merziac

Thanks to all who serve and have served.

Home of the free because of the brave.

Bigbus

Thank you and wish the same to all others out there

Slightspeed

Happy day to all the vets. I put my flag out at 7, by 8:30 I had to bring it in because the killer Southern California winds are back. I didn't want it blown away. Have a safe and happy day. No rides today, too windy, too smoky, but no fires in sight.

stardognine

Thanks, all you vets. 👍 Bad eyes kept me out, but my father & brother & a few nieces & nephews all served. 😎

Fahrenheit531 

French cyclists of the Cavalry Corps, on the Champagne Front, eastern France, September 1915. REUTERS/Collection Odette Carrez

The Golden Boy 

We in the US know it as Veterans' Day- this day is Armistice Day in most other countries- The end of WWI on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. One hundred years ago today.

I say "Happy Veterans' Day" because it is a celebration, but there's the element of thanks and remembrance- and knowing how much the European countries suffered for 3 years before the US entered the war-


Panama by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

RobbieTunes 

I did Jungle Warfare school in Panama. Not fun.

xiaoman1 

Yes, we should take a moment to thank all of those that have served and continue to serve we should recognize that the freedom that we enjoy comes at a great cost..as said above "Freedom is not Free".
Best, Ben

hobbs1951

Armistice Day and Remembrance Day are two rather different things - many have forgotten or never knew. Armistice Day (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month) is the commemoration of the end of the Great War (as it was known) when the guns fell silent in 1918.

Armistice Day in most other countries (sic) is not actually correct, for example Germany does not have one (it has a national day of mourning). France is like the UK but there it is a national holiday.

Remembrance Day has somewhat overshadowed Armistice Day* (I'm talking about the UK here) and encompasses remembrance of the fallen of all wars since. Yesterday (the 11th of November) was especially poignant for - some of - us Englishmen as it was the 100th Anniversary of the end pf the Great War (three of my ancestors fought in the Great War - two volunteered before conscription was introduced and they were gazetted in the summer of 1916).

My cycling club section (V-CC) has always had a memorial ride to commemorate the fallen and we cycle to 11 war memorials in our local area whatever the weather.

Floreat Gerboa !

*still commemorated in much of the UKs former Empire and Commonwealth. I understand from American friends that there has been a low level campaign to re-introduce the idea of an Armistice Day in the US (Kurt Vonnegut was one of the campaigners).

John.

top506

Roger that.

Top

RobbieTunes 

I am more than grateful for having had the opportunity to serve. My thanks are directed back at those who provided me 3 squares a day, a roof over my head, and no worries about getting patched up or a ride home to The World.

it was a glad exchange.

The Golden Boy 

This is interesting-

I thought I remembered my Grandparents referring to 11 Nov as "Armistice Day." My Grandfather was born in 1916 and my Grandmother in 1923- so wouldn't remember WWI- but if it were still referred to as Armistice Day into the 1950s...

I just saw this:

"In November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th as Armistice Day, a commemoration of the signing of an armistice between Allied forces and Germany during World War I on 11/11/1918. By an act of Congress, the name was changed to Veterans' Day in 1954. The country had fought in two wars since World War I, and so November 11th became a day to honor and remember veterans of all conflicts.
In this image, Governor Walter Kohler signs the proclamation making November 11, 1954, known officially as Veterans' Day in Wisconsin. More image info at https://wihist.org/2Opmyra. "


FWIW- I also remember my Grandmother referring to Decoration Day

hobbs1951

Armistice Day began to be replaced in the UK - and to an extent in Europe - with Remembrance Days after World War Two, although many old timers (those born in the early 20th C) would still refer to the 11th of November as Armistice Day.

I think history will reveal Decoration Day in the US refers to the Civil War remembrance days. One of my Grandmother's remembered seeing Zeppelins over London during the Great War (as it was always known, I still refer to it in this manner).

John.

The Golden Boy 

As I recall- there was no military or war connotation to Decoration Day for my grandmother- it was to go down to the big city and put flowers on the graves of relatives- irrespective of military service.

The Great War is fascinating to me- it happened long enough ago that I (or most people now) don't have any direct connection to it- I've known WWII vets, but I don't recall any WWI vets. Americans are physically removed from the battlefields, and Europeans suffered longer and more casualties- plus pictures are most all black and white and the film footage is speedy and jerky- it's not as "real" to people now.

1918 was quite a year.

Salamandrine 

My grandparents called it Armistice Day as well.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Giacomo 1 

You must watch the documentary series, "Apocalypse - WW1". It has aired on Nat Geo and It Is a fascinating look at WW1 from a French perspective. Its all color, and its high quality film in regular speed and the battle scenes really show the extremely grim existence of the common foot soldier and the Generals distance from it all. It really brings a reality to the war that I have never seen before.

God Bless those men...

squirtdad

Remembrance day in Canada. I was up there for the weekend and everyone was wearing a Red Flower, including the chain crew for the football game....one of whom was an active Canadian Special Forces Officer. People forget Canada has been in every conflict the US has been in since WW!

My Grandfather was in WW!, a horse handler who had a permanent limp and a purple heart. from a machine gun bullet

My father was in Korea......driving an ambulance, but I don't think that is the entire story

My service in the Coast Guard was easy compared to that......I did oceanograpy for 4 years.... Todays coast guard between drug interdiction and middle eastern wars is much different, camo, special forces teams, and snipers.

semper paratus

fietsbob

Red Poppy for remembering the Veterans, White poppy for Peace , 'never again'
War to end all wars , didn't, obviously..

Spent several days in Ypres Belgium, a rebuilt replica of the old city, leveled during WW1.

Thanks to my host , a landscape care worker, (& Cyclist)
employed by the British war graves commission
keeping the many square miles of graveyards green & tidy.. in perpetuity.



...

verktyg 

Memorial Day in the US was originally called Decoration Day. it was May 30th from 1868 to 1970. While it began after the Civil War to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers, it became a day when people visited the graves of friends and relatives and "decorated" them with flowers, wreaths and candles regardless of whether there was any connection to the military or not.

In Australia and New Zealand April 25th became ANZAC day in 1916 as a memorial to the soldiers who fought at Galipoli against the Ottoman Empire.

Remembrance Day, November 11th formerly called Armistice Day is celebrated in Australia and Canada but no longer in New Zealand.

November 10th is the US Marine Corps birthday so the 10th and 11th were always special days. In November, 1965 we were on Malta training with the RBMs - Royal British Marines. They threw a joint MC birthday party for our whole BLT (~1300 of us) plus a battalion of their own in a huge hall. I don't remember the details....

verktyg

RobbieTunes 

Some Nov 10th's are quite remembered. In 1983, a Marine from Grenada, Farley Simon, won the Marine Corps Marathon, a little over 2 weeks after the Beirut bombing. Commanders worldwide insisted their Marines celebrate that birthday.

I also remember following a certain major, who, sword drawn, "led" several Marines, in dress blues, off of a 1-meter diving board at a hotel pool. As we exited the pool and sorted out various covers, belts, buckles, shoes, and swords, he was heard to utter "the unseen enemy is the worst. "

thumpism

Found this today and got my Veterans Day bummed out.

Yes, I fished them out and brought them home, as I do the ones I find at the roadside after they've blown off patriots' passing vehicles.

Bianchigirll 

I am not old enough to have celebrated Armistice Day but I have an odd nostalgia for it. V.E day and V.J. days as well

Interesting fact, Captain Harry Truman was commanding one of the last artillery batteries firing that morning and knew the Armistice was a mistake, and feared there would soon be another war (or something like that)

Germany made the last of it's WWI reparation payments, I guess they were suspended for WWII?) in Sept of 2010

Bigbus

bad eyes kept me out of the cockpit, but not out of the plane....

stardognine

I'm not sure what you mean there, but I tried getting into the service 3 times. It matters how bad they are, wether you can get in or not. Heck, I would have cooked or washed dishes, if they had let me in. 🙂

bobwysiwyg

My understanding is, in the U.S., Memorial Day is reserved for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Veteran's Day is to honor all who have served.