Lest we forget

In 1918 at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month The Great War ended.

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.

Happy Veterans Day to all the vets and thank you.

Veterans Day deals and freebies

Last summer we did a day trip out to the D-day beaches on our way from England to Paris.  It was a bit of a drive to get there, but it was very powerful. Highly recommend it. Here are some pics

Normandy American Cemetery near Omaha Beach. The beach head is in the background.  The pictures don't do it justice on how many grave sites there were.




German artillery battery


Omaha Beach



Pointe du Hoc where the Rangers scaled the cliffs.  Seems impossible when you are there.  Again pictures don't do it justice.  Bomb craters everywhere.

Dr. Strangelove wrote:In 1918 at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month The Great War ended.

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.

One of my most precious memories -

Thanksgiving weekend of 1979.
A friend of mine from MSU and I drove to my Grandparent's farm to deer hunt on Saturday.
My Grandmother fixed us lunch.
As we ate she asked where we were hunting and I told her we were in the field behind the woods.
For some reason that set off a story about 1918.
She told us she was in that field plowing with the horses when she heard church bells ringing in town (4 miles away)
She didn't know what it was until she was done and came up to the house and heard about the armistice.
My Grandma weighed about 90#'s I just never could imagine her plowing with a team of horses.


I guess you had to be there but for a kid in college that seemed so awesome that she remembered 60 years earlier. A gent that lived directly across the road from my Grandparents was sent home from WWI with trench foot, he never would talk about any of it. My Grandpa was 4F for WWI with a heart "murmur" (the same condition I have) - he lived to age 102.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

they look like a modern day string band doing Led Zeppelin covers tonight at Mac's Bar.

Thank you! To all the men and women who have served this nation in the military.  I didn't but by grandfather, great uncle, father, brother, father-in-law and many friends have.  God Bless!