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At 11am this morning, millions will gather around the world, to ring bells 11 times slowly in solemn remembrance to mark the end of the war that would end all war, not only to honor the memory of those lost, but to pause and reflect on even the glimmer of a prospect for peace in someone’s lifetime.
Author Kurt Vonnegut wrote about what was left of this sentiment in Breakfast of Champions.
Author Kurt Vonnegut wrote about what was left of this sentiment in Breakfast of Champions.
“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.”
Well, obviously no one has been listening at all since my coming home from my own war in 1972. The Voice of God never registered with the occupying forces in Vietnam and more than 4 million had perished, for absolutely nothing. Now with the War on Terror having caused over 4.5 million deaths - and counting, the Post-911 Butcher’s Bill shows no sign of ever coming due.
After signing Veterans Day into law as a national holiday in 1954, President Eisenhower called on all Americans to “solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.” So, how’s that working?
While communities come together today to pay tribute to those who served—or more precisely, were used—many Americans will mark this somber occasion with a vicarious hope to reclaim Armistice Day, if only to reconnect with its once enduring legacy.
While communities come together today to pay tribute to those who served—or more precisely, were used—many Americans will mark this somber occasion with a vicarious hope to reclaim Armistice Day, if only to reconnect with its once enduring legacy.
Britain’s youngest D-Day Veteran and founding member of Veterans for Peace UK, Jim Radford, sings “1916”, a Remembrance Day staple. Jim passed away from COVID a few years ago, but his spirit still inspires, touches, and educates to this day.”