Friday, November 11, 2005

What Does Veterans Day Mean To Us

Tomorrow is Veterans Day, it is a national holiday but the only people off work are likely to be federal employees and people who work at banks. Originally called Armistice Day it was meant not only as a celebration of victory of World War I, but as a celebration of the desire and hope that in the future nations would resolve conflicts through peaceful means. We know now that War would come again to our world. So often, in fact, that it is sometimes hard to picture a people actually believing that they had seen the end of military conflict. After World War II and The Korean War the holiday was renamed Veteran's Day, so that we could honor all who have served, and are serving our country. It is a beautiful gesture and last year at this time no less than 3 people came up to me at work and said thank you and shook my hand. It literally brought tears to my eyes. I have a wish though, i wish that on this day we honor each other as veterans and active military personnel, and take pride in our service that we also remember that hope, that desire, that nations may one day settle their conflicts without use of arms. That one day we will honor this day as was originally intended, as a day to look back and say.. Remember when.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

For all those who are serving, or have served in the Military I would like to extend a virtual *hand shake*, with a sincere heart felt thanks for your service.

Bill Baar said...

Thanks for your service.

Robin Edgar said...

I personally thanked several Canadian veterans when I was in Ottawa during Remembrance Day. The ceremony was very respectful and the "minute of silence" actually was closer to an hour of silence. In fact several minutes after the official "minute of silence" I told a group of veterans, "You're getting well over your minute of silence." They clearly appreciated that comment. The very large crowd was effectively silent throughout the ceremony until it ended with a parade of veterans. At that point the crowd gave them all a good hand.