As you probably know November 11 was the day on which the armistice between the Allies of World War I and Germany was signed, leading to the end of the “Great War”. We have had several “wars to end all wars” since. That’s what it was called when I was a kid. It’s been Veteran’s Day since 1954.
I don’t have a problem with commemorating particular dates or individuals but I have reservations about broad sweep generic holidays like Memorial Day (originally commemorating those who died in the Civil War) or President’s Day (for nearly two centuries celebrated on February 22, the birthday of George Washington).
Should we still be celebrating Veterans Day and why?
If you are not a hockey fan you will not know who Don Cherry is. But he is basically the Canadian version of Howard Coselle, or LA announcer Vin Scully, Jack Brickhouse or Chick Hearn etc of Canadian hockey.
He got fired – for this in relation to Canada’s Remembrance Day:
“… come here, whatever it is, you love our way of life, you love our milk & honey. At least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies .. These guys pay for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys pay the biggest price.”
If you don’t realize what is happening in western society because of this political correctness crap you are blind.
Meanwhile, ABC buries the Epstein story to save Clinton, the Royals………. Orwellian.
A day to remember the cost of hegemony and spark reflection is good. Though no reason why it can’t be November 1, Feast of All Saints/Day of the Dead.
Agree the reflection part will be difficult for some but maybe a parade when flag draped coffins are carried, muffled drums will help.
It’s poignant, today is the 100th anniversary of the original Armistice Day, or Rememberance Day in the Commonwealth, on the 1st anniversary of the end of the Great War.
I don’t know if celebrating is the right word — but remembering the cost of war and those who fought for the country is important, if only in the forlorn hope future generations won’t make or suffer from the same tragedy.
Remembrance Day in Canada is different from our Veterans Day—it’s more like our Memorial Day. I agree that the argument for Memorial Day is better.
Get rid of Presidents Day. We dont have royalty. Keep Veterans Day. Memorial Dat is probably more important as it should make us think about the costs of war, and hopefully make us less enthusiastic about war. Veterans Day is how we honor the veterans still living. There are costs you pay for war that go beyond deaths and dollars.
I can understand the desire by some to do away with this day. It certainly has the potential to glorify war. It can be used for political purposes. Lionizing the troops and/or claiming that anti-war sentiment is anti-troops is always a problem. Still, just because political leaders want to use it to aggrandize themselves I dont think we should give it up. We have mostly managed to balance this pretty well so lets not give it up.
Steve
At this point, I’m on the fence about Veteran’s day. On one hand, I think it’s good for the country to formally acknowledge those who choose to serve and especially remember the great wars of our past – and their consequences. I’m always hopeful this will give the public some measure of introspection about war and am always disappointed.
On the other hand, I’ve grown increasingly weary of the paper-thin and highly commercialized hagiography for veterans. We don’t need our own parking spaces, free meals, discounts and the constant rote “thanks” for our service. I don’t want veterans to be an entitled class of citizens, yet it seems that’s where we are heading.
A retired Army NCO sums up my feelings at this point:
As far as I can tell Veterans Day is now solely a day off for government employees. When there were more veterans of World Wars I and II alive it might have been different.