MEMORIAL DAY 2008

This weekend we remember men and women who have died while serving in the armed forces. Many families also use this holiday to remember any family member who is deceased. Information about this holiday can be found at History.com and InfoPlease. The PBS site includes eulogies and personal stories. Poems, essays, speeches, and songs can be found at US Memorial Day.org and The Memorial Day Tribute.

One of the most famous poems about World War I is still relevant and moving today, written by a field doctor, John McCrae, on the battlefield burial ground, In Flanders Field:

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 Belgium, there is an actual In Flanders Field Museum, with interactive exhibits about war and the people it affects.