(see also Remembrance Day/ Veteran's Day 2005)
Today is Veterans Day in the USA, and Remembrance Day in the British Commonwealth countries. Too many others have said it better than I can, so I'll just let them do so:
Armed Liberal's 2003 post about Veterans Day, liberalism & patriotism is exceptional. Be ye left or be ye right, you needed to read it. Then, in 2004, he improves on it.
- This is the best page for Canadian Remembrance Day resources. The famous poem "In Flanders Fields" is here, along with the poetic reply to it and many informative links. My favourite: please scroll down a bit and read the "Wear a Poppy" poem on the right.
- Want to support your country's currently-serving troops? Our compiled How to Support the Troops post gives you lots of options, for a number of countries. Including a few options you would never have imagined.
- What an outstanding post by John of Castle Argghhh!, on marching in his first Veteran's Day parade, and the depth of the bonds veterans share, and why. His closing salute from an American vetran to Canadian veterans was classy as hell, the capper to an outstanding post. May those 13 toasts to absent friends go down smooth, John - and know that we, too, salute them today.
- CTV decided to focus on the 1943-1945 Italian Campaign for their 2004 Remembrance Day feature. A good decision; Italy was the scene of some of the Canadian army's fiercest fights in places like Ortona (compare that urban battle to Fallujah 2004) and the Liri Valley, but it's rarely remembered.
- Bell Canada and MSN have also done a very good job with their own Remembrance Day site that covers all eras.
- 'Massamune' adds a comment to my July 1st Canadian Inventions post, reminding us that a Canadian named Cluny MacPherson designed the prototype for the gas mask in 1915. Necessity is a mother...
- Canadian blogger David Mader's 2003 post had a great photo, with an even better caption. Best wishes to our boys who still serve in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and elsewhere.
- The Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington has an on-site and on-line exhibit called The Price of Freedom It goes beyond the "great man" way of remembering history to honor the lives and sacrifices of average soldiers who fought and died from Yorktown, Va., to the streets of Fallujah, Iraq.
- Posting in our comments section, Sgt. B recalls the Shakespearean speech of a famous English King upon St. Crispin's Day, as he contemplates the Battle of Fallujah and this Veteran's Day.
- Dave Schuler has a very good post, which looks at America's participation in WW1 and what that means for us today.
- In 2003, Porphyrogenitus noted that they're still pulling bodies out of Flanders' fields, almost a century later. A year later, he himself has enlisted in the U.S. military and earned the gratitude of his countrymen on this day.
- Powerline has a good set of links, from President Bush's address to personal stories of heroism and valor. Speaking of which...
- * On Veteran's Day, Chester comes back with more suggestions for improving media coverage. If you only ever cover soldiers as victims or villains, he asks, what picture can you expect to protray? How about more stories of simple bravery and successful courage, which float around the blogosphere all the time but often don't make it to mainstream media. Case in point: how many of you have heard of Brian Chontosh? As usual, Chester has a good point.
- "...So on Hitler's last birthday in this world, my father helped destroy his birthday cake and used his billy club to subdue some of his most fanatical supporters." You know you want to read the rest.
- At Intel Dump, U.S. military veteran Phil Carter links to Veteran's Day messages from the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense as he salutes those who served and serve. He also says that American can and should do more for its veterans. Agreed.
- Some people are contirbuting in their own way. WizBang discusses a new organization called Salute America's Heroes. Looks worthy.
- Kate is a military wife, and she talks about the recent deployment of her husband's best friend to Iraq. Reading it will help you understand what the home front is like for families.
- David Aaronovitch has some Remembrance Day words to ponder in Britain's Guardian Observer (Hat Tip: Instapundit). Read it, then see this 1941 Dr. Suess cartoon.
- Rev. Donald Sensing. Major Donald Sensing (ret). They're one and the same, which makes him superbly qualified to offer a Veterans Day Sermon to his congregants, a Veterans Day blog post to his brothers and sisters in arms, plus some tips on pastoral care for those suffering from combat trauma.
Excellence all around. To all who take time this day to remember the debt we owe, thank you.
Thanks for the link to the Canadian site. I've always found the poem hard to memorize; its quirky rhythms and image sequences are part of its power, though. The Mitchell reply isn't nearly of the same quality, but it's not bad. The Wear A Poppy poem is somewhere in between. Thanks again for all of it.
You're most welcome.
"Best wishes to our boys who still serve in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and elsewhere."
What about the "girls?" Are you some sort of male chauvinist pig?
I don't think most US readers understand the magnitude of Remembrance Day in Canada.
It is at least as powerful as Memorial Day used to be back forty or fifty years ago. To wit -- Remembrance Day is always marked on 11 November. It has not been moved to a Monday to build a three day weekend.
As usual, I shall pick up the CBC internet feed of the ceremonies at the Cenotaph. But with each passing year I am more inclined to mourn the loss of the Canada that produced the heroes to be honoured in Ottawa today.
And as those who personally remember Canada's great soldiers of the World War II era begin themselves to pass from the scene there will probably come a day when the CBC will decide not to broadcast from Ottawa.
If I may be so bold, Pierre Trudeau's decision to retire and scrap the Bonaventure--Canada's last aircraft carrier--in 1970 was a key turning point. Thirty-six years of Quebec-centred government have done a world of damage. It dishonours the very memory of those marched to war under the old Red Ensign.
So desperate to prove they were not dominated by the US, Canada instead became little more than a branch plant of Old Europe.
.
Urgent.
Iris Chang is dead. She was the historian who wrote Thread of the Silkworm, about the Silkworm missile, and more pertinent to this day, The Rape of Nanking. Worth mentioning that December 2004 marks the 65th anniversary of the atrocity.
Worth a mention, especially today, in this context.
I stood in the streets of Ypres yesterday and watched as the poppies floated to earth from the Menen gate. May we never forget what was sacrificed for us.
DRK