In Flanders Fields

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.

The words of “In Flanders Fields,” written by John McCrae, a Canadian lieutenant colonel, the day after witnessing the death of a friend on a World War I battlefield, will undoubtedly be used to mark many Veterans Day ceremonies on Friday. McCrae’s poem elucidates the sacrifice and the service that come with putting on a uniform, something well known to many Americans.

Throughout the year, we publish stories in which local residents reflect on what it means for someone to serve in the military. Their words are eloquent, too, and deserve mention this week:

“To me what the ribbons say is ‘Welcome home’ to those soldiers who have returned, and ‘Please come home safe’ to all those who are still in the war zones,” said Sue Babb-McKinney, in August, of the yellow ribbons she put up in Alfred to honor her son, Sgt. 1st Class Joel Babb, and his fellow soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

“The wall is just about honoring veterans and those who are serving,” said Debora Luce, a fourth-grade teacher in Windham, who each November has her students research family members who have served in the military and then display their results on a wall. Luce’s son, Capt. Joel Luce, is an active-duty Air Force pilot. “It’s also an opportunity for the kids to find out about the veterans in their own family, and some are quite surprised about what they find. And it makes the veterans in their family feel special as well, that someone notices their service is important.”

“This is a thank-you message to everybody who served, no matter how or when they served,” said Kevin Battle, a longtime South Portland police officer, at the dedication ceremony in August for a new veterans monument in South Portland. “Because it is their service which allows us to live the lives we get to live.”

Ben Bragdon is the managing editor of Current Publishing. He can be reached at bbragdon@keepmecurrent.com or followed on Twitter.