Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is a line from the Odes (III.2.13) by the Roman lyric poet Horace. The line translates: "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country." The Latin word patria (homeland), literally meaning the country of one's fathers or ancestors, is the source of the French word for a country, patrie, and of the English word "patriot".
Detail of the inscription over the rear entrance to Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The inscription reads: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori".
Plaque at the war memorial in Graceville, Queensland, Australia
Plaque at Queen's Park in Toronto dedicated to the militia that put down the North-West Rebellion
Boer War memorials at St George the Martyr, Holborn (top) and St Leonard's, Shoreditch (above)
Joseph Trumpeldor
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Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor was an early Zionist activist who helped to organize the Zion Mule Corps and bring Jewish immigrants to Palestine. Trumpeldor died defending the settlement of Tel Hai in 1920 and subsequently became a Jewish national hero. According to a standard account, his last words were "It's nothing, it is good to die for our country", but that he ever said these words has been challenged.
Joseph Trumpeldor in Japanese captivity, c. 1905. Trumpeldor sent this photo to his parents from captivity. Above him is a sign of the Jewish prisoners society "Bne Zion Hashevuyim beYapan" ("Sons of Zion captives in Japan") that he helped to found.
Joseph Trumpeldor 1918 (seated 2nd from right)
Joseph Trumpeldor in 1917