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.
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, 1915
Photos of the wreath-laying ceremony in Glen Ridge, the Glen Ridge Memorial Day picnic and the Presby Memorial Gardens on Memorial Day by Warren Levinson.
Comments (15)
Took you folks long enough.
cathar, there's been four stories put up on Barista today and all four address Memorial Day and/or the troops. This one has pictures from today's events, which actually had to occur before they were posted.
I always loved that poem.
State Street, the coverage of what "Decoration Day" is actually about has been spotty at best on this site. Trivial, too. (But then, in my day we'd all read Colonel McCrae's poem by about grade 5; I doubt that is the case today.) And I'd earnestly question whether most of the items you cite in rebuttal adequately "address Memorial Day and/or the troops."
Even more dismayingly re the past weekend, far more people were incensed about investment bankers moving or not moving into Montclair than about what Padraic Pearse termed "patriot graves" and their maintenance and the necessary rites associated with them.
State Street, the coverage of what "Decoration Day" is actually about has been spotty at best on this site. Trivial, too. (But then, in my day we'd all read Colonel McCrae's poem by about grade 5; I doubt that is the case today.) And I'd earnestly question whether most of the items you cite in rebuttal adequately "address Memorial Day and/or the troops."
Even more dismayingly re the past weekend, far more people were incensed about investment bankers moving or not moving into Montclair than about what Padraic Pearse termed "patriot graves" and their maintenance and the necessary rites associated with them.
Cathar is old.
I'm with Cathar on this one.
I'm extremely surprised the poem was included on this site.
I taught this poem to my 10th graders (I hear you again, Cathar, about "the good old days" of 5th grade) in an Arizona school district earlier this month. Although not exactly pro-war, the basic message is "don't give up the good fight." Obviously there can be a debate whether the Iraq fight is worth the price (which led to an interesting, and spirited, discussion in the classroom), but this is not an anti-war poem.
Now, if you want a different take on the subject, try the contemporary country song "Arlington" by Trace Adkins. Of course, since it is a country song, some in Baristaville may snub their noses at such a source, but I think it sends a powerful (and subtle)message about war. Give it a listen.
My class liked both of these tributes to the military and the high price that too many pay.
I may be "old," Drob, but I'm also probably a lot smarter than you are. And the better personally for my stint in the Army.
Former Ridger, I'm in no way "surprised" that "In Flanders Fields" ran here. I was simply annoyed that Baristanet pulled out something so predictable, something "we" all once read but probably few do anymore. And pulled it out so late.
So there was no Wilfrid Owen, no Alan Seeger, Robert Graves or Vera Brittain from the anti-war side, nothing even by that now-retired Princeton prof who flew in the Pacific during WWII, Samuel "something," who writes so beautifully. Nor, to be sure, anyone on what military service actually entails, like Robert Leckie (from Rutherford!) or E.B. Sledge or Anthony Beevor. It was a typical Baristanet kind of post, but I expected more for Memorial Day.
And I too noted the ambiguity in "Arlington." But then, even Merle Haggard seems to realize the last few years where the paths of glory often really lead. What bothers me much about so many Baristanet posters is that so few seem to have trodden those paths at all, and thus lack a certain understanding of what it means to genuinely "sacrifice." (This, however, never discourages them from weighing in on their presumptions as to its futility.)
Have a grand day in Arizona, sir or madame, it sounds like you're doing a good job there.
Kudos to cathar. I'm glad to see you are thinking clearly again.
On a more disheartening note:
I recently learned that a number of students are not standing in observance of the pledge of allegiance in schools. The source I heard this from was in Montclair High School.
Realistic, there are always "look at me, I'm daring" kinds of students who don't stand for the Pledge or some such. (And lefty parents who "proudly stand behind" such attention-seeking wimps.)
In my high school day, however, Brother Patrick would have stormed out of his principal's office and kicked their asses to hell. Today, the ACLU takes up its cudgels on their behalf. That such students may not understand the meaning, let alone the genuine promise, of the Pledge, should only engender our pity, rather than our complete disgust. These are kids taking themselves much too seriously, after all, who face daily the prospect of even more TV channels even as Venezuela chops down its own sole "loyal opposition" version.
If there is a ceremony taking place in the classroom and some students do not wish to take part in it, they should be asked to leave the room as not to disrupt.
If they have no respect for this country, that is their constitutional right.
However, they have no right to be DISRESPECTFUL, by sitting during a flag ceremony.
Okay, Realistic, that is another solution to this issue. But Brother Patrick could boot beautifully, trust me there.
"In my high school day, however, Brother Patrick would have stormed out of his principal's office and kicked their asses to hell."
After that he may well have sexually abused them and then been protected by the church.
So much for your day old football boy!
"Brother Patrick could boot beautifully, trust me there."
He could do WHAT? Is that some code word for an illegal sex act with a minor?
Oh, HidingIn..., there are so many things you don't know about. Consider Catholic high school another "club" that wouldn't have you. But then, I'm sure you've learned to live with rejection of all kinds by now, computer lad.