This is the day to honor living veterans.
But it's worth remembering that this day originally began as Armistice Day, to mark the day that the Great War ended. It was not to remember those who fought, but to remember the day that they stopped fighting what was, at that time, the most destructive and deadly war in modern history.
It began as a day to mark the outbreak of peace.
Unfortunately, instead of an armistice or a lasting peace, it became a hiatus. Less than nineteen years later, almost all of the combatants in the first war went to war in the second one.*
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*Except for the Japanese. And the Russians, who began the war on one side and were then attacked and invaded by their former ally. And the Italians, who switched sides early enough to avoid becoming an occupied nation at the end of the war.
Needs More Rotation Notation
1 hour ago
4 comments:
Thanks for your service too.
There are idiots who still think war is glorious. Um, no. Peace is Glorious. War (as it was once said) is Hell. Honoring Veterans on this day should be more than just a free meal and a shopping discount. It should be marked as to how much we are working at keeping the peace, so there won't be war veterans. I was in Bush I's sandbox adventure, and exited after Bush II's disasters in the sandbox. I'd rather have a bunch of veterans who didn't have combat experience, than one who did. But war is the failure setting of politics.
As a real war hero once said: " I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in." George McGovern
I kinda like the idea of Remembrance Day. Is it too late to shift Veterans day to Memorial day, and make 11/11 a reflective day also? The commercialization of both make them interchangeable to most of the public, and I'd prefer 11/11 to be somber.
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