At 1100 on the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns finally fell silent, but not before 10 million young men fell, never to rise again, with another 20 million maimed, and nearly 8 million missing, forever. The world got its first look at modern, industrial warfare on a massive scale and turned away revolted. Promised those left behind that this would be it, the war to end all wars.
It was a promise that went sadly unfulfilled.
Joseph Ambrose, an 86-year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, who had been killed in the Korean War.
On Memorial Day we lay flowers on the graves of those that fell. Today we give humble thanks to those that served, and returned again with honor to take up the plow, hammer or pen. Or to those who fell back into the ranks vowing to keep the sword bright and sharp for the next time, grimly aware that there will always be a next time, that only the dead have seen the last of war. Having seen for themselves the real nature of man, knowing as they do that weakness is provocative to savagery and that the surest path to peace is to be prepared for war.
Some march in parades, and see the battle pennants streaming from the colors. For them these are not mere gaudy flashes, for they have a memory of the time before they were in place, remember the streamers fresh and new, remember what it cost in human terms to tie them to the flagstaff.
Others will gather in taverns and VFW halls, hoist refreshments in memory of their youth, offer toasts to those forever young, and wonder how they will ever be able to explain any of it to anyone who wasn’t there, while knowing that for those who were, no explanation will ever be necessary.
Some will wake up in the middle of the night seized with nightmares or private guilt, some few will try to self-medicate, fall down a deep tunnel and end up wandering the streets muttering dark and unintelligible dirges of innocence lost and the human connections that cannot be restored once one has seen the whole world turn violently mad.
Military service is hard, even in peace time. People are asked to surrender a portion of their freedoms to better ensure the freedoms of the rest of us. Discipline is enforced; great exertions are called for, there are separations and privations. They are taught to run towards the sound of the guns, to stand in the hatch and fight the fire, to shove the throttles up and fly into the maelstrom. In short, they are conditioned to willingly go towards things from which every fiber screams to flee. They are taught, and most of them eventually come to believe, that there is something more important than themselves. That some things really might worth dying for, whether those be noble principles, those they left at home, or those on their left and right.
These are hard teachings, but they have the example of heroes to testify to the truth of them.
In this land we are graced with a vibrant political culture, but it was Washington’s guns and musketeers who gave it to us. We enjoy the remote fastness of our island home, but it was Decatur, Farragut and Porter who scoured the seas to defend our ocean ramparts. We have human freedom and increasing dignity here at home, but not before three million boys in blue and butternut contended the terms of that freedom. We have liberal democracies here and abroad, but not before millions more marched forth asking for nothing but a patch of earth to be buried in, should it come to that.
There are many blessings in this land, but although we tend to treat them as birthrights, transferable to our heirs in perpetuity, the reality is that all of them have been fought over. Perhaps the greatest blessing of all is that in each generation there have been those who answered their country’s call when it came and said, “I’ll go. I’ll do it. Pick me.”
They are the veterans, and this is our day to thank them.
Update: If words fail, turn to music and imagery.
Bravo, sir.
Yours is the best, most moving tribute I have read on this Veterans Day. “Swords into plowshares” — and back into swords… The flower of our country, you warriors are.
Marianne
Whilst looking over the rest of the Navy MOH rolls, the phrase “Uncommon valor was a common virtue” came to mind.
It’s strange, Lex, in light of what you said, that we came to view so much of what was required as ‘ain’t no big thang’. I have mixed feelings of admiration and pity for those going to the battlements today, for this battle seemingly has no end. It seems that they who fight shall know more of war than of peace in their lifetime. Godspeed to them…and good hunting.
Amen! Very well said, sir.
I have fond memories of helping the men from the VFW Post my dad was a member of set out the flags early in the morning on Armistice Day (as many of them called it still). I had the honor to know some Great War vets, and even one from the Spanish American war – ramrod straight, leading the parade.
Thinking on him, I knew him when I was very young. Like as not his father was in the Civil War, and knew some vets of the Revolution (or if not, then his father did). So, in the span of 4, or maybe 5, lifetimes is the history of our Republic written. How many other nations have done so much for mankind in so short a time?
(an observation – The Corps was formed on 10 November. The Central Powers surrendered on 11 November)
As the saying goes – Freedom isn’t free.
It’s cost is seen in the sacrifices our warriors make everyday, in the sacrifices their families make as well.
Their commitment to something greater than themselves is such a thing of beauty. I’ve known my share of those who made that commitment and I’m eager to know more.
I want to know all of you. Directly, personally. To thank each and every one of you for what you do, as part of what you call your job.
Our lives are richer and safer because of you. <3 <3 <3
Thank you to all veterans.
Thank you,to you Lex for your eloquince on this day.
Posted to my Facebook page this AM:
“Today is Veterans Day. The price they have paid, all too often in blood or with life itself, enables those of us who haven’t to enjoy the lives we lead. I cannot express with anywhere near enough fervor my gratitude for their service. I will never know what is like to have thus served but may I never fail to appreciate it.”
Few say it as good as our host. This day and Memorial Day get to me. Perhaps because of the twinge of guilt I feel for never having served, but more so because of the sacrifices, great and small, of those who have and do, giving me the opportunity daily to enjoy the blessings of this land and the freedoms so very much a part of its enduring landscape.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you here and everywhere who answered the call.
Lex, I hope you get the day off. This is your first Veterans’ Day. Do enjoy it! Thank you for your continued service to us Vets doing what you do so very well.
Wasn’t Lex retired this time last year? But, then Lex has had many a Vet’s day since he pinned on his wings.
What Steel Jaw said…
Thanks, Lex, for your service and for your writing.
Have a beer, and relish the thought that, despite everything else, our nation still produces men and women who understand what needs to be done, and then go and do it.
God bless them all, their families, and the ones they’ve left behind.
Thank you, Lex, and all others who served.
At the elevelth day, at the eleventh hour…….
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die.
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 – 1918)
Lest we forget.
Here it is Remembrance Day, marked by the selling of poppies to fund Lecacy, a charity set up post WWI to support the families of those that died.
Of course today each name on the wall at the National War Memorial had their own poppy, set by their name.
If anyone is interested I have a photo of a digger collecting poppies in the Somme, or if you like I can scan enlistment papers or death notices of a relative who my father took the time to track down.
Otherwise look to the flight deck of April 2007 (?). The memorial is much the same.
The quiet pride on the face of Joseph Ambrose says all that needs to be said on this day. Best
Sorry Lex, I let my emotions grab me a way a little there. Villers–Bretonneux does not forget, it is one of my great regrets I didn’t get to see my great-aunt across as she never remarried and died childless. I really would like to see my grandmother see her fathers grave too, before she is a little too old at a spritely 82)
Lex,
Marianne is correct. Yours is the best today.
Well done, sir.
Subsunk
From one vet to all the rest: Thank your service and your sacrifices. You all have helped to make this the great nation that it is. I am truly blessed to have been born in the USA.
Lex
Well said. On another note, RADM Jeremiah Denton’s book will be released in hardcover today – updated with stories from his time in the senate under Reagen.
Very well said, Sir. Thank you.
Here is a link to a video made by one of our neighbors to the north.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlrrAWCTRg
Appropriately and profoundly expressed, Lex. Thank you.
Thanks to you, Lex, and to all the veterans who post on this site. You’re appreciated.
Beautiful, thanks. From one to one, and to all who visit here, may we never forget the sacrifices of those, past & present.
For those with children recently enlisted or commissioned, the fact that our country and armed services continue to change, with oftentimes questionable direction never detracts from the principles of courage and commitment instilled in them, by you. May they stay safe and gather around the hearth soon.
Wonderfully put, Lex. To you and all veterans; Lest We Forget.
Regards and thanks from Canada.
Ian
Thank you, Lex. From so very many and for so many too! We all thank you for your great words, good thoughts and your prayers, for what they mean to me and for the four veterans in my own home. Thank you for all of us!
Here’s a piece that means a lot to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFHX5CMOnnQ
Thank you sir. Thank you vets.
My most humble thanks and with deepest respect to all vets.
Thanks for the video, Lex, thanks.
Been thinking today about a song I recently heard for the first time. It was written after a conversation with a TX Air Guard crew who flew home the fallen crew from “Red River 44”, a National Guard helo. It’s one of those that gets you. On the singer’s web site it says proceeds from the song go to – Texas National Guard Family Support Foundation-.
http://www.radneyfoster.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:new-single-qangel-flightq-benefits-military-families-&catid=1:general&Itemid=24
already bought my copy.
Ray, thanks for that. Such music always touches me very deeply, given the love and compassion that are behind it. A great song.
You got me to thinking about another song, one about a bumper sticker.
Thanks Ray, very moving.
Yes indeed, Ray. Very moving. Thanks for sharing the video.
Every year I think of the four WWI veterans (and a sheriff deputy) gunned down by Marxists in my hometown on parade during the first anniversary of Armistice Day. Heroes every one of ‘em.
This is the 90th anniversary.
I salute you:
Warren Grimm, American Legion Post Commander;
Arthur McElfresh, American Legion;
Ben Cassagranda, American Legion;
Dale Hubbard, American Legion;
John M. Haney, Centralia Deputy Sheriff
More background google “Centralia Washington Massacre.” Take the Wiki Univ WA revisionist history with a grain of salt. The IWW was openly committed to the violent overthrow of the US government.
Lex, you always exceed my expectations.
My everlasting thanks to all who’ve served and continue to serve. Y’all are the best this country has produced, bar none!
Lex,
I Knew I could pay a visit today and see what I expected to see, honest words and a moving tribute.
To all who serve and have served…
Thank You.
Lex,
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
*This* is what I wanted to see from the President on this occassion. Leave it to a retired blogger instead of the professional script-writer to get the message.
Fair winds and following seas, for those of you who understand such sentiments. If I live long enough, my pledge is to continue remembering you, my shipmates, until we meet again.
– Max
Well said, sir.
http://bit.ly/4uyCl3
This video has been on the Net for a week or so- heck, may have already been posted here. What a wonderfully evocative scene, and a memory that father and daughter will share forever; her reactions are indeed priceless. Brought back memories.
Military service is hard, and some make a greater sacrifice than others. My gratitude to all who have served, especially those that were on the “pointy end of the stick”. Also, to the family members who had to make sacrifices that are often underappreciated, and anxiously awaited their loved ones return.
Link courtesy of Mr. Sullivan at “The Atlantic” magazine/webzine.