Yesterday we observed Veteran's Day. J was off but of course, the paper never sleeps so I was here at my desk by 9 am. We received a lot of letters of the weekend one of which was from a WW I vet who wrote about his thoughts as he raised his American flag on his balcony. He mentioned a poem "In Flanders Fields" which got me thinking about the war (hard not to around here we have lots of vets and military members, courtesy of two installations). The poem mentions poppies and after wondering about any opium references, I Googled the poem and while reading its Wiki page, it hit me... poppies, bobby pins, tins of change, prep school collection drives... we too have our own vets. Norman Manley's own brother died in 1917 in Flanders fields in Belgium. We fought with the British Imperial Army and according to a Gleaner story by Marcia Thomas, Wolmer's Boys and Munro have lists of those Jamaicans who made the "ultimate sacrifice for King and country." (Click here to read the full story.)We sacrificed then and there are Jamaicans serving and sacrificing now. Amazing how these linkages exist between the developed and developing world.
Maybe it's because I'm now a military wife, but I think that's something to pause and reflect on. So I did, I paused for maybe a minute or so and gave thanks for the vets and for own national heroes whose sacrifice has no matter how indirectly impacted my life and helped me reach where I am today.
3 comments:
Hi Kim, just wanted to let you know I am updating my blogger! If you want to go check it out. Also can you email me those pics from your camera! When we were there! Thanks.
:o)
This brings back so many memories. While in primary school, and in high school, I think, we would wear a poppy on that particular day. I don't think I fully understood the significance back then in primary school. I just liked how it looked on my uniform, lol.
Thanks for sharing.
Cupcake - I'll definitely check that out. I've been trying to make time to download the pics off my camera... school is crazy but I'll get to it really soon.
Jamaican Dawta - That's exactly it. I liked having the poppies pinned on my tunic. But now the meaning is oh, so clear.
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