Today We Remember. LEST WE FORGET!

Today is the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. At the 11th hour, I bowed down my head and held two minutes of silence. Today I saw a backpack stapled with badges of Normandy, Juno Beach, French-Canadian flags, Flemish flag, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion... Today I saw a man holding a young man’s portrait in uniform in front of his chest. Today I saw a bulky man in camouflage uniform labeled U.S. Army. Today I saw big men weeping right beside me. Today I saw reflections of that day when I biked around Flanders Fields in Belgium: the cemeteries; the memorials; the words on the white marble stones that wives, parents, and children left for their loved ones who were gone too soon; The Menin Gate Memorial, then came the sound of the Last Post. Today I read In Flanders Fields again. Then, today there came another poem: One Day.

ONE DAY (by Gina Neumann, Little Flower Academy)

I dream of a day when my grandchildren come
up to me and say “Nana, what is war?”

It won’t be from ignorance
Or failing to watch the six o’clock news
or not paying attention to the movies or TV shows.

No, it will be because of my grandchild
will genuinely not know what a war is.

Because there will be no wars for
my grandchild to witness, or participate in.

Then I’ll sit my grandchild down and tell him about
my Great Uncle Frank, World War II veteran,
I would tell him that he was just seventeen when
he was conscripted into the war
And that he was sent to faraway places,
and saw terrible things
That not long ago, the world was unsafe,
and we needed people to defend our freedom.
And that brave men and women risked their lives,
for our country.

My grandchild will have questions,
many of which I cannot answer
For myself, I do not even know them

I may be an idealist
For I am only seventeen,
And yet I still believe,

One Day.

So today, when you take off that poppy from your jacket tonight, please do not forget...