Lest We Forget

Today was Remembrance Sunday.  Sacrament Meeting was basically a memorial service for soldiers past and present with a gospel perspective of faith and hope for the future.  They do it every year, and I love it.  The entire country observes a two-minute silence at 11:00 on the Sunday closest to the 11^th of November in remembrance of the soldiers who have fought to keep England free.  Maybe it’s because I’m American and we’ve never really been that threatened by a war on our soil, but the wars have always felt very distant to me.  It’s definitely different here.  The memory of both World Wars is very real, as is the memory of those who fought and lost their lives in those wars.  There is great respect and admiration reserved for the armed forces of Great Britain.  The royals are expected to serve in the military and maybe it’s that that gives it a feeling of importance that doesn’t seem to exist in America.  Whatever the reason, there’s a sort of sacredness to it all. 

Besides the two minutes of silence, they all wear paper poppies in their buttonhole for the few weeks preceding Remembrance Sunday.  I think it’s absolutely lovely.  The British Legion heads up the poppy brigade and the money raised goes to help the veterans of Britain’s wars.  They sit outside supermarkets, train stations, and on the high street with their donation cans and boxes full of bright red poppies.  This year, I went for the fancy £2 poppy pin to keep as a memento of one of my favorite British traditions.  I’ll say one thing for the Brits; they love their traditions.  They might not be as openly patriotic as we are, but when it comes to things like this, they are all in.  Everybody buys their poppy and wears it proudly. 

The tradition extends to the schools as well, where our girls wear their poppies pinned proudly to their blue school blazers.  We also had a remembrance service on Friday where the whole school gathered to ponder the sacrifice that has been given for their freedom.  As I watched them sitting in absolute silence for two minutes, I appreciated the necessity of teaching our young people the importance of sacrifice for the greater good.  In a society where disrespect for nearly everything is rampant and often glorified, it was refreshing to be amongst young people who recognize that there are certain things that are sacred and deserve our respect.  It restored a bit of my hope for the future of our world.  

Tyne Cot Cemetery, Belgium

Thiepval Memorial, France

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

                                                     Laurence Binyon