Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for November 11, 2010

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.

To our veterans, we remember…

Very nice, Marg. Thank you.

Happy Veteran’s Day!

LX013, that was a lovely video.

Knocked the ol’ shoes right off him!

G’Morning, Marg, Grog & Mike!

Arguably (or may be not) Watterson is the best comic-strip writer ever. The punch line is so very hilarious and apt.

Hello all!!!

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

Here is a salute to those individuals who have served and fought to preserve the freedoms that we hold so dear.

Thanks Marg……………………………………

Poor Calvin, try and be a straight up person and get knocked down..

It all equals out in the end

Thanks, margueritem.

A very serious poem, Marg, it makes thoughtful! I try to make peace, so much it is possible for me!

Hello Marg,

If you wrote that - first class. If you quoted it, could you provide the author’s name .. ?

Whilst I believe it is important to use a day to focus on the special people who literally gave everything, we should spare some time EVERY day to be thankful.

I haven’t heard that poem in ages, Marg, since we were singing it in high school choir. Very nice :)

Thanks and Good Morning, Marg!

G’Morning, and a Blessed Veterans Day to All!

Amen, Marg! And thanks!

We must NEVER forget that freedom is not free!

The price is painfully high but is worth every drop of blood and every tear shed!

My heartfelt thanks to all Veterens and their families this day!

Today is Veterans day in the US and rememberance day here in the UK. please also remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us the living…also thanks Marge for the poem. I learnt it at school for the first rememberance day after WWII in 1945 nice to see it again….

Hi folks,

I am horizon n Im a silent reader of gocomics as I post comments very rarely but Im a huuuuuuuge fan of Calvin n Bill Watterson. Today is my b’day n guess what I get as a b’day gift?! A whole collection of Calvin and Hobbes in a gigantic 3 volumes!!!!! Simply it just made my day :)

Marg, LoneWolf, Grog, Mike, Yukoner and everybody , your comments gives a fresh start to my day - everyday!!! And yeah thanks a lot to Bill Watterson for the creation of my best friend - Calvin and Hobbes.

Horizon

Hence the reason why I’m not religious at all.

^^Happy Birthday, Horizon1129!

In reference to Moe’s recent bullying of Calvin, history has shown, repeatedly, that equal or greater physical force is the only thing they will respect. Thus, one of the banes of the human condition and a need for warriors…

I wasn’t shot at, like many others who have served, but it is nice to see a few words of remembrance and appreciation. It helps ease the feeling of empty loneliness, that can happen at times, for both myself and many other veterans.

And Remembrance Day in Canada as well. Thanks to all the Vets out there.

Maybe it’s time for Calvin to enroll in a self-defense class.

Good Morning, Marg, Mike & ♠Lonewolf♠

Happy Birthday, Horizon1129

Happy Birthday Horizon! What a great gift! I agree the comments section is great! My fellow readers have led me to some great ones. Yenny, Speed Bump, Last Kiss (which seems to be a collaboration between artist and audience) and more. Thanks marg and everyone else.

I was at the VA in Johnson City TN Tuesday, and realized that us ‘Nam vets are lookin’ OLD!!!!! Seems like just yesterday I was skulking along the Mekong.

Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote “In Flanders Field” on 3 May 1915. Its writing is believed to have been the spur for the wearing of Poppies in Remembrance in most of the Commonwealth countries in the period leading up to November 11 every year.

Sadly, Dr. McCrae passed away from complications of pneumonia on January 28, 1918.

Thanx for the post Marg.

For Yukoner, Laurence Binyon’s poem “For the Fallen”, was first published in The Times in September 1914.

For the rest of us and a little more recent,

“Find the cost of Freedom Buried in the ground”

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

Lest we forget

As Calvin has argued many times, he needs to bring a tiger to school to protect him. I would do it if his parents allowed it, but it would be a big sacrifice for me to get up that early.

Moe is a reminder that there are always those in the world who would try to hurt us, and we need to always be grateful for those who make sacrifices to protect us.

Thanks, Marg. By the way, “In Flanders Fields” was first published in 1915, in the British magazine PUNCH.

Thanks for all of your kind comments yesterday. Evidently just a bit of license on SweetBill’s part……

Welcome back Hobbes …

A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to their country (be it UK, Canada, USA, Australia….) for an amount up to, and including, their life. That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact……. if you are a Veteran, know a Veteran, Love a Veteran ♥ or support our Troops, pass this on! I hit 3 of the 4 (not a vet)

From our very beginnings our various countries have had an ethos to live up to and emulate. We frequently fail but more often we do dare to live the dream. As the Leaders of 1776 wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor”!

From Owell/Kipling: “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

To ALL OF OUR VETERANS who have put themselves in harm’s way, THANK YOU!

Welcome back, Hobbes!

On a bumper sticker: “If you love your freedom, thank a vet.”

GreatEightthSin: it’s a great gift to be religious!

To all our Veterans we thank you!!!!!!

Yukoner et al We will remember them.

Thought folks might like to have a wander through a website I put up on the men, and one woman, on our local cenotaph. http://curriememorialproject.tripod.com/cenotapth/ Sarge

Thanks Marg, for starting us off on the right foot this morning! Left .…right … left, right, left. =^) THANK YOU SERVICE MEMBERS AND ALL VETERANS. (yes I am shouting)

War stinks. when will we ever learn to get along with each other?

Happy Veteran’s and Remembrance Day.

Happy birthday horizon and nice to see your furry face Hobbes.

I received this in an email thought it was very good, and since it’s Veteran’s Day and Marg started off with Flanders Fields, I thought I would share this with you all. The Veterans of Foreign Wars awarded Ms. Cothren “Teacher of the Year” award.

A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . And colleges

Back in September, a couple of years ago,on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School, did something not to be forgotten.

On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

‘Ms.. Cothren, where’re our desks?’

She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’

They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said.

‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.

The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall… By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens.

They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’

By the way, this is a true story.

Please consider passing this along so others won’t forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by War Veterans.

I apologize for the length but felt it was worth sharing today!

Well worth it, Dry… Thanks.

That was awesome, Fellow Baby! One of the very few long posts that I am very happy to have read.

MARG, my mom used to quote that poem every Fourth of July and on Veterans’ Day. Thank you…

Wow, DRY, not a dry eye here…

Yes, Calvin, it is hard to “be religious” in the bad times! “He is able…”

I saw this bumper sticker a week ago, Dry:

“If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it’s in English, thank a veteran.”

Amen.

Great story, Dry.

Heads up for Margueritem and anyone else interested in things Holmesian…Sherlock is on again at 8PM CST on PBS tonight.

**Good morning Marg! Good morning Fran and Kizzzy! Good Morning L’Wolf! Good Morning Grog!**

Thank you Marg!

And thank you Vets!!!!

**Good morning Marg! Good morning Fran and Kizzzy! Good Morning L’Wolf! Good Morning Grog!**

Thank you Marg!

And thank you Vets!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HORIZON

Dry and Marg great tributes today for veterans everywhere a day of remembrances.

a heartfelt thank you to all those who have written today and a more than heartfelt thank you to all that have served, and lost, for our freedoms. thanks granpa, dad, uncles and brother and cousins……..

Lots of great posts today, especially from Marg and Dry.

In the same spirit, if I may post the link to Terry Kelly’s powerful reminder, “Pittance of Time,”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlrrAWCTRg&feature=share

I would love to see the United States adopt a similar practice.

Marg, Dry, Thank you. Hoomi, Thank you for the link. Horizon, Happy Birthday.

A heartfelt thank you to all those who have served, and to the families who have also sacraficed for that service.

Marg, Dry, and Hoomi - thank you for your posts.

Happy Birthday Horizon

Happy Veteran’s Day! We have a long line of Air Force Veteran’s in my family that we’re all so proud of today.

’

It’s not so hard to be religious, Calvin, when you realize that, in a “perfect” would you would have been hit long ago by your own bolt of lightning–but instead you have been granted the chance to repent and change, along with the help you need to do so, just as Moe is. That is why I am religious: so that I can be the best person I can be.

Glad to see you decided to stay around Hobbes. The comments are blessed with your input.

Hoomi, I am in my 60s. When I was growing up, almost everyone and everything paused at 11:11 on November 11th for one minute of silence. The radio went silent, classes stopped, people in stores and on the street would stand still. That was the time the armistice for WW 1 was signed.

It’s not a practice we need to adopt as much as one we need to go back to. I imagine there are still places this is observed, but my guess is that they are most likely in the more unhurried areas of the country.

I predict Moe will enlist in the Army after he drops out of high school, and will become a supply sergeant.

yes, thanks for all the great posts. I’m watching the ceremony at Victory Square (Vancouver) as I write this. 10:49 PST – we’ll have our minute’s silence in 11 minutes (on the hour here)

And now the silence is over and we’re onto the lament.

With all of the bullying going on nowadays, I hope that Bill Watterson has Moe get his comeuppance.

Hope you’re having a terrific birthday, Horizon–what a terrific gift!

Moe has gone to far, there must be some supervision here some place.

Three before me served. WWII, Korea, and ‘Nam. I didnt serve, and I wish I had. My way of saying thank you is to participate with the Patriot Guard Riders, and to greet any military OR first responder I see. Thank you needs to come everyday, not just 11-11. I love these people.

Thanks for posting that great story, Dry.

beautiful marg! just beautiful!

Some awesome posts from Marg, Dry and everyone. It is great to see this.

Thank you to all the veterans, past and present. Everyone of them, men and women, during peacetime or in war time, signed that “blank check” when they were sworn in! God bless you all! Brothers forever!

GreatEighthSin said, “Hence the reason why I’m not religious at all.” Now I know what the GreatEighthSin is! :o) When the Lord Jesus Christ returns in glory, he will overcome evil and wickedness, and establish a kingdom of peace and righteousness. Ultimately, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein righteousness dwells.” II Peter 3:13

Thank you Marg and Dry.

A good reason to be an atheist.

Red Skelton had a way of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance (for the US folk) that wouldn’t be bad to hear, especially on this day of remembrance…Marg, and awesome way to begin. Hope the link works!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwYBMasloHI

Very nice one, Dry.

GreatEighthSin and Puddleglum2, Coincidentally I came across this quote by Albert Einstein - “The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer “.

Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool. Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school. To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here I fought for King and country I love dear. ‘Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung, The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung Our families back in England were toasting us that day Their brave and glorious lads so far away.

I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound Says I, “Now listen up, me boys!” each soldier strained to hear As one young German voice sang out so clear. “He’s singing bloody well, you know!” my partner says to me Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more As Christmas brought us respite from the war As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” struck up some lads from Kent The next they sang was “Stille Nacht.” “Tis ‘Silent Night’,” says I And in two tongues one song filled up that sky “There’s someone coming toward us!” the front line sentry cried All sights were fixed on one long figure trudging from their side His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shown on that plain so bright As he, bravely, strode unarmed into the night Soon one by one on either side walked into No Man’s Land With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave ‘em hell We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home These sons and fathers far away from families of their own Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin This curious and unlikely band of men

Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more With sad farewells we each prepared to settle back to war But the question haunted every heart that lived that wonderous night “Whose family have I fixed within my sights?” ‘Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost, so bitter hung The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung For the walls they’d kept between us to exact the work of war Had been crumbled and were gone forevermore

My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell Each Christmas come since World War I, I’ve learned its lessons well That the ones who call the shots won’t be among the dead and lame And on each end of the rifle we’re the same

© 1984 John McCutcheon - All rights reserved

Kudos to John McCutcheon for preserving this true story forever in song!!

I cannot believe the number of people who do not recognize ‘In Flanders Fields’… Uneducated, uncaring, ungrateful, selfish, doltish, automatons. All Dem’s, no doubt.

you got that right, calvin

you got that right, calvin

Rumplesnitz, I do not often comment in this forum politically.

However, I believe that it is the Dem’s that do have a care and are most likely to remember.

It’s more likely that the GOP are the ones that first pulled the trigger !

Welcome back Hobbes. Yes, it would be nice if they woud let you go to school with Calvin - you would do a good job of protecting him. It would be worth the sacrifice of getting up early to teach that mean ole bully Moe a lesson.

And of all the gin joints in all the world.. - Ooops, wrog reference…

Kab Buch, like the picture… says it all.

Yes, war is just about every yucky term imaginable - but the alternatives can be MUCH worse.. the seldom - used fourth verse of the Star Spangled Banner says it…

“O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”

And again, contemporarily; Heather Alexander - March of Cambreadth…

“…Fight to keep this land your own.. [..] How Many Of THEM Can We Make Die!”

Thanks to all veterans… and may God bless…

Oh, for pity’s sake,Night-Gaunt49 ! Which bowl of liberal KoolAid have you been drinking?

Link to March of Cambreadth, BTW - several video renditions on YouTube…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCrnF844_ww

Here is a great video honoring our veterans. It will bring tears to your eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KTb6qdPu8JE

moronbis, “He who laughs last, laughs best.” I hope Einstein finally made it to Heaven where he can still laugh. Otherwise, the laugh is on him, unfortunately. “He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall hold them in derision.” Psalm 2:4 One doesn’t have to be a nonbeliever or a believer to be a bigot!

Thank you all for your wishes!!! :)

I have a grandfather who fought in the Vietnam War, an uncle who was in the armed forces, and a brother-in-law who’s serving now. All three have come home, but we still need to remember those who have not.

Brilliant Calvin!

Moe would make a good Grunt.