Remembrance Day ... the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month

Remembrance Day marks the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month of 1918 … Armistice was reached and the guns finally fell silent.

The last soldier killed in WWI was Henry Gunther of the United States.  He died 60 seconds before the cease-fire.

Each year on November 11^th at 11am, we observe two minutes of silence to commemorate the great sacrifice of ALL soldiers who died and continue to die, for our freedoms.

WE ARE CANADIAN is a video dedicated to the men and women, past and present, of our Canadian Armed Forces.  The song featured in the video is called “Armageddon" by the Canadian rock band "Prism"

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

In remembering their service and their sacrifice, we recognize the tradition of freedom they fought to preserve. These men and women had faith in the future and by their acts gave us the will to preserve peace for all time. On Remembrance Day, we acknowledge the courage and gallantry of those who served their country.   Canada Info – Remembrance Day

The poem In Flanders Fields was composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915 -- during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium -- it was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.  He died of pneumonia at Wimereux near Boulogne, France on the 28th of January 1918; he was just 44 years old.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

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 following words are from Flanders Fields Music

On May 2, 1915, John McCrae’s close friend and former student Alexis Helmer was killed by a German shell. That evening, in the absence of a Chaplain, John McCrae recited from memory a few passages from the Church of England’s “Order of the Burial of the Dead”. For security reasons Helmer’s burial in Essex Farm Cemetery was performed in complete darkness.

The next day, May 3, 1915, Sergeant-Major Cyril Allinson was delivering mail. McCrae was sitting at the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the YserCanal, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, Belgium.

As John McCrae was writing his In Flanders Fields poem, Allinson silently watched and later recalled, “His face was very tired but calm as he wrote. He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."

Within moments, John McCrae had completed the “In Flanders Fields” poem and when he was done, without a word, McCrae took his mail and handed the poem to Allinson.

Allinson was deeply moved: “The (Flanders Fields) poem was an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."

The Last Post,  sounded each evening at 10pm, is to inform soldiers that they should be inside their quarters for the night. The Last Post is also heard at at military funerals and commemorative services to show the fallen soldier has completed their life's work ... and has entered into rest and peace.

LISTEN to the Last Post

The following are a sampling of some of the Remembrance Day videos that can be found on You Tube

Remembrance Day  
On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  At 10:55am an announcement came over the store's PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00am to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.

Remembrance Day Video
The following is a comment made by an individual who viewed this video … “This is particularly poignant because one of these faces was a friend, Chris Karagiannis lost in June 20, 2007 while on a mission in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Chris started skydiving in 1995 and had over 750 jumps. He had achieved a "C" license, Coach 1, Coach 2, Jump-master and Skydive School Instructor ratings as well as being a member of the Canadian Forces Skyhawks Parachute Demonstration Team. Chris will be missed but never forgotten.”

Already Home
Set to the music of Tim McGraw's "Already Home", this uses Canadian Forces imagery and is dedicated to the fallen, the wounded and the families of our Canadian service men and women.  We will remember you...

The Canadian Soldier - I Want You To Live
“I Want You To Live” … song by Canyon George

Remembrance Day
"The Final Farewell" by Dennis Williams, scenes from Saving Private Ryan


Today I close with these words again from Canada Info – Remembrance Day

On November 11th Canadians all across the country will stop and pay tribute to the men and women killed in Canada's wars and military operations. Some will remember friends and relatives long dead. Others - like yourselves perhaps - will pause in tribute but will really have nothing to remember.

For millions of Canadians the poppy has long been the flower of Remembrance. It originally was a reminder of the blood-red flower which grew in the fields where many Canadians died in a place called Flanders. It remains the flower of Remembrance.