Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Veterans Day
Veterans Day
Reading Comprehension for November 11
Why would someone volunteer to go to war? Perhaps they are looking to get away from home. Some might be looking for glory and adventure. Maybe it is because they understand the country's need for a strong defensive force to keep the homeland safe.
These people who are willing to sacrifice their own lives deserve the honor and respect of those they defend. That is why Veterans Day was established.
America is not the only country in the world to honor its veterans. Britain, Canada, Australia, and France also celebrate their veterans on November 11. In the British Commonwealth countries, the poppy was adopted as the official flower of remembrance. This is because of the poem "In Flanders Fields", written by Col. John McCrae, M.D.
John McCrae was a Canadian doctor who had served in the Boer War in South Africa in the early 1900s. During the First World War, he was near the battle of Ypres in Belgium. Casualties were very heavy, and one was especially hard. It was the death of a young man who was not only a student of McCrae's but also a great friend.
The day after the funeral, McCrae released some of his grief by writing a poem. In twenty minutes he had scribbled down the lines of his now famous poem. He threw it away because he was unhappy with it, but a fellow officer pulled it out of the trash. He sent it to Punch, a weekly magazine in London, where it was published in December 1915. Before the end of the war, McCrae died from complications of pneumonia. He was buried in France where the poppies could also bloom over his grave. He was 45.
"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
