Remembrance Day/Veterans Day/Armistice Day - 11/11/09 - General

I watched a video about 11/11 at school during a Public Services lesson, it had the story of where the symbol came from, the story of the mother and girlfreind of a soldier killed in afgahnistan, the event in london last sunday. I was almost crying when I watched it.

I'm going to AppleBees. both to eat free(i'm a veteran) and to thank any other vets I see while I'm there.

Today my school showed us that "In Flanders Fields" doesn't translate to song very well [img]http://hfboards.com/images/smilies/facepalm.gif[/img]

[quote=Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind. Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not. So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things. What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance. And all music is. [/quote] text

Just got back from marching in my city's parade. No one was selling poppies =(

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!–An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,– My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

When I was still at school, some kids used to come around the class rooms selling poppys, which was alright apart from in the last year I was there, the pins were banned because of health and safety..

[img]http://borg.pp.fi/tropo/kiitos2.jpg[/img] I have one of these.

[QUOTE=Blazehmr;18314121]oh, its my birthday today[/QUOTE] I've got birthday at 13rd of November.

Essayons! sound out the battle cry. Essayons! we’ll win or we’ll die. Essayons! There’s nothing we won’t try. We’re the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Pin the castle on my collar. I’ve done my training for the team. You can call me an engineer soldier. The warrior spirit has been my dream! We are builders, we are fighters. We are destroyers just as well. There’ve been doubters who met with the sappers and then we blew them all to hell. Our brothers fighting on the battle field look to us to point the way. We get there first and then we take the risks to build the roads and airstrips and bridge the mighty river streams! We don’t care who gets the glory, we’re sure of one thing this we know. Somewhere out there an engineer soldier designed the plan for the whole darn show! Essayons, whether in war or peace, we will bear our red and our white. Essayons, we serve America and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Essayons! Essayons! US ARMY ENGINEERS! Bout halfway done with my regular visits. Stopped for lunch and whipped out my laptop and figured I'd type out the Essayons song. Essayons, Hooah! [B]EDIT:[/B] Another kinda traditional thing I do for this day is make engineer punch and me and some of my buddies I served with raise a toast to our fallen brothers.

Just finished watching the 2 hour memorial. Lest we forget.

[QUOTE=Linelor;18318702]Essayons! sound out the battle cry. Essayons! we’ll win or we’ll die. Essayons! There’s nothing we won’t try. We’re the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Pin the castle on my collar. I’ve done my training for the team. You can call me an engineer soldier. The warrior spirit has been my dream! We are builders, we are fighters. We are destroyers just as well. There’ve been doubters who met with the sappers and then we blew them all to hell. Our brothers fighting on the battle field look to us to point the way. We get there first and then we take the risks to build the roads and airstrips and bridge the mighty river streams! We don’t care who gets the glory, we’re sure of one thing this we know. Somewhere out there an engineer soldier designed the plan for the whole darn show! Essayons, whether in war or peace, we will bear our red and our white. Essayons, we serve America and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Essayons! Essayons! US ARMY ENGINEERS! Bout halfway done with my regular visits. Stopped for lunch and whipped out my laptop and figured I'd type out the Essayons song. Essayons, Hooah! [B]EDIT:[/B] Another kinda traditional thing I do for this day is make engineer punch and me and some of my buddies I served with raise a toast to our fallen brothers.[/QUOTE] That's a pretty good idea man.

[QUOTE=StupidUsername67;18289746][img]http://edfromct.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/vietnam-memorial.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] This picture almost made me cry.

Well school was disappointing. There wasn't a single mention of Veterans Day. Everyone was too busy circlejerking over MW2.

Google didn't put a poppy up until nearly 12. On Sunday it was fucking Elmo.

[QUOTE=lazyguy;18322979]Google didn't put a poppy up until nearly 12. On Sunday it was fucking Elmo.[/QUOTE] Because yesterday was the real remembrance day.

We didn't do anything in school or anything really. Sorry Vets

Only one teacher even mentioned it. Eh.

We had a rememberance assembly in school today, just due to the logistics of getting the whole school into a hall - they split up the year groups. A minister from a nearby church came over to take the service. I'm not religious, I don't believe in any organised religion, and it annoyed me that he came here and pretty much took over the service. I didn't mind being there, or the two minute silence, or the reading of war poems etc, but to get a sermon, and bible readings? I was happy to go there for a remembrance ceremony, not for a fucking church service. It really pissed me off altogether, as I had to sit through bible readings and several prayers. Don't misunderstand, it's not that there's anywhere else I'd rather be, I just feel that the church has taken over this event. Surely I shouldn't need to hold a religion to remember fallen soldiers.

[QUOTE=pawelte1;18299687]11st of November is also Polish Independence Day.[/QUOTE] I thought Versailles was signed in June?

[QUOTE=GeeBee;18317914]Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!–An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,– My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.[/QUOTE] We had to study this poem for English last year.

We have ANZAC day on the 25th of March, kinda the same thing

I expected something good at my school, but, nothing... Not even a mention on the loud-speaker. [QUOTE=OutOfExile;18321814]Well school was disappointing. There wasn't a single mention of Veterans Day. Everyone was too busy circlejerking over MW2.[/QUOTE] Not everyone respects Veterans anymore... it's sad.

[QUOTE=KaIibos;18295468]It always burned my ass when we had remembrance day assemblies in high school and people were often laughing and not taking the idea seriously at all. Disrespectful cunts.[/QUOTE] Dear god. I hate the people in my school, disrespectful bastards. We had this lady who was a holocaust survivor come and do a presentation about a month ago. A group of about ten people were LAUGHING. What the fuck. A guy in my civics class said he was going to use some random fart program on his iPod during the moment of silence, talked him out of it, though the only way I could get it through his head was that all the teachers would be fucking pissed at him. Son of a motherless carpenter, what the hell is wrong with people!

[QUOTE=lazyguy;18339207]I thought Versailles was signed in June?[/QUOTE] I talk about Poland, not France.

[QUOTE=Pome;18335369]We had a rememberance assembly in school today, just due to the logistics of getting the whole school into a hall - they split up the year groups. A minister from a nearby church came over to take the service. I'm not religious, I don't believe in any organised religion, and it annoyed me that he came here and pretty much took over the service. I didn't mind being there, or the two minute silence, or the reading of war poems etc, but to get a sermon, and bible readings? I was happy to go there for a remembrance ceremony, not for a fucking church service. It really pissed me off altogether, as I had to sit through bible readings and several prayers. Don't misunderstand, it's not that there's anywhere else I'd rather be, I just feel that the church has taken over this event. Surely I shouldn't need to hold a religion to remember fallen soldiers.[/QUOTE] Our school ceremony on Tuesday was secular, thankfully. However, it was taken over by the theater/musical arts kids who used the opportunity to show off how fucking talented they are, with a couple small speeches from an Afghanistan vet and a Korea vet. Pissed me the hell off that they would selfishly hijack Remembrance Day like that.

I was in the remembrance parade in Richmond, which is also where the poppy factory is located(where all the remembrance poppy's in England/Wales are made), I think I went on a school trip there when I was little.

I was in the Veterans Day Parade in Downtown Orlando, FL today for JROTC. I was taking photos for my Battalion, however. Our battalion marching in the parade [img]http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs063.snc3/13068_202869424902_570454902_4087044_5103586_n.jpg[/img] A 'crucifix' that was in the courtyard at my school on Wednesday [img]http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs070.snc3/13768_200505219902_570454902_4068003_7575555_n.jpg[/img]