To mark the 100-year anniversary of the publication of John McCrae's famous poem "In Flanders Fields," we asked four Canadian veterans to reflect on what the words mean to them. Here's what they had to say:
A symbol of 'hopelessness' of war: Second World War veteran Wolf William Solkin
"It expresses a deep understanding of what war means: it's a poem that memorializes the dead," Wolf William Solkin, a veteran of the Second World War, told CTVNews.ca.
"It's become a symbol -- a verbal symbol -- of what war, and what death and war, and what hopelessness and war, really mean."
Solkin said he was so touched by "In Flanders Fields," that he helped to bring a hand-written copy of the poem to Quebec's Ste. Anne's Hospital to be put on permanent display. The spirited 92-year-old is among the 300 residents living at the veterans' hospital.
He said that every Nov. 11, he takes time to remember his best friend, who was killed in Germany while serving in the Second World War.
"Every time I go to a Remembrance Day ceremony, I bring his picture with me, and I put it on an empty chair, because that's who the remembrance is for, and that's what the poem means to me," Solkin said.
"McCrae wrote the poem, inspired by the memory of his best friend, who was killed in the Ypres campaign. And I'm proud and grateful to be involved with this poem, in honour of my best friend."
'We're looking at peace and reconciliation': Korean War veteran Les Peate
Korean War veteran Les Peate says he no longer feels that the poem is appropriate for our time.
"It was fine in the time it was written, it had a meaning: 'Take up our quarrel with the foe.' In other words, carry on fighting. But I don't think that's appropriate these days, when we're looking at peace," Peate said in a phone interview.
The 86-year-old fought with the British military in the Korean War, and later served with the Canadian Forces/NATO in Germany.
"The poem was written in 1915, and yes, I can see the sentiment then (was) 'We've got to keep on fighting. Don't let up and let us down.' But the war is over, and now we're looking at peace and reconciliation.
"While I feel that the poem was very appropriate then, it is not appropriate now."
Peate, who lives in Ottawa, writes for the Canadian military magazine "Esprit de Corps."
'This poem means everything': Persian Gulf War veteran Harold Davis
"The poem, to me, means that Canadian military personnel since 1915 have been laying their lives down for the Canadian people," Persian Gulf War veteran Harold Davis told CTVNews.ca.
"It says in the poem 'We pass the torch.' This goes to the younger generation, and it keeps on going down that road.
"To me, this poem means everything and it will never stop."
Davis, who spent 31 years as an air weapons technician, served in the Canadian Forces during the Persian Gulf War. He now lives in Victoria, B.C., and helps to manage the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada advocacy group. He is also a member of the Royal Canadian Legion.
This year, he will be speaking to a group of school children on Remembrance Day, explaining the significance of the poem.
"The legion and veterans are basically guardians of remembrance," he said. "Hopefully, we can get the message out to other Canadians that the freedom we have came at a cost -- and a very big cost when you tally up all the people we've lost.
"We want to make sure that nobody forgets that."
'A part of who we are': Afghan War veteran Bruce Moncur
Afghan War veteran Bruce Moncur remembers reciting "In Flanders Fields" as a student growing up in Canada. He would later hear it multiple times, while serving in the Canadian Forces.
"The poem itself represents what World War I meant to us as a country, in terms of how much we sacrificed and how we came together as a nation," he told CTVNews.ca.
"The poem is a part of who we are. It's part of our identity, our culture."
Moncur took part in Operation Medusa in 2006, and was injured in a friendly-fire incident that saw him shot three times. He retired in 2010, after serving in the military for a decade.
Bruce Moncur is pictured in the far right. (Courtesy Bruce Moncur)
In 2013, he said he was invited to go to Europe to visit McCrae's bunker, where the First World War field surgeon treated wounded soldiers on the battlefield. He also walked among the rows of soldiers’ graves, immortalized in McCrae's poem.
"I've walked among those crosses and markers," Moncur said. "You go by and you read those (markers)… it really brings to light how difficult those four years were on an entire generation of Canadians."
Moncur said the line of the poem that reads, "If ye break faith with us who die," is especially poignant for him, as someone who has been a soldier and who has lost friends in war.
"Not only did (McCrae) write the poem, but he also paid the ultimate sacrifice," he said. "It's a poem, yet his life was poetic in that before he passed, he wrote this amazing piece of Canadian literature."
