Armistice Day

Subject: Armistice Day -- Moderated Thread
From: mg
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 03:58 PM

For respectful posts only. There will be another one unmoderated.

---

The other thread was removed and this was renamed. Let's not invite rudeness by making a distinction. Play nice. --mudelf

Subject: RE: Armistice Day -- Moderated Thread
From: mg
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 07:53 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ab0v0KaRNk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ab0v0KaRNk

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: mg
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 10:47 PM

It can't. Be done. People here and elsewhere chomp at the bits to abuse veterans in a socially sanctioned way. One or two days a year it should be safe but it is not. Young people observe closely.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: mg
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 11:03 PM

I am removing myself from mudcat for a period of time. Maybe short and maybe long. Abusive ones have won.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 11:54 PM

In recent years in Britain we have seen a return of the 2 minutes silence on this day, as well as that on Remembrance day.
Most if not all schools observe it too.

Attendance at Remembrance events and poppy sales increase year on year.
On Mudcat sadly, the trend is the other way.

We usually have a respectful thread with many contributions.
This year the antis have won completely, but remember they are but a small minority even though they appear to dominate, and intimidate decent folk into keeping silent.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 12:16 AM

Inspired by the poem, In Flanders Fields (the poppies blow.)

Re link, the Guards war memorial in London depicts a dead soldier under a cape.
I believe that is unique.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 12:44 AM

Image of above memorial
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/57440937

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 12:45 AM

Very nice. Thank you

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: GUEST,Forsaken
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 01:10 AM

"There is love, devotion, honourin each little scarlet flower.

I'd kiss each one so fondly

If I had but the power.

May the angels always tend you
is my constant hope and prayer.

For I know that God remembers
all the heroes sleeping there"

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Megan L
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 04:26 AM

Some of us just want a quiet place to remember family who died in conflicts.

I may not believe in heroes but I believe in my granddad who died in the battle of Aisne 14th September 1914. I believe in my dad who worked in a Clydeside shipyard who got home from work and changed into his ARP uniform and spent the night reassuring people till the sirens gave the all clear then crawled into a cold bed since mum and my brothers had been evacuated out into the country at her mums, two hours sleep then back into his working clothes.

I also remember the men of the St Andrews Ambulance Association who died on ambulance duty.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 05:22 AM

I do think the thread should remain exclusively as a homage to those who died and who were maimed. We should not forget they paid the ultimate price.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 08:56 AM

I celebrate Armistice Day as Armistice Day, although the Americans changed it to Veteran's Day when it became clear that we (the US) was (not were, not since the Civil War) going to continue getting into wars (IMHO). But I prefer to have a day to celebrate the idea of ending war, and mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month with thoughts of that (apparently un-American) concept. There is Memorial Day to remember the fallen; Veterans' Day is supposed to celebrate those who went to war and survived, but I cannot celebrate them having gone in the first place, not in my heart.
I feel tremendous sympathy for individuals who have lost loved ones to war, whether those loved ones were combatants or not. But since the end of the draft, anybody going to war (at least for this country) has *volunteered* to do so, and I do not approve of that choice, I do not support that choice, and I wish you wouldn't, especially not in the War on Terror, as it's called here.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 10:07 AM

I always wear a poppy, attend a ceremony and try to reflect on the enormity of the sacrifice made by so many. It is a solemn day for me.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 10:15 AM

It can't. Be done. People here and elsewhere chomp at the bits to abuse veterans in a socially sanctioned way. One or two days a year it should be safe but it is not. Young people observe closely.

Respect must be earned, and issues parsed. As we approach the 100 year anniversary of WWI there are no survivors to tell first hand what it was like, but there are lots of news sources containing that information. Google Search - "end of World War One". That was called "The Great War" - a double entendre that should make people wince.

No one is out to "abuse veterans." Those whose posts you disapprove intend to get to the bottom of the ill-conceived reasons for going to war. Some wars, certainly recent wars. Instead of trying to force a moderated/unmoderated platform, someone who wants to argue about wars will eventually start a thread about wars - but wait - that has been done. Many times.

My late parents were veterans of WWII. My grandfather was a vet of WWI. They fought in wars that featured sacrifice on the home front, when goods were rationed, when blackout curtains were used in coastal communities, when food and materials were scarce, when the bill was paid as the war was fought. When everyone suffered, there was all the more incentive to get it over with as soon as possible. Today's wars are put on the charge card and no one back at home is the wiser, unless they are of the families of military personnel or "contractors" who are modern mercenaries.

There is no draft, and most people who enter military service do it as a matter of last resort for economic reasons. Three approaches to the "facts" as represented by a conservative think tank (Heritage), a liberal watch dog organization (MintPress), and a public radio attempt at sorting the numbers (Freakonomics).

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 10:37 AM

This is not an opportunity for debate.
There are other debate threads about this subject.
If you post in order to argue with someone, it's going to get deleted.
This post by me will also eventually be deleted.
Jeri/Mod

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Nov 15 - 10:50 AM

As this isn't about our philosophies, the bigger picture, the Grand Scheme of Things, but the individual veterans and their loved ones: Terry Kelly: A Pittance of Time

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Nov 15 - 02:42 AM

I suppose I have mixed feelings about being a veteran. I've grown to be more fully pacifist in my ornery old age, but I'm still proud that I survived and prospered through three years of military service. This year, I posted a photo of myself in uniform on Facebook.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Nov 15 - 04:10 AM

In remembrance of my great-uncle Cecil, who died after "a fall in the mountains", possibly while trying to cross into Canada to find his brothers during the Depression, having been refused entry at the border due to being destitute. Cecil had spent many years in a US military hospital, a hopeless drunk, after the end of what was then known as the European War in 1918; he had served in the US army as a medic then rejoined as a cook - both non-shooting but highly dangerous front-line positions: the cooks had to crawl up through the trenches bringing food to the man, for instance.

In forlorn hope that people will stop killing each other forever.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 11 Nov 15 - 09:59 AM

I have immense respect for veterans.
I like to sit and listen.
It is a grand day to fly Old-Glory.
It has been common to see currently serving military personnel in fatigues. It is common, on a normal day basis to see them in a restaurant. It is common for the common man to pickup their check as a thank you.

On Veteran's day in the USA restaurants, large and small serve free meals with ID. This is frequently expanded to all serving personnel and first-responders (police, fire, and EMT).

Some of the the corporation restaurants include:
Applebee's
Bar Louie
BJs Restaurant and Brewhouse
Bob Evans
California Pizza Kitchen
Cattlemens Steakhouse
Charlie Brown's Steakhouse
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Chick-fil-A
CraftWorks (free beer)
Chili's
Claim Jumper
Denny's
Dairy Queen
Famous Dave's
Fazoli's
Friendly's
Glory Days
Golden Corral
Great Clips (free haircuts)
Hooters
Hurricane Grill and Wings
IHOP
IKEA Cafeteria
Krispy Kreme doughnuts
Little Caesars Pizza
Max & Erma's
Meineke (free oil change)
MOD Pizza
Olive Garden
On the Border
Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt
Outback Steakhouse
Peet's Coffee
Pinnacle Entertainment (Casino Chain)
Ponderosa
Red Lobster
Red Robin
Rock & Brews
Sheetz (free carwash)
Shoney's
Sizzler
Souplantation
StarBucks
Texas Roadhouse
Tim Hortons
Twin Peaks
T.G.I. Friday's
Uno Chicago Grill
Wayback Burger
White Castle
Wienershnitzel
World of Beer

Thousands of small mom & pop locations also extend thanks to our vetrans on this day.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

So...if you bump into Mr. Offer this weekend at mass....he may look like he has put on a few pounds.

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Nov 15 - 02:28 PM

When my twins were small I took them to one of these without knowing that there would be a huge line of vets, but the kids really wanted to stay and, in their words, watch the parade wait, so we did. When we got to the cashier they asked, Vet or non-vet? I said, truthfully, non-vet. So they repeated the question a little more loudly, and I repeated my answer more loudly, so they repeated the question REALLY LOUDLY so I acquiesced and said Vet. But I felt bad. Was I wrong to acquiesce? I was perfectly willing to pay for all our meals.

Oddly enough, this day is being difficult for me to a degree way beyond the norm...

Subject: RE: Armistice Day
From: Ed T
Date: 11 Nov 15 - 02:44 PM

Canadas new Veterans and Defense Minister's Rememberance Day message:

""Shortly before my 22nd birthday, while riding in a friend's car, I was hit in a drive-by shooting.

The bullet passed through my neck, and struck my spinal cord, leaving me quadriplegic and wheelchair-bound for the rest of my life.

Stories like mine -- a moment of extreme violence that changed a life forever -- are rare in civilian life.

But for the brave men and women in uniform we celebrate today, and the veterans who have served Canada proudly, such violence can be an everyday risk.

This Remembrance Day, I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary sacrifices of our Armed Forces. Their courage. Their commitment to keeping us safe. But also the hardships they face both while in uniform and after they come home.

I know our new government has much work to do to honour our sacred obligation to Canada's veterans. That's why I'm excited that as Minister of Veterans Affairs, I'll be rolling out all of the commitments we made during the campaign in the weeks and months to come, such as:

the right to choose life-long disability pensions -- in place of the unfair lump sum, after which a veteran gets cut offa meaningful increase to the Earnings Loss Benefit -- the financial aid a veteran can apply for during their recovery processa badly overdue program that, like the American GI bill, will pay for a veteran's complete education, no matter what career they chooseincreased support for families caring for a loved one dealing with the aftermath of warre-opening those all-important Veterans Service Centres, hiring 400 new service delivery staff, and creating world class centres of excellence for veteran care, including PTSD.

Above all, we will work to implement best practices and support veterans so they can receive the benefits and services they need when they return home.

When I was injured, I found the support I needed to rebuild my life and eventually go on to have a successful career in public life. In those moments I felt alone, there was always someone, somewhere I could turn to.

I want Canada's servicemen and women, and Canada's veterans to know they too are not alone, that all Canadians stand with them.

That's why I'd like you to add your name to thank the members of Canada's Armed Forces and veterans for their service and sacrifice.

Thank you,
Hon. Kent Hehr 
Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence""