Always A Great Memorial Day Reminder

In Flanders Fields" By Lt. John McCrae of the Canadian Army, 1872-1918

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.

"The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders where war casualties were buried and thus became a symbol of Remembrance Day. The poem is part of Remembrance Day solemnities in Allied countries which contributed troops to World War I, particularly in countries of the British Empire that did so.
The poem "In Flanders Fields" was written after John McCrae witnessed the death, and presided over the funeral, of a friend, Lieut. Alexis Helmer. By most accounts it was written in his notebook and later rejected by McCrae. Ripped out of his notebook, it was rescued by a fellow officer and later published in Punch magazine."

A physician by profession, during the war Ltc. McCrae was made a field surgeon to an artillery unit. "From June 1, 1915 McCrae was ordered away from the artillery to set up No. 3 Canadian General Hospital at Dannes-Camiers near Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France. C.L.C. Allinson reported that McCrae "most unmilitarily told [me] what he thought of being transferred to the medicals and being pulled away from his beloved guns. His last words to me were: 'Allinson, all the goddam doctors in the world will not win this bloody war: what we need is more and more fighting men.'"wikipedia

LTC McCrae himself would die of pneumonia during the war.

American R. W. Lillard made this response after the release of the poem in the US which was considering entering the war.
("...Fear not that you have died for naught, / The torch ye threw to us we caught...").