John McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I. He is best known for his poem 'In Flanders Fields', which is one of the most famous war poems of all time. McCrae wrote the poem in 1915 while serving as a medical officer in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Second Battle of Ypres. The poem was inspired by the death of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who was killed in battle. McCrae's poem has become an iconic symbol of remembrance for those who have died in war.