this makes me sad

[Hooahguy]

The US Military is a national source of pride. I don't think there's a free country that recognizes those who serve in a higher regard.

The holiday season is gearing up, hoohaguy. If we had a national holiday commemorating Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes there would be huge sales for it. No big deal

israel, as littlegrizzly said, does.
for a minute, life stops as air-raid sirens go off. everyone, no matter where they are, even on the highway, stop, get out of thier cars (if on the road), and stand at attention.
why cant we do something similar here? i bet you of all the times the prez calls for a moment of silence, only a small percentage actually do it.

[Gregoshi]

Unless I missed something, network television went on like any other night - Dancing with the Stars, etc. etc.

[ajaxfetish]

It's not a military thing. It's a holiday-in-general thing these days. How much thought at Christmas is given to Christ? Most of the Christmas music in stores and on the radio is secular, and Santa and shopping get the majority of the attention. How much of Halloween is gearing up for All Saints' Day or warding off witchcraft and how much is trying to maximize candy consumption? Thanksgiving doesn't really lend itself to consumerism and so is mostly forgotten, the big holiday being the day afterward when all the Christmas sales kick into higher gear. The purpose of holidays in America now is consumption and materialism. Whatever meaning they may previously have had is mostly forgotten, and they're just an excuse for more commerce.

Ajax

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Unless I missed something, network television went on like any other night - Dancing with the Stars, etc. etc.

Sad... no body cares really. I mean, after 9/11, people cared... for awhile. It seems now people just treat that like another tragedy and walk away like nothing happens.

Plus, you show respect for the people who defened your country... If you don't, maybe you should go and fight then?

[Fragony]

israel, as littlegrizzly said, does.
for a minute, life stops as air-raid sirens go off. everyone, no matter where they are, even on the highway, stop, get out of thier cars (if on the road), and stand at attention.
why cant we do something similar here? i bet you of all the times the prez calls for a moment of silence, only a small percentage actually do it.

Same here, 3 minutes of silence a year it's taken very seriously.

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=mkUYZ628_Hs

[HoreTore]

israel, as littlegrizzly said, does.
for a minute, life stops as air-raid sirens go off. everyone, no matter where they are, even on the highway, stop, get out of thier cars (if on the road), and stand at attention.
why cant we do something similar here? i bet you of all the times the prez calls for a moment of silence, only a small percentage actually do it.

Because.... It would be stupid?

[Banquo's Ghost]

Because.... It would be stupid?

Why stupid?

Encouraging everyone to take time and reflect on the terrible cost of war, however justifiable - to think of the faces and lives of those men and women lost to us in the flower of their youth - to imagine the real, painful, destructive cost of death on the battlefield, as if it were us lying beneath those serried ranks of uniform crosses, interred along with our own hopes and dreams - might be a reflection that helps more people appreciate how awful war is - an enterprise not to be undertaken lightly.

Particularly in regard to the Great War, so characterised by grainy film of young men grinning with joy as they march off to fight for country, flag and nonsense - stirred by false patriotism and driven by the views of their peers and leaders that suffocating to death in a blood-soaked mud-hole is somehow a glorious sacrifice - such an annual reflection might just stop the same fatuous patriotism and false demons being used to send more young people to die uselessly in foreign fields.

Two minutes a year when the cash tills, petty whingings and rat races suspend? I would argue it is stupid not to do so.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Because.... It would be stupid?

Distasteful as this attitude is to me personally; many brave young men have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the freedom to publicly express one's feelings/opinions/protests without government sanction. I vehemently disagree that taking a moment of National silence to honor this is stupid, however I defend your right to express it.

Imo, the biggest downside of the elimination of the US military draft in 1973 and the institution of the All-Volunteer armed forces is being demonstrated on these military remembrance holidays today. Most American families are not directly affected, and have no loved one in the military putting their life on the line. Those that do bear the lion's share of sacrifice. Dad or Mom is away from home for extended periods of time, the spouse at home has to fill dual parenting roles and make up/get by on the lost income, the children are without Dad/Mom, the soldier misses some of the most special events in his children's lives and can never get them back etc... And this they voluntarily sacrifice for us along with the possibility of death/serious injury/psychological scarring that the violence of war can bring.

What do we voluntarily sacrifice in comparison to that? Hardly, if anything, at all. The very least we can do is take a few minutes from our busy little world and acknowledge them.

[pevergreen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlrrAWCTRg

On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the store's PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.

Terry was impressed with the store's leadership role in adopting the Legion's "two minutes of silence" initiative. He felt that the store's contribution of educating the public to the importance of remembering was commendable.

When eleven o'clock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the "two minutes of silence" to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect.

Terry's anger towards the father for trying to engage the store's clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was later channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, "A Pittance of Time". Terry later recorded "A Pittance of Time" and included it on his full-length music CD, "The Power of the Dream".

We watched that just before the minute of silence we observe in our special chapel at school. If someone had of talked, I would have hit them in the face.

But yes, holidays have lost their true meaning, I recognised that many a year ago.

[Gregoshi]

Thanks for sharing that song and the story behind it pever. It is a beautiful song and got me all choked up.

[drone]

Veteran's Day (Armistice Day) just isn't really a big thing here in the States. My guess is that it's due to the disparity of the casualty figures between the US and the other combatants of WWI. Coming between Halloween and Thanksgiving, and having been slowly absorbed into the Christmas shopping season probably doesn't help. Memorial Day is better, although it is still an excuse to watch cars go fast in a circle and drink beer. The price you pay for getting the day off, and it's basically the start of summer, but more people observe Memorial Day than Veteran's Day.

I like the way Armistice Day is honored in Europe, and I think it would be great if the VFW would push for a moment of silence at 11am. Just a quick reminder of the price we have paid for our freedom.