On November 11th, 1918 at a little after 5:30 in the morning the allied powers signed a cease fire with the German Empire. This armistice agreement, which was temporary, was scheduled to begin at 11 in the morning the same day. It wasn't completely successful because both sides continued to trade artillery fire until sundown that evening.
Despite the shaky start the armistice held, effectively ending the carnage of WWI. Or, at least providing the globe with a 21-year breather before everyone decided to have another go at each other.
Europe had seen plenty of other deadly wars, but between August of 1914 and that November day in 1918 there had been nothing comparable, at least in sheer numbers.
The British lost over 750,00 troops. The French 1,105,000, the Germans nearly 2,000,000, and the Austria-Hungarian Empire over 1,000,000. Accounts of Russian casualties vary widely, but the lowest figure given is around 3 quarters of a million. The Americans, who got in late, lost 53,000 plus. That's nearly 5,000 fewer troops than the Brits lost on the first day alone during The Somme Offensive in 1916.
On November 11, 1919 the British held the first Armistice Day ceremony on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. The observation of the ending of the war spread across Europe and then to America and Canada and other locales. And, then as these things always do its name and meaning began to morph.
In the UK Armistice Day became Remembrance Day , a moment to honor their war dead, no matter which conflict , plus those who survived them. It is much the same in Canada.
In the U.S it became Veterans Day, where we recognize everyone who has served, no matter while in battle, or some mess hall at Fort Sill, Okllahoma. If you wore a uniform it is your day. Here in the States we, in theory, honor our fallen on Memorial Day in May. The weather is more amenable to drinking beer and cooking out than it is in November.
The late Kurt Vonnegut, along with others, wanted the 11th, to be called Veterans for Peace Day. He once wrote something along the lines of, "Armistice Day is sacred, Veterans Day by itself isn't." Of course Vonnegut also urged Presidential Candidate, George McGovern to use the campaign slogan, "Lonesome No More." McGovern refused, then lost to Richard Nixon. Veterans for Peace Day did about as well.
WWI has been done with over 100 years now. Its sequel was finished nearly 80 years ago.. One thing we can be sure of though, is there will be more wars and more veterans. And we'll trot out the flags and parades every year so we can honor them and feel better about ourselves.
Well, that and give the bankers and postal employees the day off.
11-11-21
I wore my Vietnam Veteran baseball cap for a couple of days last week, my way of observing Veteran's Day. I was amazed at the responses I received while being out and about. Free meals, people opening doors for me, thanking me for my service and wanting to chat for a few minutes, all things which are now commonplace and deeply appreciated. I do hope as we go forward into new challenges and an ever changing public mood, this is not a fad of the moment thing. America has a disturbing tendency to get into long term wars which we eventually tire of and that takes a terrible emotional toll on those who serve in those wars. I pray the American public will always remember this.
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