Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, or Veteran's Day in the U.S. It is a day where we remember the acts of service and sacrifice of those who served in war. We look back and the hardships that they faced and that many still face today, and pay our respects to them. At 11:11 am, we have a moment of silence, to commemorate the dead and appreciate all that was sacrificed so that we may live in the freedom that we do today.

In every elementary or high school around the country, it is customary to read the poem In Flander's Fields, written in World War I by Canadian doctor Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae on May 3rd 1915. The opening line of the song references poppies growing in Flander's Fields, in the cemeteries of the fallen soldiers. They have since come to represent the blood that was shed and serve as a physical reminder of the past.

In the six grade I was in choir and we sang a version of this poem of a Remembrance Day assembly. I still remember it and sing it every year. I invite to listen to another version of the poem, sung beautifully by The Queen's University Choral Ensemble and arranged by Elanor Daley.

Lest We Forget.