It was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when WWI ended and an armistice was reached between Allied forces and Germany in 1918 following the death of 19.7 million people worldwide. After WWII and another 72.6 million casualties worldwide, President Dwight Eisenhower changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In South Africa it is known as Poppy Day. The red poppies to mark this day of remembrance originate from a poem by Canadian military physician John McCrae:

• 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.

 So today, take a pause, remember the fragile poppies that fell on the fields of battle, and remember…