Remembrance Day

[socksy]

Greatest respect to all of the fallen allies who gave the ultimate sacrifice for those alive today. From all of the wars and rot in hell to all the hierarchy of the countries who started each and every one.

[uluru]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-11/w ... ue/5081544

The above video link is from the Australian ABC network about honesty in history and here's a quote from it:

"Former War Memorial historian leads campaign against Gallipoli 'myth'

Professor Beaumont is not alone in her concerns.

A new group of historians called Honest History has been formed to promote balance and challenge what it says is the misuse of history for political or other agendas.

Honest History president Peter Stanley is a former historian at the Australian War Memorial.

He told the ABC's 730 ACT program that the group's objective is to debunk the myth that the experience of Gallipoli forged Australia's national identity.

"We should understand all sides of the Anzac legend," he said.

"Anzac Day has gone through a cycle of boom and bust.

"In the 60s and 70s it declined. Then from about 1980, coinciding with the Peter Weir film [Gallipoli], attendances at Anzac Day marches began to increase.

"What we don't see is the people who don't come to Anzac Day.

"It is a fraction of the population, but we impose upon that fraction assumptions about the way Anzac Day is overwhelmingly popular."

[Aardvark]

Typical Woman trying to denounce every thing that saw Women playing a minor part. Ask her what she thinks of todays Women serving in Afghanistan, and I bet it would be nothing but praise ....

[mally]

For those UK expats who don't get local news from home, an update on yesterday's Remembrance Sunday Parade in my hometown in Yorkshire - it was the best attendance I've ever seen there.It was good to see an increase in the younger people attending, maybe due to our televised losses in Afghanistan, but whatever, it was good to see people attending to remember and give thanks for those who strive to protect our country and it's people's way of life.
I was told by a friend who works in our local Asda (Wallmart) store, that in there all the shop workers stopped working for 2 minutes silence at 11.00 am and brought the store to a standstill - good for them.

[stattointhailand]

At Waterloo Station all the BR (Southern) Office staff (about 800) went onto the station concourse for 2 mins each year. All trains booked to leave at 11:00 were held back for 2 mins, although for safety reasons they allowed trains already approaching the station to enter, but the passenger doors were not released until the 2 mins were over.

[jackspratt]

Typical Woman trying to denounce every thing that saw Women playing a minor part. Ask her what she thinks of todays Women serving in Afghanistan, and I bet it would be nothing but praise ....

Did you click on the link and read the article, Aardy?

If so, do you consider Peter Stanley, a former historian at the Australian War Memorial, who challenges the Gallipoli/Anzac Day myth, to be a "Typical Man"?

I am sure the 5000+ women who saw service (a number of whom died) in WW2, plus the 3000 in WW1, would find your comments both offensive and unwarranted.

As I imagine would many of the soldiers whose lives were saved by those same brave women.

[Aardvark]

Yes Jack I read it, and I read it again just now. For a start I never once ran down the memory of the Brave Women who worked tirelessly and lost there Lives in the service of their Country. This Lady is trying to convince People they are suffering Fatigue from the various celebrations and commemorations when the reality is that the younger generation are embracing it more every year. There was a Story in "The West" praising the Women currently serving in Afghanistan, telling us how hard it must be to share quarters with their Male counterparts and how inconvenient their situation is. However only one of those had ever been outside the Wire. Gallipoli was a loss for the Australian's but it inspired the imagination of the People in a Young Nation who were trying to come to grips with the reality of losing 20% of their Young Men. I think the Lady in question is far more interested in making a Name for Herself, when she should be encouraging the Younger Generation to Remember and respect the memory of our fallen Soldiers ...

[socksy]

Images from services throughout Scotland on this link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24898052

[sgt]

Soldier’s Soldier

Scapegoat of an individual’s ambition
Hostage to the prince’s crime
Sent upon a madman’s errand
Soldier of another time

Sworn to do as he is bidden
Not to think of why he came
From himself his purpose hidden
Soldier by another name

Searching for a mystic evil
Ever just a war away
Always beaten, not defeated
Back to fight another day

Battles always won, but cheated
Of the promised victory
Never lost but just depleted
Army of our history

Kill the chicken; scare the monkey
Centipede is dead, not stiff
Off to far Cathay he marches
Soldier diving off a cliff

War not done but just abated
Peace the only thing to fear
Power’s hunger never sated
Soldier’s orders never clear

Dragon’s teeth by Cadmus planted
Sprung from battle’s plain full grown
Men who kill them all if doubtful
Heathen gods will know their own

Burn the village, clear the jungle
Save them from themselves at least
Make excuses for the bungle
Soldier then becomes the beast

Wounds still fresh and redly bleeding
Bound up with a filthy rag
Something shapeless once a husband
Stuffed into a plastic bag

Squatting in the dusty swelter
Widowed woman once a wife
Never more to know the shelter
Of a tranquil married life

Head thrown back in boundless grieving
Mouth agape with soundless woes
Tears and snot now glisten, mingling
Coursing down from eyes and nose

Anguished face a tangled curtain
Clotted, matted, raven hair
Almond eyes with sight uncertain
Weeping pools of deep despair

Do not knock this war we’re having
It’s the only one we’ve got
Better dead than red we tell them
Mouthing slogans; talking rot

Fight them over there they tell us
Rather that than fight them here
Just invent some casus bellus
Danger’s best that’s never near

Ozymandias’ sneering statue
Crumbled in the desert bare:
Look upon my works, you mighty
See their ruin and take care

Told to teach and be creative
Soldier ignorant and young
Learned instead and then went native
Speaking now an ancient tongue

Only they will now receive him
Who see not his bloodstained hand
None will hear for he can’t speak it
Stranger to his own lost land

Bringing with him what he carried
Losing only what he bought
To the cause no longer married
Soldier doing what he ought

Shipped away like so much baggage
Not to choose the things he’s done
Often bad and sometimes better
Soldier not the only one

Now he comes home like the others
Breathless lips and eyes shut fast
Lain to sleep beside his brothers
Soldier’s soldier to the last

Michael Murry, “The Misfortune Teller,” Copyright 2005

[sgt]

Here is a honor ceremony from New Zealand: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... 206%202013

And a little song from the US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... Pxu5P1xtMA

[Astana]

Something very nice for a change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxjDLzuqUTs

[Doodoo]

"Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty.[1] The day is also marked by war remembrances in several other non-Commonwealth countries. In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. ("At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.) The First World War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.[2]

The tradition of Remembrance Day evolved out of Armistice Day. The initial Armistice Day was observed at Buckingham Palace, commencing with individual George V hosting a "Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic"[3] during the evening hours of 10 November 1919. The first official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the grounds of Buckingham Palace the following morning. During the Second World War, many countries changed the name of the holiday. Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted Remembrance Day, while the US chose Veterans Day"

To those that served