Remembrance Day

REMEMBER THE ONES WHO DIED

EVEN IF ITS NOT REMEMBRANCE DAY

MANY THOUSANDS DIED

EVERY DAY THOUSANDS MORE

MANY PEOPLE LOST

BRUTAL BATTLES

EVERY ONE REMEMBER

REMEMBER ALL WHO FALL

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 the Armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed. That was the ending of "The War To End All Wars", WWI. Regrettably, peace did not last, but that date gained recognition throughout the Western world.

Originally, the 11th of November was marked as Armistice Day, but after the many wars that followed, it was changed to allow all soldiers from all wars to be honored.

In Canada, as in the UK, November 11th is called Remembrance Day; in the U.S. it's called Veteran's Day.

In each country the day is marked with ceremonies, parades, speeches and a moment of silence to honor those men and woman who have sacrificed for their nations.

This are some of the most famous poems:

They shall not grow old

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

From Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen, written in September 1914

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

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.

This might be one of the most famous poems of the Great War. The day before John McCrae wrote it, one of his closest friends was killed and buried in a grave decorated with only a simple wooden cross. Wild poppies where growing between the crosses marking the graves of those who died in the battle. Unable to help his friends, John McCrae gave them a voice through "In Flanders Fields".