Ypres, 100 years after World War I

Great Peace Run and Walk This year, 2018, is exactly 100 years after the end of the First World War. 1700 hikers and 2300 runners from 41 different nationalities came together for the first great peace run and walk in Ypres. The run starts at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing. On top of that, Wings for Life World Run, a non-profit organization for spinal cord injuries and paraplegia, also participated for their fifth annual fund-raiser race. The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing The Menin Gate is a war memorial dedicated to over 54.000 soldiers who were killed in the Ypres salient of WWI and have no known grave. The music you hear is the Last Post. It was played for the first time by Buglers from the Somerset Light Infantry in July 1927. Since 1928, the Last Post is played every evening at 8pm regardless of the number of attendants or weather conditions in memory of the fallen. 600.000 clay statues in Ypres The first world war claimed 600.000 victims in Belgium. Koen van Mechelen came up with a project to remember them. Tens of thousands of people from all over the country – students, tourists, families spent almost four years working on this Coming World Remember Me (CWRM) project. They made 600.000 crouching figures out of clay – one for each victim of the Great War that fell in Belgium. A giant egg measuring 10 by 4 meters is placed in the middle of the field – the fist-sized figures carefully around it. It took 50 days to place all statues in a no man’s land between what was once a German and British trench. The giant egg symbolizes life – even after a catastrophic war like WWI, new life can still flourish. The Belgian rain and mud will weather the figures for 8 months before they are removed in November 2018 and given away. Everyone that made a statue donated 5 euro. Half of this will go to two good causes: a project for young children in North Uganda and East Congo, and a Cosmogolem Foundation project in Zimbabwe. If you want to join upcoming Wings for Life World Run: Wings for Life: http://www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com If you want to know more about the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing: https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-cemeteries-and-memorials/91800/ypres-memorial If you want to know more about the clay statues: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/The%2BGreat%2BWar/1.3139875# The last Post: http://www.lastpost.be Recorded by Thijs Geritz Holder: Buglers of the Last Post Association License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Piano: One Step Closer by Aakash Gandhi Song in the end: Note to the Unknown Soldier Songwriter: John Ondrasik, sung by Five for Fighting Lyrics: I don't know you I never met you For laughs I'll call you Sam You were the son Of Mrs. Someone I hope she understands Sam you were all that you had Are you happy or sad I never knew you But I'm told you're the best we had Were you so tall Did you play Basketball Was there a sweetheart at home Did you write her letters Did it make you better face the great unknown Sam did you feel alone You were so far from home I never knew you But I know you're the best man I know Could you tell it was time See it coming in the back of your mind When it was over, was it over Sam I'm glad you're on my side I don't know you I never met you Can I call you Sam Did you have a son A daughter with a little one I might go and thank Sam you're the best that we have You make me happy and sad If you were here, I'd buy the beers I'd shake your hand and say good man And though the sun would shine about the same It's a better world because you came Sincerely yours, my kids will know your name