Memorial Day is traditionally for those who died in service. Veterans Day is traditionally for those who served. My favorite Memory Day poem is "In Flanders Fields" -
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.
May 3rd, 1915 Canadian physician
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance
Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth of
Nations, particularly in Canada...