In Flanders Field

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.

- Lt.-Col. John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

And from One Hand Clapping, Rev. Donald Sensings excellent blog. An excerpt from his Veteran's Day memorial (read it all here):

"In William Shakespeare’s play, Henry V, King Henry is informed of the great strength of an enemy army on the field, and the comparatively few numbers of Henry’s army. Henry is advised by Westmoreland that some of his men have deserted and others want to. Henry replies that anyone who “has no stomach” for the fight may depart with pay and a safe-conduct pass. “We would not die in that man’s company That fears his fellowship to die with us,” Henry says. Then Henry’s lines are some of the most stirring in all of the Immortal Bard’s plays:

This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named, . . .
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names. . . .
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhood cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

From a tribute at Winds of Change:

"Abraham Lincoln, the supreme authority on this subject, thought there was a patriotism unique to America.

Americans, a motley gathering of various races and cultures, were bonded together not by blood or religion, not by tradition or territory, not by the calls and traditions of a city, but by a political idea. We are a nation formed by a covenant, by dedication to a set of principles, and by an exchange of promises to uphold and advance certain commitments among ourselves and throughout the world. Those principles and commitments are the core of American identity, the soul of the body politic. They make the American nation unique, and uniquely valuable among and to the other nations. But the other side of this conception contains a warning very like the warnings spoken by the prophets to Israel: if we fail in our promises to each other, and lose the principles of the covenant, then we lose everything, for they are we.

We are American patriots because we have consciously decided to share the principles that make America - the principles most essentially set out in our founding documents, and over time spread within America to those who had been excluded at the founding. It is our devotion to liberty and our self-conception as citizens that makes us Americans, not an accident of birth or race." Read the rest

At Buzzmachine, Jeff Jarvis's must read blog:

"As I was out running this morning, I was listening to NPR (during a Howard Stern commercial break) and heard a lopsided interview with an Economist journalist about the magazine's special report on American exceptionalism. The interviewer kept emphasizing how different America is from Europe. And I stopped in my tracks.

There is no one Europe, damnit. In fact, on this day of all days -- on Veterans/Remembrance/Armistice Day -- let us be sure to recall how different Europeans are from each other. Let us recall in fact, how much Europeans hate each other -- so much that they have spent centuries warring with each other and drawing the rest of the world into their nationalistic, ethnic, and colonial battles and ambitions. The present EUification of Europe allegedly unifying the continent in governance, policy, politics, economy, and outlook is a new, tenuous, and quite unproven experiment that utterly defies the grain of history there. There is no one Europe and we are not the exception to it.

No, Europe is the exception today.

The Economist's survey -- from what I've read so far this morning [can't finish reading it because the Economist site is down] -- is far more nuanced and intelligent than that heat-seeking NPR interview [which isn't online as I write this] would indicate, for it says that America is, indeed, a force for good:

The day after he had defined America's enemies in his "axis of evil" speech, in January 2002, Mr Bush told an audience in Daytona Beach, Florida, about his country's "mission" in the world. "We're fighting for freedom, and civilisation and universal values."

That is one strand of American exceptionalism. America is the purest example of a nation founded upon universal values, such as democracy and human rights. It is a standard bearer, an exemplar. Read it here.

Honor and Remembrance. 11/11 at 11:00 the torch passes. Carry it high.
-bear

Comments

[GREYSHADES]

Great Picture. Thanks.

And a huge thanks to America's best from stateside.