This being Veterans’/Remembrance Day, we, who are the beneficiaries of all of those who fought for our freedoms, foreign and domestic, have a responsibility to be mindful of how much so many of the brave and patriotic gave.  11:00 this morning will be the 101^st anniversary of the end of World War I.  At that great hour, we should take a moment to consider how much different our lives would have been had men and women not had the courage to defend what is right.  We are inviting each of you, wherever you are, to observe a minute of silence for those who will forever be silent, but whose efforts should forever be trumpeted.  In the meanwhile, here is a little poetry to help you get into the right frame of mind.

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.

by John McCrae, May 1915