11.11.11.11

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.

John McCrae, a Canadian soldier in WW1 in France saw the poppies growing in the fields and wrote his poem.

Moina Bell Michael, an American teacher saw the poem, and decided to make and sell silk poppies to raise money for disabled soldiers.

Madame Guerin, a Frenchwoman, persuaded Earl Haig, head of the British Army, to adopt the idea for the British Legion, and she sent hundreds of Frenchwomen to England to help sell them.

 

And now, the Poppy Factory in Richmond makes poppies all year round, for us to wear, to acknowledge and to remember the sacrifice.

This year the silence will fall at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month in 2011—that’s...

 

11.11.11.11

I’ve put up a display about the poppies at school. Because the children often tell me they don’t know what to think about during the silence, I have added this…

In the silence, take time to
REMEMBER

Remember those who died fighting for freedom

Remember those who are still suffering from injury received in war

Remember those who are sad because a family member or friend has died

Thank God for what they did

And PRAY for
PEACE
throughout our world

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them…