“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”

~ John Diefenbaker (1895 – 1979), 13^th Prime Minister of Canada

Remembrance Day is to the commonwealth countries (such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Malta, Australia and New Zealand, to mention but a few) what Memorial Day is to the United States. It is observed each year,  on November 11 — in commemoration of the day when World War I ended.

The most famous Remembrance Day poem, In Flanders Fields,  was written by Canadian John McCrae on May 3, 1915, the day after he saw his friend (Lieutenant Alexis Helmer) die.  A doctor, poet and WWI soldier, Lieutenant Colonel McCrae tended to the injured during the Second Battle of Ypres in the western part of Belgium.

Freedom. They fought for it. They died for it.  And we savour this freedom (with gratitude) — because of them.

Lest we forget.