Veterans Day

[BettyO]

Quote:Happy Veteran's Day to all. In about an hour, I will be going to my childrens' school. The school does a Veteran's Day sing every year to honor those who have served. The Children sing the Star Spangled Banner along with the Hymms of each branch of service.

How wonderful indeed, Mike! Thank you and your school!

[Dave Taylor]

My grandfather was a WWII and Korean War veteran. He passed away on July 4th of last year at the age of 95. In 2008, while he was living at his senior living community, which my father visited everyday, he took part in a project a photographer was doing to document the faces and stories of WWII veterans living in the community. My grandfather was a fairly reserved man and while he would talk to me about his war time experiences (often with tears in his eyes) he provided only a short blurb to the man who photographed him for the project.

Despite the harrowing experiences he had endured as a Marine in the South Pacific he summed it all up in two sentences:

"I went in a private and came out a Captain. I'm glad I came out alive."



Thank you to all our veterans, past, present, and future.

[L Verge]

(11-11-2014 11:09 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  When I was in grade school I think it was called Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I. I do not recall when the name was changed.

You are correct on the original name being Armistice Day commemorating the end of WWI. It was changed to Veterans Day in America in 1954 to commemorate those killed in WWII and Korea.

The significance of the date having to be observed on November 11 (instead of one of those Mondays - which it was briefly set for the fourth Monday in October) is because WWI ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. BTW: The last American killed in that war was killed within a minute after the guns fell silent. He was from Baltimore.

Speaking of "silent," there is actually a photo of that famous moment "When the guns fell silent." The British had something during the war that was like a seismograph (? spelling) that measured the decibels of the gun blasts and printed out a graph-like photo. It actually shows a sudden break in the graph as the guns fell silent.

I think that the horrors of World War I are often overlooked today -- eclipsed by WWII.

[BettyO]

Quote:"I went in a private and came out a Captain. I'm glad I came out alive."

Thanks to all of our Veterans - and thank you Dave for a wonderful recollection and photo - I know you treasure your granddad.

My dad also served in WWII, first as a private and then a corporal with the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper. He rarely, if ever, spoke of his wartime experiences, but I remember distinctly as a child laying my finger into the long scar on his forearm - result of a bullet wound received on D-Day over Normandy. He was wounded a second time as he was "dropped" over Sicily.

[KateH.]

We live in the land of the free because of the brave. To all past and present Veterans, thank you for your service and for making the ultimate sacrifice so that our nation can live.

I come from a long line of servicemen and even though I was a kid when he passed, I can still remember hearing my great grandfather tell stories about storming the beach at Normandy during WW2.

[L Verge]

I have to say that I greatly admired Queen Elizabeth for making a public appearance and wreath laying to mark this commemoration of Veterans Day while her nation is on high security alert. I'm sure that she has some vivid memories of WWII to recall. How do you say grace and dignity...? It was also nice to see poppies on the lapels and arranged in wreaths. Am I the only elder in this crowd who remembers that paper poppies used to be passed out by the American Legion and other organizations on Veterans Day to symbolize the epic poem In Flanders Fields?

[brtmchl]

Laurie, I have never heard of poppies being worn on Veteran's Day. I always thought they were worn on Memorial Day.. I never knew why. I'm going to Google Flanders Fields now. I can't recall ever hearing it before.

A few minutes later:
I looked up poppies and Veteran's Day. Apparently the VA has it wrong as wrong as I did, their website refers to Memorial Day. However, Remembrance Day has been honored with Poppies since the end of WW1 just as you said.

Here is an excerpt from the poem:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.


Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Happy Veteran's Day
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6dKWq0CzK-k

[Gene C]

My cousin sent this video tribute called "Mansions"

http://worriersanonymous.org/Share/Mansions.htm

[RJNorton]

That is a powerful video, Gene. Thanks for posting.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(11-11-2014 06:21 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Am I the only elder in this crowd who remembers that paper poppies used to be passed out by the American Legion and other organizations on Veterans Day to symbolize the epic poem In Flanders Fields?

Paper poppies on Veterans Day ring a bell, I think I saw this on TV (noticed this in a movie?! Can anyone think what movie that could have been?), but definitely not the poetic background - thanks, Laurie!

And thanks, Mike, for posting the poem excerpt! It reminds me of this beautiful song:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3HVGO1Ze6YQ

[L Verge]

Not to belabor the point, but here is an excellent history of how the "fake" poppies became a symbol of Armistice/Remembrance/Veterans Day: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/...52348.html All before there was a WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and on and on...

Make sure you find a photo of the magnificent display of poppies around the Tower of London.

Eva, those of us of the Vietnam generation certainly remember "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" It was almost the national anthem of the protest movements of the 1960s. Only I believe Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and maybe the Kingston Trio were famous for it at that time.

[Eva Elisabeth]

IMO the Wiki article on the poppies is fascinating and worth reading:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_poppy
...and there's also the Tower:
   
"The Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red exhibit at the Tower of London in 2014 on the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I which consists of 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British and colonial death."

...and here some photos showing how the "Queen visits Tower of London poppy garden":
http://m.bbc.com/news/uk-29642463

The Queen and WWII remind me of the tough profession she learned in WWII - she's indeed a trained car mechanic.

[HerbS]

When I taught school[History-35yrs],I would always honor vets from that school[I had 2 in Viet-Nam].Then I was fortunate to have 2 Korean War Pow's speak[very moving]as well as Gulf War vets,and Somilia.Having them speak and listening to them tell thier stories would bring tears to my eyes.Perhaps the most unforgetable moment was when I interviewed a Combat photographer in WW2 for the National Archives.My family has had vets from the American Revolution,Civil War,Sp Am War,WW1+2,Korea,Viet-Nam[me-PTSD],and Gulf War.It has taken me 55yrs to come to grips with what I did in Viet-Nam[Big secret].

[RJNorton]

I salute all our veterans past and present who have served the United States of America. Thank you for your service and for protecting our freedom!

[ELCore]

Quote:Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause — honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.

Abraham Lincoln: December 2, 1863; Letter to George Opdyke and Others; Collected Works, Volume VII, page 32; originally (?) in Complete Works, ed. Nicolay and Hay, Volume Two, 1894, page 441.