Veterans Day, Armistice Day
Yes, indeed, I am that old—old enough to just barely remember when Veterans Day was called Armistice Day. The change in names occurred in 1954, when I was very small, in order to accommodate World War II and its veterans.
Since then, the original name has largely fallen out of use—although it remains, like a vestigial organ, in the timing of the holiday, November 11th, which commemorates the day the WWI armistice was signed (eleventh hour, eleventh day, eleventh month).
I’m also old enough–and had a teacher ancient enough—to have been forced to memorize that old chestnut “In Flanders Fields” in fifth grade—although without being given any historical context for it, I think at the time I assumed it was about World War II, since as far as I knew that was the only real war.
You can find the story of the poem here . It was written by a Canadian doctor who served in the European theater (there is no separate URL for the discussion of the poem, but you should click on the “John McCrae´s Poppies in Flander’s Fields” link on the left sidebar). It’s not great poetry by any means, but it was great propaganda to encourage America’s entry into what was known at the time as the Great War.
The poem’s first line “In Flanders fields the poppies blow” introduces that famous flower that later became the symbol of Armistice—and later, Veterans—Day. Why the poppy?
Wild poppies flower when other plants in their direct neighbourhood are dead. Their seeds can lie on the ground for years and years, but only when there are no more competing flowers or shrubs in the vicinity (for instance when someone firmly roots up the ground), these seeds will sprout.
There was enough rooted up soil on the battlefield of the Western Front; in fact the whole front consisted of churned up soil. So in May 1915, when McCrae wrote his poem, around him bloodred poppies blossomed like no one had ever seen before.
But in this poem the poppy plays one more role. The poppy is known as a symbol of sleep. The last line We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields might point to this fact. Some kinds of poppies are used to derive opium from, from which morphine is made. Morphine is one of the strongest painkillers and was often used to put a wounded soldier to sleep. Sometimes medical doctors used it in a higher dose to put the incurable wounded out of their misery.
Now a day to honor those who have served in our wars, Veterans Day has an interesting history in its original Armistice Day incarnation. It was actually established as a day dedicated to world peace, back in the early post-WWI year of 1926, when it was still possible to believe that WWI had been the war fought to end all wars.
The original proclamation establishing Armistice Day as a holiday read as follows:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.
After the carnage of World War II, of course, the earlier hope that peaceful relations among nations would not be severed had long been extinguished. By the time I was a young child, a weary nation sought to honor those who had fought in all of its wars in order to secure the peace that followed—even if each peace was only a temporary one.
And isn’t an armistice a strange (although understandable) sort of hybrid, after all; a decision to lay down arms without anything really having been resolved? Think about the recent wars that have ended through armistice: WWI, which segued almost inexorably into WWII; the 1948 war following the partition of Palestine; the Korean War; and the Gulf War. All of these conflicts exploded again into violence—or have continually threatened to—ever since.
So this Veterans/Armistice Day, let’s join in saluting and honoring those who have fought for our country. The hope that some day war will not be necessary is a laudable one—and those who fight wars hold it, too. But that day has clearly not yet arrived—and, realistically but sadly, most likely it never will.
[This is a slightly edited reprint of a post originally published on Veterans Day 2005.]
And Memorial Day was once Decoration Day.
And Columbus Day was once a holiday to celebrate, not to sheepishly sweep under the rug / toss under the bus.
And Season’s Greetings was once Christmas Day, even if one was not necessarily theologically / culturally Christian.
And . . . and . . . and . . .
You don’t protect my freedom: Our childish insistence on calling soldiers heroes deadens real democracy
It’s been 70 years since we fought a war about freedom. Forced troop worship and compulsory patriotism must end
http://www.salon.com/2014/11/09/you_dont_protect_my_freedom_our_childish_insistence_on_calling_soldiers_heroes_deadens_real_democracy/
its funny, but only those who survive abortion can promote it
only those who are not under tyranny can write that they did not want or need to be protected from it
who is going to tell him its a Republic not a Democracy?
Also… it shows how idiocy will make sure we lose when the war comes again, given the escallation to it to take advantage of potus and the vp…
you wonder how someone can be so stupid as to think that the US would exist and there would be no war if we had no military or fight to defend it….
nothing will reach such people because they do not and will not percieve that their whole idea has no support in logic given that if they got what they want they would not exist to enjoy it.
The last Navajo Code Talker, Chester Nez, USMC died on 10 November 2014, the 239th birthday of the Corps.
Nez died Wednesday morning in Albuquerque, where he lived with his son Michael. He was 93. His family said he died of kidney failure.
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/11/last-original-wwii-navajo-code-talker-a-marine-dies-on-the-birthday-of-the-corps/
Booyah!!!
Semper Fidelis!!!
This is one of those good intentions that had become bathetic in the last half century. From the sublime, the unimaginable courage (D-Day, Iwo Jima), unimaginable indefatigability (Battle of The Bulge, Iwo Jima) to the ridiculous – mystical adventures around the world — troops in support of droning wars — and leaving wherever the worse for their presence and sacrifice, and many being given over to the care and ministrations of the VA. Celebrate Veterans Day indeed — as if anyone cared.
“Struggle for Life most severe between Individuals and Varieties of the same Species” – this is a sub head of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species’ Chapter III, The Struggle For Existence. These deadly struggles will be with us always. Life is mostly more satisfying and enriching when we are not involved in deadly struggles. But, it behooves us, as individuals, neighborhoods, cities and nation states to be ready to defend our interests. I believe that the Darwinian theory of evolution is by far the best explanation of life. I am perplexed that there is so little discussion in academia of applying evolutionary principles to humankind when academia is so ready to apply it everywhere else.
I am perplexed that there is so little discussion in academia of applying evolutionary principles to humankind when academia is so ready to apply it everywhere else.
they fear that this was the source of the Nazi’s
and so, they avoid it, despite coming up with the same anti social ideas as nazis, while calling their opposition nazis (nationalizers)…
A SCOT who became Britain’s most decorated soldier for his audacious exploits during the Second World War — which included single-handedly forcing a column of German troops and SS Panzer tanks to surrender — has died at the age 94. Sir Tommy Macpherson, who fought with No 11 (Scottish) Commando in Europe, and was awarded the Military Cross three times, the Croix de Guerre three times and the Legion d’Honneur, died on Thursday.
Artfldgr: That is a good point. Evolutionary theory is science and definitely not moralistic ideology. Science can explain genocide as well as altruism. It can even explain widespread belief in naive, utopian fallacies.
For me, the recent enthusiasm for veterans is a bit strange. As I came home to be spat upon and called a “baby killer.” Wearing the uniform in public back in the 60s was an invitation to be insulted. That said, I’m glad people have regained some sense of gratitude for military service. I hope it lasts.
Here’s a little song in memory of those that I served with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24WRxxsra04&feature=em-share_video_user
Neo…The Fall of 1954 I was in 5th Grade. I still remember the change from Armistace Day to Veterans Day being talked about. No wonder there’s a couple gray hairs in my beard.
Lynn MacDonald’s oral histories(books)of WW I remain stunners. My God, what horror. Imagine that The Somme and Verdun were fought the same year!! 60+thousand Brit casualties on the first day of the Somme battle, July 1, 1916. 20-thousand of them KIA. Breathtaking in its devastation.
God Bless’um All.
Somewhat off-topic, but perhaps of interest nonetheless…
Google often doesn’t celebrate patriotic holidays to the satisfaction of conservatives. But I like the image they came up with for today:
http://www.google.com/doodles/veterans-day-2014
Lynn McDonald’s books are heartbreaking – and to think of the carnage of that war – just the British casualty toll on the first day of the Somme is … appalling. It ripped the guts out of a whole generation of British and European men – women, too, since there were so many women who would have otherwise been married, left spinsters or widows. I think us Americans got away lightly, in comparison – the Civil War did as almost as much to us as WWI did to Europe, but at least we had the Western Expansion and national optimism to sustain us.
I did a post at Chicagoboyz yesterday, meditating on this – there was a wonderful book by a military historian, Gene Smith, in the mid-1960s, when he did a trip through Europe, following the Western Front. Still Quiet on the Western Front is the book — have a copy, and the way that he wrote about it, fifty years later. It’s enough to reduce you to tears. There are some excerpts which still do that to me.
http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/46362.html
Thank you those who served and those who serve today. Young men, and now young women, who go into harm’s way do not decide when they will go to war; that is the providence of politicians, but serve to the best of their ability they do. I feel particular sorrow for Vietnam veterans as they won on the ground at great cost only to see politicians lose the war. It looks like this will prove true for those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though the Iraq and Afghanistan vets have come home as heroes and not villains.
Sgt. Mom –
imo, the Civil War was a warning to the rest of the world about the horrors of modern warfare. Not all of the elements were in place yet. Certain technologies had yet to be refined. But the basics were there, including early forms of the trenches.
Sadly, the Europeans dismissed it all as the fighting of backward colonials, and ended up repeating it on a much larger scale starting in 1914.
Art,
Mr. nez was the last remaining member of the original contingent of code talkers. They were the group who developed the codes. There were additional groups that followed and some of them are still alive. I spoke to two of them yesterday and got an autographed book for my grandson.
Bill Lawrence
Wm Lawrence…
lets get the journolist… they report badly to say the least. then again, as you point out, the details matter in terms of how you catagorize things. i just notice that others werent noticing.
thanks!
on another note, i had up the image of the WWII merchant marines memorial. while merchant marines are not military, i had the image up on one of my two screens at work, as they risked their lives and died during the ware as well, even though they were not military.
on my other screen was the viral image of the bald eagle on the gravestone in military cemetary.
and no, i have not heard from my son since he shipped out. he pretty much ignores me and doesnt bother much except the times i come to attend an event or something. been waiting months just to see a post card that says hi, how are you. we did send him stuff…
life sucks
you pay taxes
then you die trying…
🙂
The favorability rating for Democrats is the party’s lowest since Gallup began asking the question in 1992.
“After the 2012 election, many political analysts focused on the GOP’s ‘image problem’,” the polling firm said. “Now, it is the Democrats who appear to have the more battered image. Their favorability rating has never been lower, and they are reeling from defeats that cost them control of the U.S. Senate and strengthened the Republican House majority to levels likely not seen in 90 years.
“On the other hand, the American public does not admire Republicans more, their numerous election victories notwithstanding,” Gallup continued. “Neither party can say it is making significant progress in improving its image among the U.S. population, but undoubtedly the 2014 elections augmented the GOP’s ability to shape the agenda in Washington and in state capitals across the country.”
Neo,
Wanted to share this article about the extraordinary poppy art installation at the Tower of London. The final poppy was placed recently:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/07/world/europe/tower-of-london-poppies/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
I believe that people purchase the poppies and the proceeds go to military charities.
It’s one of the most striking art installations I have ever seen.
On another note, the soviets are invading ukraine more. more and more weapons, tanks, and equipment is going over the border. note that the ukraine borders 7 countries… so from their you have a lot of options on where to go next… meanwhile, the teens who love communism, etc… cant operate a stinger as their intelligence is decidedly lower than the average afghani rebel of the 1980s…
Before it was Armistice Day, it was Martinmas, the feast of St. Martin of Tours, patron of soldiers.
Martin Middlebrook’s incredible book(much of it ‘oral history’): “The First Day on the Somme” is recommended to all here. Breathtaking. And, enthusiastic agreement with NCS and Sgt. Mom on the great Lynn MacDonald’s oral histories of The Great War: “They Called it Paschendaele”, “The Somme” and “1915: The End of Innocence”.