Having grown up in Vietnam during the 60’s, I remembered the poverty of the Vietnamese populace and the sheer war-horror. On Memorial Day, my two treasured remembrances are to read “In Flanders Fields” and the Four Chaplains.

In Flanders fields
By Canadian 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.

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.

Humanity at its finest
In WWII, four Army chaplains, Lt. George Fox, a Methodist; Lt. Alexander Goode, a Jewish Rabbi; Lt. John Washington, a Roman Catholic Priest; and Lt. Clark Poling, a Dutch Reformed Minister, gave up their life jackets; Rabbi Goode gave up his gloves as well as their transport ship, Dorchester, was sinking into the icy cold North Atlantic. When giving up their life jackets, they did not call out for a Jew, a Catholic, a Protestant, or an Atheist. They simply gave their life jackets to the next man in line. Their bravery and openness stands the test of time as what our nation stands for, as applicable today as when we were fighting the fascist Nazi ideologue.

Watch the Four Chaplains documentary movie on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ewJp8HhYzA

Best,
Tony Le, ACTC President