Remembrance Day In Canada ??

[mikethompson]

Today is November 11, Remembrance Day in Canada. It is a day we set aside a moment and remember those that have served in the military and especially those who didn't come home.

I know its not the custom in the states or elsewhere, but Canadians wear a poppy as a symbol of remembrance from the beginning of November until today. The money raised from the sale of them goes to various veteran associations across the country.



Thought some of you guys might be interested in seeing this too. This was part of my great grandfathers (fathers side) discharge papers and effects. I'm not quite sure what the colours mean or even where he served.



What I think is pretty cool to have survived all these years is his "Certificate of Employment". I think this was something like a reference letter to help him get employment after the war.



He passed away years ago, but not before raising 2 kids, owning a gas station, and teaching his great grandson how to properly shake a hand.

 

[warren]

Some of us remember when wearing the poppy was also an American thing.

 

[mikethompson]

Just noticed that his regimental number, rank, name, and regiment were engraved on the edge of the metals

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I was just reading it was a poem written by a Canadian that caught the attention of an American woman who became the driving force behind the poppy as a symbol, first adopted by the American Legion in 1920 and then other countries followed. We often see them pop up before Memorial Day (now there is a National Poppy Day) but I've seen Legion and VFW organizations involved with them this time of year as well. Those pics are really cool!

 

[mikethompson]

Another find of mine in a used book store is this pocket Bible, which apparently was issued to British and Commonwealth troops in WWII.

 

[warren]

I suppose the poppy went away when the day was rededicated to veterans and the dead were to be honored on Memorial Day. But, for many veterans every day is a day of remembrance. To absent friends!

 

[mingc]

I was just reading it was a poem written by a Canadian that caught the attention of an American woman who became the driving force behind the poppy as a symbol, first adopted by the American Legion in 1920 and then other countries followed. We often see them pop up before Memorial Day (now there is a National Poppy Day) but I've seen Legion and VFW organizations involved with them this time of year as well. Those pics are really cool!

Here's the poem in question:

In Flanders Fields
​

John McCrae - 1872-1918

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 Belgium (where Flanders is) website says:

It was in the second year of the war – in 1915 – that the first records appeared in letters sent home of no-man’s land being “ablaze” with scarlet poppies. From this time onwards, letters written by soldiers constantly referred to the fields of poppies, and featured heavily in soldier’s poems.

The Poppies of Flanders Fields

Why were the poppies of Flanders Fields so numerous during the First World War? And how did they become the symbol of remembrance?

www.discoveringbelgium.com

My favorite poem from WWI doesn't talk about poppies:

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
​

W. B. Yeats - 1865-1939

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.​

 

[SmokeRings79]

In Israel we have a remembrance day, which is followed by Independence day. For most it's the saddest day of the year, in which we remember all the soldiers, police forces and citizens who died in. We have 2 sirens in which we stand in silence. The flower symbolizing this day is Helichrysum (it is said to grow wherever a drop of blood touched the ground).

 

[mikethompson]

The flower symbolizing this day is Helichrysum (it is said to grow wherever a drop of blood touched the ground).

Very apt ?

 

[kcghost]

We used to be big on poppies in the states then it just died out. We still remember our vets which is the important thing.

 

[mso489]

Poppies for Veterans Day were part of my childhood in the U.S., with my dad a minesweeper skipper in the Philippines, and his older brother a landing craft officer in the landing at Tarawa, during WWII. My wife's dad was a WWI (One) Army vet disabled throughout his life by poison gas exposure in the trenches. He belonged to both the American Legion and the VFW in rural northeast Missouri, and my wife, as a child, sold American Legion poppies hand made by veterans, which she preferred to the VFW poppies that were made of more rigid material. My late wife's father was an Army infantryman in the Battle of the Bulge in WWIi, as was my wife's older cousin, with the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

[Casual]

Many nowadays struggle to find something to live for, but an hundred years ago, men knew what they were willing to die for.

1914 seems as remote to me as 480 BC.

 

[romaso]

The one on the far right is the WW1 Victory Medal:
To qualify for the Victory Medal recipients had to be mobilised for war service in the United Kingdom or the British Empire, in any service, and to have entered a theatre of war between 5 August 1914 and 11 November 1918. It was also awarded to members of the British Naval mission to Russia 1919 - 1920, and for mine clearance in the North Sea between 11 November 1918 and 30 November 1919.

The center one is the British War Medal with a ribbon that MAY be for 1914-15 service:
Ribbon, WW1 1914-15 Star – Defence Medals Canada

The small ribbon with the leaf is the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for WW2 era service:
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal - Veterans Affairs Canada
The CVSM is granted to persons of any rank in the Naval, Military or Air Forces of Canada who voluntarily served on Active Service and honourably completed eighteen months total voluntary service from 3 September 1939 to 1 March 1947.
A silver bar (often called a clasp), a maple leaf at its centre, was awarded for 60 days service outside Canada. A silver maple leaf is worn on the ribbon in undress.

More info here:
Medals and Decorations - Veterans Affairs Canada

 

[mikethompson]

@romaso Thank you very much!