Today is the day where we in Britain remember the sacrifices of our armed forces since the first world War.
there will be a 2 minute silence at 11 am today. There will be short memorial events and services at war memorials around the country. On sunday there will be larger, more formal services.
What has this to do with AA - probably not much, but for me it was another excuse. I shudder when I think of the disrespect I showed by getting rip roaring drunk. I remember that this was also a good time for my dad to get hammered, along with many ofhis ex forces pals. There will still be hoards of ex servicemen getting rip roaring drunk. The difference for many is that it's a once a year event, not an excuse.
So this year, again, I'll be sober and clear headed. I'll have my 2 minutes silence. It's the ONLY silence I observe.
I'll also be listening in to my local radio, which has an interview with one of us, a 90 year old ex despatch rider, who will be talking about his experiences. He and I spent a fair bit of time together last weekend. This past year has been the first time he talked openly about his time.
What I won't be doing is getting overly sentimental, nor will I be going to Barnsley Remembrance Day Parade on Sunday to try and catch a glimpse of my son. I'll go somewhere else.
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
Thanks Bill, ... It's Veteran's Day here across the pond ... I served four years in our military from '71 to '75 ... (it's also where I learned to drink) ...
Mostly my thoughts will be with those who served during my same time that didn't make it back from Viet Nam ... and those who sacrificed themselves for the protection of our way-of-life ... in all wars ... and especially those who came back missing arms, legs, eyes, fingers, etc. ... We have to stand for something or we'll fall for anything ... There can be no greater sacrifice than to lay down one's life for his or her country! ... Let's remember them so there lives will not have been in vain!
God Bless, Pappy
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Thats funny guys! I did most of my drinking prior to serving 20 years! I was sober for the whole stint (minus a couple times I was slipped drinks as a "joke" ). Good thread Bill.
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Thanks for your service Pythonpappy! I was in Jr. high and high school during those years. My classmates and I were spared the horrors of going to Viet nam.
I watched a documentary last night on the last British veteran of the First World War - Harry Patch - 92 yrs old when they made the documentary. He met up with the last surviving German veteran of the Great War and shook his hand.
He reminded us that there was also losses on the other side and that their losses were as painful as ours.
They're all gone now. there was huge loses in the Great war. In Britiain, there were many conscripts and before conscription there was social blackmail to join up - whole factories, whole communities, whole sports and social clubs joined up en masse in the pals Battalions and they were destroyed en masse, tearing the heart out of the community. This, for me, is why we should never forget. It's not about glorifying war, or glorifying the dead, it's about remembering what the politicians do to the ordinary working man. As harry Patch said, if a war can be ended over a boardroom table, then why do we need to kill millions to get there?
as a boy growing up, there was always someone who knew someone who had lost someone in the trenches or at sea.
all over Britain there are monuments to the dead of 2 world wars. They're still adding names. after the Great war there were only 11 villages who didn't have a war memorial, because they didn't need to commemorate the dead because there was none. there were also a few, less than 10, villages who refused to erect a memorial becuase ALL of the menfolk had been killed.
and now we have theiving bastards ripping the bronze plaques off the memorials to sell on as scrap.
The cenotaph in London was originally a temporary installation, made of lath and plaster, for a one off festival of remembrance. when the authorities tried to tear it down, such was public feeling that they couldn't find a workforce to demolish it, so after public protest and lobbying, it wa made a permanent fixture. from this sprang the war memorials in towns and villages aound the land.
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
Good Post Bill,... I would just say that most, if not all, wars are about power and greed ... I suppose there are those too about forcing one's religion on someone else who has a different culture ... but by-and-large, I agree with your Harry Patch ... if the war could be ended with the leaders over the boardroom table, then by all means let those idiots fight it out and leave the local communities and hard working folks out of it ...
Our problem has been that the smooth talking politicians are able to twist the truth enough to convince the common people to go and fight for something they never really quite understand ... millions have been led to their deaths this way .... Maybe there are some noble causes for going to war, like to slow down or stop certain fanatics of communism or the Islamic extremists who are intent on forcing their way-of-life on everybody, I don't know ... But when a group of idiots managed to destroy the 'World Trade Center' and kill so many people of all races and creeds, you have to do something to stop that lest we have them control our entire nation ... (which, by-the-way, is slowly coming to be) ...
So Sorry, I got off subject a little there ... I just wanted to point out one more thing on the topic of 'Remembrance'/'Veteran' ... Today we see, for the most part, our soldiers welcomed back from active duty as heros and men of honor ... When I served, our troops came back and were treated like dirt mostly ... Media hams like 'Jane Fonda' were making headlines with films of the casualties of war(which are a part of any war) where women and children had been killed ... they sensationalized it and made offers of apology to the communists and said we were wrong to be there and all that crap ... Well the result was, our troops came back home, not as heros and honorable men but were depicted as 'baby killers' and were spat on and publically humiliated ... (innocent people get killed in every war that I've ever read about, so why did my generation get singled out as the 'bad' guys?)
Again, I'm sorry, but this has been and still is a very touchy subject for me ... The 'mood' of the nation sure can change ... And it all seems to start with what the Media wants us to think and feel!
God Bless, Pappy
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
). Good thread Bill.