{"id":536,"date":"2014-11-06T06:19:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T06:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/06\/thank-vet-for-your-freedo\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:40:48","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:40:48","slug":"thank-vet-for-your-freedo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/11\/06\/thank-vet-for-your-freedo\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank a vet for your freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rhonda Massad<\/b>
www.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Corporal John Whatmore, born in Cardiff Wales, drafted into the British army in 1952 when he was 19 years old. Having grown up during World War II, his hometown was victim to raids and bombings imprinting the sounds of war in the young boy\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

As a child he would play with his friends amongst the ruins. According to Whatmore he often had to run home from school to hide in the safety bunker. He remembered the sound of the soldiers swift boots on pavement when they marched by.<\/p>\n

Whatmore served as a physical training instructor for four peacetime years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to remember all the unsung heroes who handled things like feeding the troops, laundry, cooks, medics, stretcher bearers, without them the troops could not function. <\/p>\n

\u201cI revere what veterans have done,\u201d he told The Suburban<\/i> in an emotional interview. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe original Flanders Field poem by John McRae was brilliant for its time.\u201d he explained. \u201cI wanted to reflect upon it and write something a hundred years later that remembered all those who never came back and those who came back broken.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Beaconsfield resident offers experience and often witty commentary at the monthly city council meetings that he has attended for more than 30 years. He volunteers selling poppies each year for Remembrance Day.<\/p>\n

\n
Poppies of Flanders <\/b><\/p>\n

Here in Flanders Field I lie,
In cratered hills beneath the sky;<\/i><\/div>\n

\nHearing gone in shelling-blast,<\/i><\/div>\n
\nEarth now holds me in its grasp. <\/p>\n

Body numb, blood stains the ground,<\/i><\/div>\n

\nCan hear the silence all around;
I\u2019m cradled now in poppies red,
To mark my place amongst the dead. <\/p>\n

See poppies clothed in morning dew,<\/i><\/div>\n

\nWeeping now, their tears for you;
I think of home, and those I love,<\/i><\/div>\n
\nWhilst drifting clouds float high above. <\/p>\n

My open eyes begin to glaze,
The poppies now, a crimson haze;<\/i><\/div>\n

\nDarkness covers me in sleep,
I died a man, I did not weep. <\/p>\n

\u2014 John Whatmore <\/i>
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By Rhonda Massadwww.thesuburban.com Corporal John Whatmore, born in Cardiff Wales, drafted into the British army in 1952 when he was 19 years old. Having grown up during World War II, his hometown was victim to raids and bombings imprinting the sounds of war in the young boy\u2019s mind. As a child he would play with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThank a vet for your freedom - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2014\/11\/06\/thank-vet-for-your-freedo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thank a vet for your freedom - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Rhonda Massadwww.thesuburban.com Corporal John Whatmore, born in Cardiff Wales, drafted into the British army in 1952 when he was 19 years old. 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