The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-11-04, Page 26Page 8
In Flanders Fields
In Handers 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 Manders 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, the poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Lieut. -Col. John McCrae
Wednesday, Noven
REME.MB
A
Legion Br
CHURCH
Sunday, No
to North Street United Church,
Legion Hall at 10:30 a.m.
REMEMBRANCI
Branch 109 invites
Wednesday, Noi
at 11:1
at the Cenotaph i
This parade will form, up at the Legis
Medals. A full attendance
TOGETHER ... WE
Legion supportE
Did you know that this (1986) is the 60th
anniversary of The Royal Canadian
Legion? I'll bet you didn't.
Well to be perfectly honest, I didn't
either. One evening last week I was scrat-
ching my head and wondering what will I
speak about this year. I saw a red and blue
magazine on the kitchen table, the cover
read as follows — "Legion celebrating 60
years."
I started to think about that - every year
we send speakers to Branch 109 of the
Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion, who
are they? What do they do? A perfect idea
for a speech.
The Royal Canadian Legion was formed
in 1926 after the First . World War.
Throughout history, ordinary people over-
taken by war, have dropped their peace
time pursuits and willingly taken up arms
in defence of their country. At hostilities
end, they have returned to blend back into
the community they left to defend.
This was true in Europe and has been C
equally true of a young country such as n
Canada. This country, although small in t
population and with no large army sent a
soldiers to the South African War in 1902, e
World War I in 1914, World. War II in 1939 3
and the Korean War in 1950. Many ser- t
vicemen lost their lives but many more i
suffered in body and spirit when they 1
returned to the communities they had left I
to defend.
The Legion originally started to fight for 1
the fair treatment for ex -servicemen and 1
their families. It soon expanded its vision
however to include not just Veteran's af-
fairs but wide community service. They
expanded their membership to include
non -veterans. Today the Royal l;anadian
Legion is made up of 60,000 men and
women.
A proud partner in this tradition is
Goderich Legion Branch' 109. They were
founded on November 13, 1927. In 1982