There will be hundreds of reasons for WWl given and most will probably have some merit, but for me Armistice Day was the day when we had a parade down Main Street in which the community notables rode, the High School band paraded and the veterans of that terrible war marched, some wearing those wrap around leggings of the Army at that time.

I was a child of the Great Depression, born in 1928 and raised by poor, working class parents who should be nominated for sainthood. The Armistice Day parade was an excuse for the entire community to come together, and the most striking part of it, for me, was the flag passing by. When that happened the people on both sides of the street stood a little straighter and everyone placed their hand over their heart in salute to the colors. I miss that.

People back then loved their country. Not for anything it did for them, in fact it did very little to hlp them, and they didn't expect it to, but they loved their country just because it was their country. We could use some of that today.