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The Armistice/Remembrance Day Poppy
(Poppies still proliferate World War I battlefields)
Credit:
Shosh
Sharet on Wikimedia
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I remember when Armistice Day was dedicated to the pursuit
of world peace. But today, Veterans’ Day is a very different celebration than
what was then Armistice Day. Veterans Day has evolved to a day we celebrate by
venerating our veterans, overwhelming idolizing our war’s combat veterans, in
doing so, glorifying war.
“The war to end all wars” is a catchphrase associated with The
Great War, World War I. The war’s hostilities stopped on November 11, 1918. The
signing of an armistice in 1919 officially ended the war. In November 1919,
President Wilson commemorated November 11 as Armistice Day in remembrance of The
Great War. In 1938, Congress acted to make November 11, Armistice Day, a legal
holiday, “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace ….” In 1954, President
Eisenhower redesignated Armistice Day as Veterans Day, originally a day to
honor all who served in America’s armed forces.
Today, Veterans’ Day has nothing to do with ending war and
nurturing peace. Instead, we here the catchphrases Support Our Troops and
“thank you for your service.” Those who voice those phrases are disingenuous
and self-serving. They essentially are saying, “Look at me, see how patriotic I
am.” Or, perhaps we're actually saying without knowing it, “better you than
me.”
In many countries, November 11 is Remembrance Day. Others
still celebrate the day as Armistice Day. In these countries, it’s a day to display
the symbolic red poppy as a public act of remembrance. As a kid, I remember an
America where red poppies were also a public act of remembrance, a day to
reflect on the ravages of war and a commitment that war must end.
What we’ve done instead is support never ending wars. Three
of our more recent wars have been America’s longest wars: Vietnam, Afghanistan,
and the war Iraqi Freedom. There have been six major wars, and now the
probability of a third in Iraq, since the end of “The war to end all wars.” Remembrance
Day has become Veterans Day, acceptance day of war.
What we should be saying to our veterans is “I’m sorry” and
begging for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not standing up for you over the
years; sorry for destroying your lives and the lives of your loved ones; Sorry
for not taking care of you when you finally did come home.
We also should be saying that we are sorry for not carrying
through with the same demands that ended the Vietnam War, continuing to demand vigorously
that there will be no future war.
Copyright © 2014 Horatio Green
