A couple hundred Lockportians braved a brisk breeze with temperatures in the low 40's to participate in the annual observance of Veterans Day on Saturday morning, November 11th, at Outwater Park. The point of gathering was the the World War I Veteran's stone maker on the park's northern border and here a color guard led the approach to a brief 15 minute ceremony that showed Lockport remembers its veterans from all world conflicts. Most of the leaves were off the trees on this cloudy and austere November morning as Veteran's Groups listened to a recitation of the classic prose, "In Flanders Field," by the joint Lockport Optimists group.
Saturday's ceremonies took place during the 50th anniversary year of the United States entering the Korean conflict on orders of then-president Harry S. Truman. War was never declared but the three years of fighting cost the lives of nearly 40,000 US servicemen. At least six of those killed in Korea were city of Lockport residents and (fifteen from the Town of Lockport) and their names were read during Saturday's observance. A plaque in their honor is planned for attachment to the Veteran's Memorial on East Avenue.
One of the most memorable war poems ever written was recited again, Saturday, at Outwater Park as Lockportians gathered around this Honor Roll plaque. The poem was written by Canadian Major John McCrae, an Army Surgeon, in 1915, after the terrible battle on the Western Front in WW-1 near Flanders.
In
Flanders Fields
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.
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