Veterans Day in America


Thank you to all the Veterans today and everyday. We salute you for the sacrifices you and your families have made for us.

Grateful Heart

4 Comments

I have not heard the cock.....

by donr - 2014-11-12 11:11:08

....crow. Therefore I am safe.

I'm a vet & unapologetic.

Thanks for remembering us.

Nov 11 is an international day - called "Remembrance Day" in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand & the rest of the English speaking Commonwealth. "Armistice de la Première Guerre mondiale" in France.

Originally created to memorialize the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month 1918 - the armistice time of World War One, it was called "Armistice Day" pretty much everywhere in the English speaking world. By 1954 when it was changed to Veterans Day in the US no one remembered why the bells were tolled at that hour every year, so its name was changed.

We may not want to talk about it because it was so terrible; it unleashed on the world unimaginable carnage. The UK alone lost 888,000 plus killed in action - More than the combined killed in the UK & US forces in WW-II. The Germans lost over 2 Million men in WW-I; another 5 milliion in WW-II. The Soviet Union WW-II losses were over 13 Million.

Sometime in the period 1979-1981, I was in Munich w/my family. We were wandering around in a park and came upon a larger than life granite likeness of an Infantryman, laid out on a bier, dressed in helmet & greatcoat. A very poignant, but sad, memorial. Our 10 yr old son asked me to explain it. I told him what it was & he asked me "Why - they didn't win?" My answer - "The losers also mourn their dead."

On the Island of Okinawa, one of the southern most Japanese islands, is a long curving cliff whose head is dotted with magnificent stone memorials. Its geographic name is Mabuni cliff. It is several hundred feet to the rocks below, where the Pacific Ocean crashes relentlessly against the near vertical volcanic face, as it has for eons, and as it does tonight. Today, its more common name is "Suicide Cliff." For good reason - in June, 1945, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers & Okinawan civilians died by jumping off those cliffs. The stone memorials are a tribute to those poor souls.

Maybe, just maybe, we should talk about this day.

Donr

UK Remembrance !

by IAN MC - 2014-11-13 03:11:32

Hi Don The exact number of British military who died in the 1914- 18 war was 888, 246.

Just yesterday I went to see the Tower of London where 888,246 red ceramic poppies have been planted in the moat around the tower. Each poppy represents a life which was lost.

The sea of red is a breathtaking and highly emotional spectacle .

I hope it has been given TV coverage around the world . If not, Google "Poppies Tower of London "

Ian

I knew about the Tower Moat...

by donr - 2014-11-13 07:11:37

...project. I cannot recall how I first learned about it, but I followed it till yesterday. It received zero publicity in the US that I know of. That was a magnificent project to demonstrate to all the magnitude of the carnage of war.

History is taught so poorly in the US these days that if you polled our college students probably 85 % of them could not tell you the significance of tolling the bells on 11/11! (Maybe I'm wrong - perhaps it's 98%) But I'll betcha that GH knows!

You want to know the importance of Old Coots to the general population? I can STILL remember my paternal grandmother talking about Armistice Day and its significance to us. She also talked to us about other holidays & their origins & significance. THAT's what grandparents are for - continuity. If even 1 person out of 10,000 here even knew the significance of the Red Poppy, I'd be flabbergasted - let alone ever having seen one.

I have neither seen nor heard of Red Poppies in the US now in my entire adult life. There may be some, but they are isolated in location.

Ian - War is Hell, and it has become an absolute unspeakable Hell in our generation. Not that WW-I was any polite country estate garden party. Until I learned of your ceramic Red Poppy project (I think Tat Man pointed me to it) I had no concept of the impact of that bit of history on the UK. Till I wrote it, did YOU realize that your WW-I losses exceeded those of the the UK AND the US in WW-II.

Examining those two wars, their societal impact was catastrophic on individual generations for all the European nations. Considering that your population was about 80 Million in 1914 (Just a guess, but not far off for the principle of discussion) you lost about 1% of your total population. But look at the impact on the cohorts that were 18-30 at that time - their losses must have approached 10 - 15 %. Now shift to Germany - 2 Million lost. Imagine the impact on those same cohort years. France - must have been about the same as Germany.

While I am talking percentages, it would be nice to recognize that the civilian population of Okinawa was about 300,000 before the war. They lost fully ONE THIRD of their total population in WW-II, most of it in about a 90 day period - 1 April thru 30 June 1945.

Yes, maybe, just maybe, it IS time to talk about this subject ACROSS international boundaries.

Donr

Don and Ian

by Grateful Heart - 2014-11-14 01:11:10


In my neck of the woods, New York, there was TV coverage on the local news and in NYC as well as major newspapers. They showed the red ceramic poppies around the Tower of London and spoke/ wrote of their significance. You're right Ian, it was breathtaking and very solemn. They also showed the Queen walking through the "field" of poppies. It was also on the news that every single ceramic poppy was already sold and the proceeds will go to charity....very touching.

Silk red poppies are still offered here after Church and outside many stores...we get a few every year.

History is taught poorly in the US and there are some attempts to rewrite it. Students do not want to speak up in disagreement against what they are being taught sometimes, in fear of receiving a failing grade. That is where parents and grandparents can separate fact from fiction just as they have in the former years. I'm not a grandparent yet so I'm not putting myself in the "Old Coot" category yet.

Grateful Heart

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