November 11th is Remembrance Day in Canada, and Veterans Day in the US. Having been in the military (albeit a long time ago), and having lost a few brothers in arms, and having spent a fair bit of time with various veterans of different wars, I take Remembrance Day pretty seriously. In Canada, it seems that the meaning behind the day is slowly losing it's relevance for most of the younger population, probably due to the relatively low media exposure our military receives, and the decreasing familial connections to veterans. FOCUS: Share what Remembrance/Veterans Day means to you. Does it have special meaning for you? Why? If not, why do you suppose that is? ALT-FOCUS: Share your military stories and/or experiences. NB: Treat this subject with the respect it deserves.
In the mid-80's I attended a Canadian Military College. Every week or two we'd have special briefings on various military subjects designed to broaden our exposure to all things "military". By far, the best of these briefings was when they brought in an original member of the RAF's 617 Squadron, also known as the Dam Busters. A movie was made of their exploits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dam_Busters_%28film%29 Turns out that MGM, or whoever it was that distributed the movie, gave each of the members of the Squadron their own copy of the film, and this gentleman (I wish I could remember his name), brought his film in to our college, and showed it to us. It was about 7 or 8 reels of old black and white film, and it was surreal. We would basically watch a few minutes of the movie, and it was stopped, and then he gave his own interpretation of what we were watching. That turned into an 8-hour talk, with some incredible first-hand accounts of some amazing events. Almost the entire time you could hear a pin drop, and he loved every minute of it. He was incredibly proud of his comrades, and revelled in the chance to relive their exploits. I still get chills thinking about it.
I actually had a small asian woman wish me a "Happy Remembrance Day" today. I'm not sure if it was the ESL or if she was just an idiot, but it made me shudder. I'll be with the veterans in Victory Square tomorrow, rain or shine, to give respect where it's due.
Both of my grandfathers were WW II vets. One was infantry, the other was a jumper. My infantry grandfather once told me when I was 8 the hi-larious story of he "Orphaned twenty Kraut kids with one barrage of gut-shredding machine gun fire." What a crack-up he was. They just recently re-named a small highway in my city "Veteran's Memorial Highway" nice of them to finally do that after 20 years of delay, considering practically all of them (including my grandfathers) are fucking dead.
It bothers me that most other people my age don't care. I went to an Irish-Catholic high school and we had a lot of fallen alumni so the whole Remembrance Day thing has been firmly stamped onto me. I buy at least 7 poppies every season and lose every single one. I don't have one to wear for tomorrow even though I've probably donated 10 dollars (in small change!) so far this year. It's annoying but I don't have much to complain about; the soldier's that served for Canada, the US and every other military have sacrificed a great deal more. I've dabbled in pacifism on the occasion but I still respect the soldiers. I'm hesitant to use the term "support the troops" because it's been associated with conservatism. Conservative or not, whoever cheers against the troops is an idiot; it's the politicians who send them out, the troops just sacrifice their own lives. The worst thing about the lack of poppies amongst the youth in Canada is that it's representative of the less patriotic nature of our country. I hope to god that everyone, of every colour, waves the flag for the Olympics but I'm not going to count on it. Our urban areas are too segregated (by choice, obviously) for the populations to assimilate into Canadian culture.
Both my grandfathers were in WW2. My dads dad was a radio operator in England. My moms dad was i beleave the Limber gunner on a 100lb howitzer artillery cannon, he did lose a couple of brothers to war wounds. Just last week one of my friends was killed by an IED in Afghanistan. It is there sacrifices that keep us in the life style we have have. I cant remember if it was on this message board or not, but someone brought up a point, but i haven't seen any poppies for sale, i actually had to go out and look to buy one.
When I was younger, my family would travel to my grandmother's hometown to place flowers on my grandfather's gave (WWII vet). Additionally, we would buy the little red flowers given out by the local veterans association and attend their parade. I think we were the only house on our block to fly the American flag, as well. As I got older, we didn't do it every year. Now that I don't live any where near home, I still put a flag up and thank a soldier if I see them. Military service didn't really hit me until recently when a boy I graduated high school with was killed in Iraq. I didn't know him very well, but it finally sunk in that people have died so I can drive my car down the road without much fear of hitting a roadside bomb. THANK YOU to call current former servicewomen and men.
Thank you to everyone who has put their lives on their line for their country. My uncle was in Vietnam and it had a profoundly [mostly negative] effect on his life post-war and it made me gain a large interest in the Vietnam war and why many of the returning soldiers became the way they are. Anytime I see someone with a Vietnam patch or something signifying they served, I make it a point to thank them for their service because they didn't hear it when they came home and I think that is a huge shame. Regardless of how you felt about any war, taking it out on those who were mostly just following orders is kinda bullshit but I'll leave it at that. I have nothing but the utmost respect for those who helped protect our country.
My Father-in-law was in 'Nam for quite a long time. He has PTSD like a mother fucker from it. He just this week caught up with one of the guys in his squad. After he got off the phone he was a mess. 99% of the time he's fine, just don't piss him off. My cousin got out of the Navy 2 years ago. He said he got to "blow ome shit up" in Iraq from the safty of his boat. A big thank you to all that serve, and welcome home.
Focus: I enjoy going to the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) parade on rememberance day, but I wish there were an easier way to identify veterans on other days of the year. If I could spot them in a bar, I would automatically buy all of them a drink, shake their hands and say thank you. There's not much you can truly do to show your gratitude, but it's better than most my age - being 22. I can think of no greater honour than serving your country and protecting its way of life. Although none of my family have served in the military we do have family friends that have. One of them is my "Uncle" (my dad's best friend). He was conscripted for Vietnam, and ended up serving in the SAS. Fit motherfucker, even in his 60's. Still wouldn't cross him, and probably never would (disregarding my immense respect for him). Alt Focus: I heavily considered joining the military after high school, but ended up taking up a degree in Economics (although after I finish it's still not off the radar). Whether or not I serve full-time or go into the reserves is still to be determined, but it's something I want to do while I'm still young. In what position and capacity I have absolutely no idea about - I'd have to see what the recruitment centre thinks I'd be good at.
People always look at me funny when I mention offhand that I spent probably about $75-100 on a poppy, and I wear it year round. It's the one tattoo that I show off any chance I get. I just remember sitting there one day hearing about the wars, and talking about all that, and it really started to sink in that there were guys my age (19 at the time), and some even younger who were lying about their age, just so they could fight for the freedoms of our country. I wanted to something that reminded me everyday of the sacrifices that some people are making so that, among other things,I have the choice to go out and get a tattoo like that if I want to. I'll be heading down to the local ceremony tomorrow morning, and I was really glad when my friends brought it up tonight, saying they were definitely going too.
My Grandmother had two uncles (her father was too young to go to war at that time) fight in the South African Brigade at the Battle of Delville Wood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delville_Wood). One of them, Lance Corporal David Botha of 1st SAI (South African Infantry), Charlie Company, was killed on the 3rd day of the Battle. Up to her passing this year, she used to go lay a Wreath at the local memorial in his honour. I think I shall have to take up the role, lest we forget...
Three of my four grandparents were veterans. My maternal grandfather died long before I was born, but my paternal grandfather outlived most of the men he served with. As time passed, it got harder and harder for him when November 11 came around, since he rarely talked about any kind of war experience and having the very public parades and television specials brough up memories. Then, six years ago today (Remembrance Day), my grandmother - his wife - passed away. He died last year, and his birthday was November 14. In addition to this I have a cousin who suddenly and tragically died two years ago this week, so needless to say everything surrounding November 11 has deep personal meaning and is very hard for my family to go through. It's a beautiful day here. I plan on taking my dogs to a large, secluded National Park outside the city limits and observing a moment of silence in nature when the eleventh minute of the eleventh our comes around. That feels appropriate.
My grandfather was an officer in the army during WWII and a good friend of mine is a SEAL currently. There is no amount of words that can be conveyed to thank the men and women who volunteer to protect us. They're heroes in every sense.
To anyone who has served or is serving, thank you for your sacrifice. To those still deployed, get home safe.
I just sent the following to a loved one: Happy Veterans Day to my favorite Vet. If I could I'd send it to all of them. Thank you for making it possible for me to live my day to day life by putting, or having put yours on the line.