On this Veterans Day

Take time today to pause, praise, and pray for those who've served our country. Veterans Day began after the "war to end all wars" - WWI - and is commemorated differently on both sides of the Atlantic, as Alexander Watson explains in today's NY Times:

For Americans, Veterans Day celebrates the survivors of all the nation’s
20th and 21st century wars. In France and Britain, by contrast, the mood is
altogether more somber. In these countries, it is the dead who, since 1919, have
been the focus of the ceremonies.

Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields", one of the most famous poems about the war, with its reference to poppies, the flower that symbolizes the remebrance of those who've served:

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.