My grandfathers fought in World War I. I can still remember, as a very young child, hearing my grandfather cough... cough... cough his life away, the result of exposure to German gas warfare in the trenches from which his lungs never fully recovered. It made the horrors of the "War To End All Wars" a lot more real to me.
I'm very sorry that the USA chose to make November 11th Veterans Day, instead of Armistice Day. It would have been more fitting, I think, to join the rest of the world in remembering that anniversary, and choosing another day to honor our own veterans. Many's the time I've heard the church bells or sirens sound at 11 a.m. on November 11th, and seen traffic - vehicle and pedestrian - come to a halt on the streets as people bowed their heads for a minute of silence to commemorate the dead. It was a profoundly moving experience.
Peter
You have a point. Yet, I'm not sure, in this so - called modern age, that we would honor their memory appropriately in any case.
ReplyDeleteConsider Memorial Day. The tradition began as Decoration Day, when the families of those lost in the American Civil War would lay wreaths and flowers at the Graves of their loved ones, and gather with the surviving veterans of the war to remember them. Today, it seems to have largely devolved into an unofficial start to summer vacations, an occasion to watch a famous automobile race, and an excuse for merchants to advertise bargains.
I've had many sillyvillians who, when they learned that I served, would wish me a, "Happy Memorial Day!" The tone-deafness of that oblivious narcissm always grates on my nerves.
You all be safe and God bless.
ReplyDeleteCDR Salamander shared the following thoughts, which parallel yours. :
ReplyDeletehttps://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2022/11/fullbore-friday_11.html
Night driver.
My parents remember it originally being Armistice Day. We then had VE and VJ Day (Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan) and I think they eventually just rolled them all into one day.
ReplyDeleteI still can't help crying on Armistice day. My father died in October 1940 as a member of the French Resistance, so I never saw him, and my mother spent the rest of her long life as a widow. Please remember those who fought and died long before the US eventually joined WW2.
ReplyDelete