The hostilities of "The Great War" stopped on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, even though the actual Treaty of Versailles was not signed until about 7 months later. The following year Woodrow Wilson recognized the day. Veteran's groups have successfully fought efforts to shift the day to a three-day holiday floater, which is in my opinion a good thing. There is something significant about THE DAY that should be recognized and not turned into a homogenized generic long weekend.
I hope all of Paco's readers will fly their flag today (you DO have one, don't you???) and honor, in whatever way seems appropriate to you, those among us who risked their lives, and especially to those who gave their lives, in the interest of freedom.
Freedom isn't free. When we forget that, we run the risk of loosing it. (Please, no partisan political comments from either side. This isn't the day for it.)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Today Marks Veteran's Day.
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5 comments:
The Stars and Stripes always flies at my home!
Same here. It isn't home without one.
NO, today does NOT commemorate Veterans Day, that's what Armed Forces Day is about.
ARMISTICE DAY, today, commemorates the end of World War I which was felt, at the time, to have been the most horrific experience of warfare in history. The idea was to remember (which is why it's Remembrance Day north of the border) how bad it was, how many people died, so it wouldn't happen again. It's the end of WWI that today commemorates, which is why poppies are sold ("In Flanders' fields . . .").
This is not a day for all of us veterans to show our "I was alive in '65" ribbons - or whatever else we may have earned. This is a day to celebrate an outbreak of peace. And I don't give a damn about how Ike and Congress hijacked the day in 1954: this one is for the celebration of the peace, not those who helped bring it about.
PC'trol,
As a veteran of the US Army, I defended the right for you to say that utterly foolish comment.
To acknowledge the outbreak of peace without recognizing the fighting men who brought it about is insisting that it rain without the benefit of clouds. You cannot have one without the other.
As I said, Gadfly, that's what Armed Forces Day is for. I did my time too, but what does that have to do with the end of WWI? Last time I looked, I was in SE Asia in 1970-71 not Europe in 1918-19.
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