Armistices 90th Anniversary

[chrissy]

On November 11th at 11:00am GMT, again there will be a two minutes silence to remember all of the fallen soldiers, this date came from WW1 when the Armistice was signed. It will mark 90 years since that "war to end all wars" ended. Tears will be shed for those brave people a sad day to say the least for many.
Many of us have seen wars, know someone who has returned from a recent war, had family members who have fought in a war, whether it was Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, the Falkland Islands, Korea, Borneo, Vietnam or the two Great Wars, we might also know of someone who has lost their life, young men and women, serving their country a young life cut short. Not because they wanted to be in the middle of the *action* but to make a better place for the inhabitants to live in. A cruel sacrifice for peace.

"LEST WE FORGET"

[mike alexander]

In Flanders fields the poppys grow
between the crosses, row on row
that mark our place...


My Uncle Steve, who was eighteen at "The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" told me what the war's end was like back in southeastern Ohio...

Armistice Day became Veteran's Day in the U.S. about 50 years ago, so that all veterans could be invited to the big Veteran's Day sales.

[Graybeard6]

Veterans Day: the day that veterans work so civil servants can have a holiday.

[PraedSt]

On November 11th at 11:00am GMT, again there will be a two minutes silence to remember all of the fallen soldiers

Thanks for this thread Chrissy. It's been years since I've been able to find a poppy to wear in November. It's been Facebook apps since then, but I like this better.

Thank you to our soldiers; past, present and future.
http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/IMGP1945.jpg

[HenrikOlsen]

The thing that makes veterans day acceptable for me is the thought that it is actually celebrating every soldier on every side,knowing that all people fighting, on all sides, did so in the belief that they where making a better world.

[geonuc]

Lest we forget.

I won't forget. My father was in three wars: WWII, Korea and Vietnam. That's more than should be asked of anyone.

[Moose]

The wiki article on In Flanders Field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields) is worth reading, and has the full poem.

[chrissy]

My father served in Borneo/Malaysia, he and some of his fellow soldiers went back earlier this year and was presented a medal by the PM of Malasysia, people in the streets were thanking them and making them ever so welcome, even on the aeroplane the cabin crew went to the first class area and gave them a bottle of champaigne.
Both my grandfathers served in the second WW. on the opposite side to one another, as did my great-grandfathers in WW1.
My son has been to Iraq when he was just 18 years old and now heading out to Afghanistan next year.
My little sister has been everywhere, Iraq, Afghanistan (twice), Bosnia, Northern Ireland (peace time) and the Falkland Islands (twice).
Both have seen things many would only get to see in films and the news. :(
I will wear my medals and poppy with pride too. :)


I will bow my head in silence and thank all who have served and gave their lives on all sides.
Lest we forget.

[Abbadon_2008]

My family served in every war the US has fought from the War with Spain, up till the present. Though I'd forgotten the 11th Hour Armistice Anniversary was appeoaching, my tohughts and prayers always go out to the armed servicemen (and women).

[Fledermaus]

Today is a day that sits heavy on many peoples hearts. We should all remember all that have given their lives yesterday so we could have tomorrow.

After the soldier's Funeral.

And so we hide our dead in silent shade,
And hasten back to life, and life's parade;
Plunge into duty, grind in labor's mill,
Till the eye sees not, and the heart is still;
Weep each reverse and shout each victory,
And breathe our benisons, dear flag, on thee.
Living or dying, nation of the free,
Our hopes, our hearts, our lives, are all with thee.

Samuel Francis Smith

[eric_marsh]

World War I (AKA "The Great War") was horrendous, perhaps even more so than WW II. What I find interesting is that there is not really all that much on-line documentations of WW I. I've found a few sites with a few pictures and some stories but I think that many people do not understand the size or significance of the Great War.

[chrissy]

Here is a link for The war to end all wars (http://www.google.com/custom?domains=bautforum.com&q=the+war+to+end+all+wars&sitesearch=&sa=Google+Search&client=pub-0569369285898)

There is a few references for this.

chrissy

[mike alexander]

And always there is the spade
Providing final shade to
Roundhead and Cavalier
Blue and Grey
Tommy and Zulu
Hun and John Bull
Joe and the Divine Wind.

And afterwards the old uniforms,
Half-filled, gather over toasts
Of hoarded whisky and warmed wine
To toast the bravery of the other side.

And Dixie is a sprightly tune;
No one knows why Albion was perfidious
Or why God sent the wind to scatter the Invincible.
Firestorm becomes an old saw,
Like shots ringing out.

But once a year they gather
To salute the ever-receding past
Even as the present offers old reasons
To keep the spade filed sharp.

[davidlpf]

To add to the day around my place it will be a year for a passing of a family member.

[mike alexander]

You have my sympathy, davidlpf.

[chrissy]

You have my sympathy too, I am so sorry. :(


Here is a few pictures taken from Sunday.

My little sister and my father attended the parade, in the village Where I lived for many years and the cenotaph dedicated to those who lived there and died during WW1.

[PowerGirl]

The 11th hour...

[Sticks]

We have had a one minute's silence at work

Why just one minute I am not sure, I removed myself from my desk to the kitchen so I could observe the full two minutes, without the danger of the telephone interupting it, plus I switched of my two mobiles.

I had great uncle somewhere on my mother's side who interrogated German POW's

The one poem we remember at this time is this

They grow not old as those who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them

[PraedSt]

God bless. My sympathies also davidlpf.

[Salty]

Oh, God...
All the memebers...
Of all the military...
Of all the nations of the world...
Who died in the line of duty...
Grant them peace.

[davidlpf]

Thanks for the sympathies everybody.

[mike alexander]

Grant us ALL peace.

[Nicolas]

The bunkers are still here, in between the cows and grass these days
The graves are still here, in the silence and beauty all those resting there deserve
Every day we still dig up the bombs
Belgium will never forget, and we are making very sure our children will neither

In my youth, I walked to school every day on a path in the midst of Flanders' fields, where lots of poppies would grow in the summer. The only threat to me were nettles. Nobody should ever forget it wasn't always like that and will not always be like that if we forget.

[LaurelHS]

In my youth, I walked to school every day on a path in the midst of Flanders' fields, where lots of poppies would grow in the summer.

Being Canadian, I grew up hearing John McCrae's poem In Flanders' Fields (http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/firstwar/vimy/vimy1a) read on Remembrance Day (on one occasion I was the one reading it). It is powerful no matter how many times I read it or hear it. Two of my late relatives served in World War II (in the US Army and the Royal Canadian Navy).

[LaurelHS]

World War I (AKA "The Great War") was horrendous, perhaps even more so than WW II. What I find interesting is that there is not really all that much on-line documentations of WW I. I've found a few sites with a few pictures and some stories but I think that many people do not understand the size or significance of the Great War.

I would recommend reading Wilfred Owen's poetry (http://users.fulladsl.be/spb1667/cultural/owen.html) for a firsthand account of the Great War. It's very graphic and disturbing, but he was just being honest.

[Nicolas]

Being Canadian, I grew up hearing John McCrae's poem In Flanders' Fields (http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/firstwar/vimy/vimy1a) read on Remembrance Day (on one occasion I was the one reading it). It is powerful no matter how many times I read it or hear it. Two of my late relatives served in World War II (in the US Army and the Royal Canadian Navy).

I must add that these days, poppies (I mean growing in the wild) aren't that common here. Just some trivia :).

[Parrothead]

Was up early enough yesterday to catch the last bit of coverage from London on BBCWorld. Later catching some of the coverage from Ottawa. Born and raised in Canada, I learned about the battles that Canadian soldiers took part in. During the annual "poppy drive", I try to get one from a vet, something about the feeling when they pin it to your lapel. In a pinch, I'll pick one up from one of the many donation boxes in stores.

Both parents' families were DPs in the aftermath of WWII. One grandfather served in a war following WWI, late Nov. 1918 - Jan. 1920.

[Sticks]

But when do you stop wearing them, is it the day after Armistice day?

I still have mine.

[mahesh]

for show, i would imagine, my shiny tuppence interrupts, from last week in october to A-day.....in reality, i'd wear one in/on my heart all year round....

i, too, have a few of mine, bedraggled as they are, from years ago.
Lest We Forget....

[Parrothead]

But when do you stop wearing them, is it the day after Armistice day?

I still have mine.

I usually keep wearing them a half-week to week afterwards.

[Moose]

But when do you stop wearing them, is it the day after Armistice day?

My father said that tradition (at least in Canada) holds that you wear it up until the moment the ceremony ends on the 11th. Then you remove it. I can offer no confirmation nor input of my own.

[Parrothead]

I have removed mine from my lapel. Found this (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081029/Poppy_Remembrance_081028/20081103/)

There are few things the Legion wants Canadians to keep in mind this Veterans' Week:

The poppy should be worn as close to the heart as possible or on the left lapel of the outermost garment.
The poppy should only be worn during the Remembrance period, starting the on last Friday of October and ending at midnight on Nov. 11, or at other veteran-related special events.
The poppy should never be defaced in any way including replacing its pin.
An old poppy should never be reused. Appropriate disposal of the poppy is left to the discretion of each individual.
Any poppies found lying on the ground would be best placed lying at the foot of a war monument or in a local cemetery.

[mahesh]

Sir, i've never 're-used' an old poppy/used poppy...
i didn't know until now, about its/their disposal.
i take heed. thank you for the link.

[captain swoop]

My Grandad was in the Artillery in WW1, he was gassed twice and sent back to England after the second time, his brother was in the Infantry in the Middle East with Laurence.
One of the officers at my Sea Cadcet (Navy cadets) unit back in the 1970s was a 1st war vet. As a Midshipman he was ashore at Gallipoli doing forward observation for Naval Guns.

My Uncle Harold was in the RAF, he went ashore at D-Day as part of a FOO (Forward Observation Unit) His job was calling in rocket firing TRyphoons onto German positions. He called down fire onto his own position twice the enemy were that close.
My Uncle Martin was in the RN, He was on Destroyers in the Med and was sunk twice, once by a mine and the second time by Stukas while evacuating troops from Crete. After that he was on HMS Belfast a cruiser and gave fire support at Normandy.

When I was a Sea Cadet I stood guard on the Cenotaph in Guisborough, two Sea Cadets and two Army Cadets with Arms Reversed (We had Lee enfields for parade and drill.)

Fortunately I missed all the shooting in the Falklands and the Russians never sent any Subs for me to sink while I was in the Navy.

[filrabat]

My 85 year old uncle, who joined the Marines at 16 and served in the Pacific Theater, passed away on Nov 4. He was buried on Nov 10, the anniversary of the Continental Congress's act founding the Marine Corps in 1775 (and by happenstance, the day before Veterans/Armistice Day).

Quite an appropriate ending for a Marine.

[mahesh]

deep condolences to you and your family, filrabat!

[Trebuchet]

No one wears them here in the USA any more. Kind of too bad. I noticed them in BBC and Canadian broadcasts the past week.

[chrissy]

That is a shame Trebuchet. :(

We should send you some over next year, but you have to make a small donation. Let any of us Uk lot know, we are willing to help in that I am sure. :)

chrissy

[Sticks]

There are some in the UK that believe the red poppies glorify war, so they brought out white poppies of peace. You tend to find them at places like health food shops

[JohnD]

The war poems above express the sadness of, and hope after war.
Sample the rage and disgust, of Siegfried Sassoon:

Dulce et Decorum est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! -- - An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. -- -
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Bitten as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -- -
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

[mahesh]

http://www.edithcavell.org.uk/


http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4010/is_/ai_n9179726

quote from link, above:
How many of you have seen the white marble statue of a British nurse standing just above Trafalgar Square and beneath Leicester Square in London? It is the statue of Nurse Edith Cavell. One of her claims to fame is that in the early morning hours of October 12, 1915, she was tied to a stake in German-occupied Belgium and shot as a traitor for the "crime" of assisting soldiers in their flight to neutral Holland. Her last moments were described by an eyewitness: "After receiving the sacrament, and within minutes of being led out to her death, she said, `Standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone."'

edit: What an incredible lady! What an incredible human being!

On the base of her London statue are carved the words, "Patriotism is not enough." This is an impressive message from one who lost her life in the name of somebody else's patriotism.

my highlights

i am always 'sobered up' and get off any high horse i may be riding, every time i pass / espy Edith Cavell's statue.

Edit(h): What an incredible lady! what an incredible human being!

[LaurelHS]

Dulce et Decorum Est is by Wilfred Owen, not Sassoon.

[Nicolas]

There are some in the UK that believe the red poppies glorify war, so they brought out white poppies of peace. You tend to find them at places like health food shops

Aaaaah, the glorious new heights of PC. Come to flanders in summer, open your eyes. Them poppies be red. The statue says "nooit meer oorlog" : "never another war". Both seem clear enough to me. End of discussion.

[captain swoop]

the white poppies are from http://www.whitepoppy.org.uk/. They think the red poppy perpetuates war and is propaganda. By the proceeds going to the Haig Fund for ex servicemen and their dependants and the wearing of it remembering those that have died in war, those that wear it are supporting war.

[Nicolas]

The red poppy is what grows here. The white is not. Simple as that for me, but then again, I'm a really simple mind, so it probably is all my fault. ;)

[chrissy]

The red poppy is actually a symbol of the blood shed in wars, nothing more nothing less. :(

[mike alexander]

You can see Mount Edith Cavell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Edith_Cavell) in Jasper National Park, Alberta.

[Fledermaus]

The White poppy is the Opium poppy. Mawseed (Papaver somniferum, var album) A poison!

I was tought as a Cub Scout at 7years old that the red poppy represented the wound of a soldier, the black centre the bullet wound and the red was the spread of the blood. Also thet the only thing that grew in abundance after WW1 was red poppys on the fields and trenches.

I dont see the red poppy as glorifying war,I see it as remembering all those that fell in the line of duty. I also believe that every one should be remembered who fell on all sides as they were all some ones son, daughter, mother or father. I will always wear my poppy with pride and I will remeber what was given so I could have a future.