Remembrance Day

[Shush]

 John McCrae, May 1915

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.

[Rusco]

The only grandparent(s) I've met in my life was my grandma from mother's side. Here is what I've been told: her husband died in 60's due a cancer. He was a chainsmoker. The two brothers my mother had died in 60's and 70's. First of them was a jazz drummer. He started to drink too much when he moved from countryside to Helsinki and went married. There was a car accident and alcohol had something to do with that. Another of the brothers committed a suicide in start of 70's when I was 2 years old.

The grandma from my father's side died because of a cancer in 60's. Her husband died in the War of Independence in 1940 during the last hour before the war against Russia was over. (He belonged to the oldest age group that were recalled.) There was a troop of enemies returning back and crossing the Finnish border to Russia when everyone had heard about peace coming and that the war is over soon. The troop saw my grandfather as his patrol were camouflaged in the bushes and then someone at the troop threw a grenade there.

During the war, her wife and 5 children were farming, taking care of animals and doing all the work there.
My father was (soon to be born) he was the youngest of the three brothers. The oldest had to build a house ready, finish it, even he was only 14 years old. Later on he was diagnosed with a poisonous goitre and a childhood schitzophrenia - because of having too much duties too young. Their mother, my grandma from father's side had enormous amount of work at the farm. When the children went to sleep, she went to the fields at a midnight and cryed and shouted alone for the love and miss of her husband, that never came back. She was still pregnant and waited for my father to be born. The nearest town was in 30 km's distance and she had to travel there by walk before the start of the birth.

PS. What is ironical is that the brother with the goitre and schitzophrenia has stayed fit and is still living in a good condition today. He's still working half time at the farm even though he's more than 80 years old. No alcohol, nor narcotics and only 'good' food makes wonders.

[Tony S]

Woah, since my last post in this thread, I've found out that one of my Great Grandfathers (my father's father's father) actually fought in the Battle of the Somme. He was one of the lucky ones to survive the war thankfully. It certainly added some extra poignancy for me during the 2 mins silence on Tuesday.

[Anna Woman von NRW]

It certainly added some extra poignancy for me during the 2 mins silence on Tuesday.

I bet it did. Both my Grandfathers survived Ypres and the thereafter the whole war. One died when I was 12 and one when I was only a year old. If only I could talk to them now when I'm old enough to comprehend what they could tell me. Mind you my Uncle was in the RAF in the second world war, shot down and taken POW and in a camp near the Polish border. I did get the chance to hear him talk about this before he died - As the war was ending the Nazi's were moving prisoners back to camps further inside Germany and so they were being forced marched when the column was attacked by a Spitfire and he ran and escaped. He ended up being picked up by a British Army unit and was with them when they took Belsen. Incomprehensible and beyond horror to hear, but to have seen and felt for real? Gives me goosebumps just typing that.