A Thank You, on the Occasion of Veteran's -- Armistice Day

[Seamus Fermanagh]

All gave some; some gave all.

Today is the day set aside by many countries, at least in the West, to honor their military veterans. As you students of history will know, the day was chosen because at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 an armistice brought and end to the active fighting in "The War to End All Wars." We all know the sad irony of that label.

I hope you will join me in honoring those veterans -- living and among the majority -- for their service. Most of you, rightly, find war outside of video games to be abhorrent and many of you disdain the very idea of nationalism. You may be leery of a day which seems to celebrate militarism and violence, but that is only the trappings of service that make such rollicking movies and stirring stories.

We honor their service.

Many volunteered while others were forced to serve -- but they served. Some served bravely and beyond all expectations, others poorly, not quite able to cope with the horrors they faced. Most just served. Dreaming of home, of a return to their lives, of the communities they had left behind. Some never returned home, others returned scarred and battered, most returned unscathed -- but not unmarked. We asked of them a service -- to take up arms and face others, mostly like themselves and sometimes to harm those other selves on the far side of some 'front line.' We asked, they served....and they always bear the burden of that service for us.

So I ask you to honor their service. Not the jingoisms of their era, or the causes they served, or the sometimes silly notions that drove this conflict or that. I ask you to honor their service to their communities; rendered in good faith at a price so that others in that community need not bear it.

All gave some; some gave all.



To the veterans among us, I thank you. On at least one level, your service, you are a better person than I. To you, and all those others who have joined the majority, I wish Godspeed....and peace.

JEM3



And now a few gems from others much more creative than I:

McRae's "In Flanders Fields" (recited on youtube)

Gelentke's "To Soldiers of the Great War" (English text, did not find the original in German; pm me with link and I will attach)

Bogel's "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" sung by John Williamson

Gannon/Crosby's 1943 hit "I'll Be Home for Christmas"

Waters' "Gunners Dream"

and my personal favorite,

Bogel's "Green Fields of France"

[Husar]

I have mixed feelings about this, especially since this tradition seems to be something from / for the victorious countries and here in the Rhineland particularly, it marks the beginning of the carnival season. Carnival itself started here as a mockery of Prussian militarism (so apparently before that war that ended on the same date). Nowadays carnival is mostly very silly though, so I will use the opportunity to thank those who served for good reasons and especially the ones who kept their heart and also served the communities in the countries they were stationed in. We have one on this board who impressed me with what he tried to do for the children in Afghanistan. For this kind of service everyone can and should be thankful IMO.

[Brenus]

Think of them. They went to fish in the same river than me, in the same place, under the same trees. They walked the same path in the forest, smelt the same flowers or the smell of the ground after the storm, after the thunder and the lightnings, had the same sun on their shoulders at the same place, felt the rain and took shelter in the same barn or tree, near the river, at the foot of the hill, near the forest. They watched the sunsets on the pearls of water on the spiderwebs glittering in the new sun. They were the same age than me when I did all these.
The 4th of August 1914, the bells rung and they went by foot, as the peasants they were (and I was) to the answer to the call to arms.
Most of them never came back, some who came back never really did.

"Honneur et Patrie" is on our flags.


http://soutien67.free.fr/histoire/pa..._image_WW1.png

Song: Death. Unfortunatly with stupid pictures.
http://youtu.be/QyHqUdvRrrE?list=RDQyHqUdvRrrE

http://static.lexpress.fr/medias_782...18_4005797.jpg

Song: Can't translate. Like March of the poorest/destitute.
http://youtu.be/dMcBeP-qV1s

http://www.lepoint.fr/images/2013/11...pg_1865003.JPG

To the Dead
http://youtu.be/NPTkrUt1m3I

[Sarmatian]

So I ask you to honor their service. Not the jingoisms of their era, or the causes they served, or the sometimes silly notions that drove this conflict or that. I ask you to honor their service to their communities; rendered in good faith at a price so that others in that community need not bear it.

I can get behind that.

[HoreTore]

I'll happily honour a conscript; never an enlisted man.

[Crandar]

Word War I is fondly remained here. We had fewer dead than the Austrorussians had in Austerlitz, but our ccountry was doubled in size.
Something like Bulgaria in the second one.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

I'll happily honour a conscript; never an enlisted man.

If you can't be respectful, bog off.

All my relative who were fit for it enlisted, because they knew they had to expose themselves to the same dangers everyone else was facing.

My Great Grandfather was enlisted in the army before the war and my Grandfather was a reservist, he spent the entire war protecting the South of England from German Bombers as ADGB, he had bombs dropped on him more than once and he went to his grave with shapnel still in his spine.

Edit: Point of Order, the Armistice came into effect at 1100 11/11/1914, not 1111 11/11/1914.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

If you can't be respectful, bog off.

All my relative who were fit for it enlisted, because they knew they had to expose themselves to the same dangers everyone else was facing.

My Great Grandfather was enlisted in the army before the war and my Grandfather was a reservist, he spent the entire war protecting the South of England from German Bombers as ADGB, he had bombs dropped on him more than once and he went to his grave with shapnel still in his spine.

Edit: Point of Order, the Armistice came into effect at 1100 11/11/1914, not 1111 11/11/1914.

I was unaware of that last. I will edit the OP to reflect the correct time.

[drone]

Edit: Point of Order, the Armistice came into effect at 1100 11/11/1914, not 1111 11/11/1914.

Short war then.

[Brenus]

"I'll happily honour a conscript; never an enlisted man." So I suggest a trip to the Ossuaire of Douaumont (from "os", bones) where the un-identified remains of thousand are gathered, and start to pick which ones you will honour and the one you won't.

www.verdun-douaumont.com/?lang=en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douaumont_Ossuary

[Kralizec]

Short war then.

Since I must apparently add three or more characters, this is a great thread with some interesting posts. WW1 is one of my favourite "chapters of history" even though my country pretty much sat on its ass during the whole ordeal.

[Husar]

Wait are you condeming me specifically or making a general declaration? Assuming the former: I reject the implication that I'm fishing for compliments; I fully believe HoreTore is being an idiot and a combination of mental fatigue and uncertainty of his seriousness makes me unwilling to explain the numerous and obvious reasons he is being an idiot. That I have attracted ire while others doing the same thing have gained reverance is disconcerting enough to require comment.

Are you a beggar? No? Then maybe the throwing some change part was a hint at hyperbole, or maybe it wasn't, confusing.

As for ire and reverance, it's best to be humble in this popularity context. I can't even pull off hyperbole, humor, sarcasm, etc. myself so take it from someone with loads of experience that it is not worth getting worked up over. Just let the other pretend that you are a troll and keep "trolling" them. It's not like talking about an issue makes it go away, it just meakes everyone laugh at you or hate you even more.

Montmorency has a point in that concepts are also volunteers in a way, because there are always other choices, such as working to abolish conscription, accepting the penalty for not going etc. See following statement.

All my relative who were fit for it enlisted, because they knew they had to expose themselves to the same dangers everyone else was facing.

Dangers that only existed because people on the other side signed up to kill your relatives. And they only signed up because your older relatives had already signed up to kill them etc.
One world government would solve these problems until we find aliens that sit on a load of oil.

[Strike For The South]

I'll happily honour a conscript; never an enlisted man.

Insert Jerking off gif here

[Fragony]

My favorite https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rgtsg7QXV7Y

Was it for this the clay grew tall?
Oh what made fatuous sunbeams toil, to break earth's sleep at all?

Powerfull.

[Greyblades]

I'll happily honour a conscript; never an enlisted man.

Others may dance around it but I cant be bothered; you're being a bleeding idiot.

[Fragony]

Talk about bleeding, kinda angry at everything lately? It should take no more than 3 days for most women usually, or aren't you female but a man who is permanently having a period? EVOLUTION! I am sure everybody understands how you feel.

Chocolate ice is on me.

[Greyblades]

Huh, when Strike does it he's thanked, when I do it I get hounded by a teenage albatross.

Is there something about texans that makes bluntness charming?

[Viking]

I'll happily honour a conscript; never an enlisted man.

The wonders of pure idealism.

[HoreTore]

The wonders of pure idealism.

Pah.

You're already narrowing it down by limiting the memorial to just soldiers, and not the general populations. If you're going to narrow down the scope, you might as well narrow it down to such a scale that you don't end up celebrating a million dirtbags in the process.

I'll happily honour those soldiers who deserve to be honoured. There have been several good men. There have also been hordes of absolute scum. I'm not honouring those.


And besides - Norway was indeed "pure idealism" during ww1...

[Viking]

Pah.

You're already narrowing it down by limiting the memorial to just soldiers, and not the general populations. If you're going to narrow down the scope, you might as well narrow it down to such a scale that you don't end up celebrating a million dirtbags in the process.

I'll happily honour those soldiers who deserve to be honoured. There have been several good men. There have also been hordes of absolute scum. I'm not honouring those.


And besides - Norway was indeed "pure idealism" during ww1...

It seemed to me that you were coming from the "if everybody refused to go to war, there would be no war"-angle.

I'm not taking part in any honouring. If I do something, it's typically either because I have to do it, or because I believe it's the right thing to do - and in either case, expecting thanks becomes meaningless, and therefore I am not overly inclined to give them, either.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Pah.

You're already narrowing it down by limiting the memorial to just soldiers, and not the general populations. If you're going to narrow down the scope, you might as well narrow it down to such a scale that you don't end up celebrating a million dirtbags in the process.

You can't dig yourself out that easily. There have been all sorts of memorials, documentaries, celebrations etc over here relating to the nurses that served on the battlefields, the women who worked the factories, etc.

Why can't you just honour the bravery and sacrifice of millions of ordinary people?