#RememberThem through poetry. In Flanders Fields by Canadian military doctor Major John McRae. Watch the video by clicking the link below. In May 1915, one of John McCraes closest friends and comrades was killed in the trenches near Ypres, Belgium. He was buried in a humble grave with a simple wooden cross. Wild poppies bloomed between the crosses marking the many graves. The next day, unable to help his friend or any of the others who had died, McCrae gave them a voice through this poem. On January 28, 1918, McCrae succumbed to pneumonia and meningitis. He died not knowing the outcome of the war, but with a full understanding of the cost of it. Before he died, McCrae had the satisfaction of knowing that his poem had been a success. Soon after its publication, it became the most popular poem on the First World War. It was translated into many languages and used on billboards advertising the sale of first Victory Loan Bonds in Canada in 1917. In part because of the poems popularity, the poppy was adopted as the Flower of Remembrance. The symbolic poppy and John McCraes poems are still linked, and the voices of those who have died in war continue to be heard each Remembrance Day. More poems of remembrance are available from Veterans Affairs Canadas website here: bit.ly/1qAyJPK #WhoWillYouRemember #StrongProudReady Canada Remembers
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 00:00:01 +0000
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