are the heros, today and always.