Call It what you will … but MARK it …..

This past hour, I was out on Beal Plaza, on the main campus of Midland, College, in silence and in prayer as the bells of the Hodge Carillon Tower tolled the eleventh hour of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month ...

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.

Lt. Col. John Alexander McCrae, MD – Canadian Expeditionary Force

(Died January 28, 1918 in Boulogne, France)

Here in the U.S., one doesn’t see the poppies on people’s lapels so much, as we used to when I was a child … one of the most ridiculous victories in America’s ‘war of drugs’ was the declaration by ‘drug czars’ and their staffs that the poppy reminded people of addiction to drugs, rather than appreciation to those who gave the ‘last full measure of their devotion’ in service to their country. Such is not the case in Canada, England, and other countries that once formed the ‘Commonwealth.’ The paper poppies – and the fundraising for veterans’ relief that they represent – have been prominent in photos and video the past couple weeks.

Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day ….. call it what you will ….. but find some way to mark this day, whether through prayer and silence, but also through word and deed ... speaking-out and speaking-up on behalf of adequate availability and funding of support services for our military personnel (past and present) and their families.

Here, in the United States, the focus of the day has been expanded to honor all men and women who, throughout history, have answered their country’s call to service, and to sacrifice. There have been many in our own family over the past 244 years, but – mindful of the origins of this particular holiday – I will tell the boys of their great-grandfather Fred, a sergeant with the 102nd Balloon Company, U.S. Air Service,

American Expeditionary Force, and his service in France during the First World War.

At the same time, I will tell them of their great grandmother Velma, who was among the many combatants fighting a very different - but no less deadly - world war right here, at home, in America, during the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Thank you, and God bless you all!