John McCrae

 Once Abraham Lincoln exclaimed these amazing words, "I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong." This quote means that a solider that goes and has a job to fight for their country's right, and if some solider decides to betray or dies, the solider has to try and move on. John McCrae was a hero, some would say, or a brave man. John McCrae was born on November 30, 1872 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. John McCrae was born by parents, Lieutenant-Colonel David McCrae and Janet Simpson Eckford, therefore having a Scottish background. John McCrae had joined the Highland Cadet Corps at the age of 14, and then the military at the age of 17. He served in the South African War as an artillery subaltern from 1899-1900. After graduating from medical school at the University of Toronto, John McCrae set up his own practice as a pathologist in 1905. When John McCrae first went to war he was a medical officer, on June 1, 1915 in Boulogne No.3 General Hospital. Other occupations included poet, author, and Lieutenant Colonel of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. John McCrae had written the poem "In Flanders Fields" after he was inspired by his friend and his former student Lt. Alexis Helmer, both died in the battle. His poem "In Flanders Fields" was published in the magazine Punch on December 8, 1915. Shortly after, John McCrae got pneumonia and was sick for 5 days before he died. I think John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields" really gave a sense of what John McCrae was going through at that moment in war and the lose of his friends. Even through all the emotion John McCrae was what you could call brave.

 By: Anita