In Flanders Field

In Flanders Field

By: Lieutenant Colonel 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.

Storming Juno

As part of Remembrance Day the History Channel is showing the movie Storming Juno. It covers the efforts of the Canadian forces at Juno beach during the Normandy assault.

I like the way it is showing things from different perspectives. They shows things from the point of view of select Armour, Infantry, and Airborne units. The mix of real footage and new is interesting.

An hour into it and it is still worth watching. My main problem is that I was expecting a movie, as in an action movie, but this is more of an action-documentary. Docu-drama? Action-ary?There is action but there is a strong element of a documentary. Still, a good watch, but not quite what I expected.

There is a very interesting website too.

Lest We Forget!

Added later: Now, an hour and twenty minutes into it, it has turned into a full documentary. This REALLY isn't what I was expecting from all the commercials leading up to it.

Saving Private Ryan

I am watching Saving Private Ryan on the History Channel now. It never fails to make me think of my father, he was a WW 2 veteran.

The scene where Mrs. Ryan is told all of her sons but one died never fails to tear at my heart.

The History Channel is having a week of shows leading up to Remembrance Day.

A South Korean movie called TaeGuki is often referred to as the Korean Saving Private Ryan. I never liked that label. It is TaeGuki. The war was different. The personalities were different. The story was different. It was good on it's own merits and not because it was inspired (was it really?) by saving Private Ryan.

Poppy Volunteers

Remembrance Day is coming up November 11th and I always try to wear a poppy for it. That was harder to do in South Korea of course. Much easier now. Or it should be.

I went out to get some groceries and saw the poppy stand. As I approached it an older couple got there first. The woman who was volunteering at the stand must have known the other women because a gab fest ensued.

I figured the volunteer would say a few words to her friend, deal with me, and then go back to her friend. Boy was I wrong. Five minutes later they are still flapping their gums. The woman's husband looks at me and shrugs his shoulders.

I decide to be patient and wait. Five more minutes pass and they are STILL yapping away. Instead of telling her she is fucking moron, after all she is volunteering for a great cause, I left. They were still yapping 5 minutes later when I left the store.

As I said, the Poppy Fund is a great cause, so I just donated my money and got a poppy elsewhere instead of not giving any money. They would be better off without volunteers like that woman though. If it had been a charity I don't normally support an incident like that would be enough of a reason for me to NEVER support them.

She volunteered her time to help the charity. If she had that much to say to a friend, at elast 15 minutes worth while ignoring people who wanted a poppy, she should pick her fucking phone up on her own time and call them! instead of showing some manners and class she ended up causing a few people, not just me, to NOT donate their money at that time. Some of them may not donate at all now for all I know.

If you honour Remembrance Day and don't have your poppy I encourage you to get one. If you run into a moron like I did just find another kiosk.