Ella Osborn’s 1918 diary provides insight into the experiences of an American nurse serving in France at the end of World War I. In addition to her notes about the men under her care and events in France, Osborn jotted down two popular World War I poems, "In Flanders Fields," by Canadian surgeon Lt. Col. John D. McCrae, and "The Answer," by Lt. J. A. Armstrong of Wisconsin.
McCrae composed "In Flanders Fields" on May 3, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium. It was published in Punch magazine on December 8, 1915, and became one of the most popular and frequently quoted poems about the war. It was used for recruitment, in propaganda efforts, and to sell war bonds. Today the red poppy of McCrae’s poem has become a symbol for soldiers who have died in combat.
