To Save Or Bury A Battlefield...

A young soldier and surgeon, Major John McCrae, attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, in the Spring of 1915 was a witness to the horrors of war. The good doctor never grew accustomed to the screams of pain and anguish, the suffering, the blood, and the dying at his dressing station in Ypres salient.

One death in particular hit Major McCrae very hard.

A friend and former student, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed by a shell burst on May 2, 1915. Lt. Helmer was buried that same day in a small cemetery just outside Major McCrae’s dressing station; due to the absence of the chaplain, Major McCrae performed the ceremony. The following day Major McCrae penned this poem:

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.

~Lt. Col. John McCrae (1872-1918)

Shortly after putting these words to paper, Major McCrae inadvertently handed his notepad containing this poem to another young soldier, Sergeant-Major Cyrill Allison. Sergeant-Major Allison noted: “The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at the time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene.”

An exact description of the scene.

It is hard not to envision Flanders Fields just as Major McCrae saw it on that Spring day in 1915. Read it again and you will see rows and rows of poppies growing between the rows and rows of white stone crosses marking the graves of those who fell in battle. And as you read, can you also see in your mind’s eye, the townhouses, condos, shopping mall, and a parking lot with its bright lights shining down on the scene?

It may seem outrageous to suggest that you might also see urban sprawl on top of a battlefield or burial ground of American soldiers killed in action. We can all agree that building 400,000 plus square feet of shopping space on top of Arlington Green is ridiculous. That it would be unthinkable to build 95 single family dwellings, alongside almost 900 condominiums and townhouses on Gettysburg National Military Park. But sadly, the equivalent of all of this, is currently being proposed right here in America’s Historic Triangle, and more specifically in the City of Williamsburg.

5 May 1862, just one half mile east of our beloved Colonial Williamsburg 3,843 American soldiers laid down their lives upon the field of battle. Many of these were buried where they fell, often in unmarked graves. Some of course would be re-interred later, some sadly were not. Left to their unmarked graves upon the field where they gave all.

In July 2009 the Civil War Sites Advisory Council (a branch of the National Park Service) designated this battlefield as Core Battlefield Property, ground where combat and casualties were sustained. This field of battle where brave young Americans paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country is now facing a threat of its own -- the threat of being buried beneath yet another shopping center here in Williamsburg.

The proposal by Riverside Healthcare includes combining two large pieces of property totaling 337 acres. These two pieces of property lie within the Core Battlefield Property. What is being proposed is the building of 200,000 plus square feet of office space, 95 single family dwellings, 882 condominiums and townhouses, and 400,000 plus square feet of shopping center, in addition to a hospital and nursing home. All of this to be built on top of the site of the Battle of Williamsburg.

Drive throughout this city and you will see unfinished projects similar to this one being proposed; the AIG Baker and Marquis Shopping Centers come to mind. Setting aside the economics and the fiscal responsibility of starting yet another such project in America’s Historic Triangle, let us consider what happens if this project is allowed to move forward as planned…the battlefield of the Battle of Williamsburg will be buried forever. Lost to corporate and urban expansion.

Read the poem again.

Seems ridiculous to read of Flanders Field and imagine anything else than the “exact description” that Major McCrae gives isn’t it?

Now imagine reading those words and trying to envision it while standing in the parking lot of what used to be that field.

“We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.”

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Stephan P. Zacharias is the proud grandson of Staff Sgt. David P. Spears, 25th Infantry Division, KIA, July 24, 1966, Vietnam, Panel 9 East, Line 71. Zacharias has been a living history performance professional since 2001, is an active member of the National Association of Interpreters, and is currently employed by Colonial Williamsburg.