This weekend we remember and honor all the men and women who have served in our defense.  It is important to remember that the US didn’t do it alone.  Below are just a few of the words and music that memorialize that service.

In Flanders Fields By John McCrae

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

CANADA

AUSTRALIA

UNITED KINGDOM

Grass by Robert Frost

PILE the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work—
I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.

Song of The French Resistance – “Le Chant Des Partisans”

In every war, there are those who protest the waste of lives.  So while we honor those who made the sacrifices, we need to pay attention to the cost and think about the possibility of peace as an alternative.  Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye has quite a history