Here’s a list of area events and your chance to share your thoughts and gratitude.
Veterans Day 2015 open thread
by Village 14 | Nov 11, 2015 | Newton | 2 comments
by Village 14 | Nov 11, 2015 | Newton | 2 comments
Here’s a list of area events and your chance to share your thoughts and gratitude.
September 13, 2023
Men's Crib September 13, 2023 5:20 am
When I was a kid, there was a novel I read which was set in 1937 — I forget the title at the moment — and there was a scene where they commemorated Armistice Day at 11:11 AM on November 11. That of course was before World War II happened and before it became the more general remembrance of Veterans Day. But that always stuck with me for some reason. For a long time, in many ways, the first world war, and what happened after it, has been sort of forgotten in favor of more recent conflicts or the more archetypal good-versus-evil narrative of World War II. But between the efforts to push for recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the current chaos in Syria and Iraq, I think we’re going to start hearing a lot more about the end of the first World War and what happened after the Armistice — and how all of that has fueled conflicts to the present day.
Last November 11, I wrote a piece exploring some of those themes (in the broadest possible terms), arguing that the wars and political upheavals of the five year span immediately following 11/11/1918 were probably more influential on world history than the less than five years of the main war from 1914 to 1918: http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/2014/11/11/afterwar-the-armistice-that-didnt-end-europes-war/
I hope some folks here find the piece of interest on this Armistice and Veterans Day!
Veteran’s Day is a special day for me as it is for many. My dad and 12 of my uncles were in WW2. Their service ran the gamut from medical and intelligence officers to infrantry men in Patton’s Army to a Navy sailor badly wounded at Pearl Harbor. All but one came home, but several had lasting injuries from physical impairments to mental disorders. I have listened intently to many stories. The last one passed at 102 years old in 2010.
My dad was called back into service during the Korean War, when I was a young girl, which came as quite a surprise.
My husband was in the Vietnam War, while I protested and wore 3 MIA copper bracelets, and thankfully I was able to give them to the 2 who finally returned. The third I sent to his parents.
I’m quite proud of them and try to honor them each day.