Rememberance Day is This Saturday…
Take that moment to remember those that have given their lives, and hearts, that we can have the freedoms we, oh so often, take forgranted.Today at 11 o’clock Jen and I were in a supermarket doing the weekly shopping.
It was very refreshing to hear an announcement come over the supermarket public address system reminding customers of the time and date.
All the customers and staff remained stationary and silent for two minutes or more.
My Grandfather served with the Queens Greys during World War 1 where he was gassed.
The gassing affected his health for the rest of his life.
He probably passed away earlier than he otherwise would have.
My thoughts were with all the fallen. On all sides.
Fred Mills said:
Rememberance Day is This Saturday......Take that moment to remember those that have given their lives, and hearts, that we can have the freedoms we, oh so often, take forgranted.</blockquote>Fr. Fred
In the U.S., Memorial Day (last Monday in May) is for the fallen. And Veterans Day (Nov 11) is to honour those that served and are still living.
De Oppresso Liber
The Lone Railroader
Served 22 years.
Ok… but we in Canada do it this way…Please join in our REMEMBRANCE
The eleventh month....the 11th day.....the eleventh hour......
My uncle Percy died in the First World War, as cannon fodder under General "Butcher" Haig.
I WILL REMEMBERGreat note Fred!
Yes, I have the flag layed out and ready to go up at 8 am local time. Politics aside, we should all honor the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms.
Tony, what a wonderful thought. I don’t know that we could tolerate our break from commercialism in the US to honor those that have served. You may hear an announcement like that in a Commissary or Base Exchange, but I would be surprised to hear that in a civilian grocery or department store.
Fred Mills said:At the going down of the sun and in the morning ...
I WILL REMEMBER
Our eldest grandson was born at 10 a.m., Nov. 11, 1997.
I could not help thinking that morning of the boy children born 100 years earlier, who came of military age just in time to be hurled into the slaughters of 1915.
That was my grandfather’s war, and I have always wondered whether his weak lungs were a result. (Like my father, he rarely spoke of his war, and only snippets.)
One the walls of my public (i.e. private boarding) school were brass plaques listing the names of former pupils dead in old wars, starting with the imperial adventures of the Victorians. The last plaque was dated 1918; there was no more space on the walls – and it was a big chapel.
From Mons in 1914 through Arras and Ypres, the Somme and Passchendaele, Gallipoli and all those other names of ill omen, to the time the bugles blew the ceasefire at 11 a.m. on the 11th of November, 1918, 450 “old boys” died – and the vast majority of them were just boys.
Those plaques would have been new when my father sat in that chapel in the '20s, when those Flanders place names were fresh in memory. They had lost none of their power 40 years later when I sat there.
I remember my father reading that poem: “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old …”
He was a good reader, and his voice was steady … The school book of remembrance for his war contains 256 names.
My Dad was at Pearl Harbor and survived. A lot of his friends didn’t.
Warren
Fred Mills said:
Ok..... but we in Canada do it this way......Please join in our REMEMBRANCEThe eleventh month....the 11th day.....the eleventh hour...... My uncle Percy died in the First World War, as cannon fodder under General "Butcher" Haig. I WILL REMEMBER</blockquote>My Uncle died at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. And I remember him on Menmorial Day.
And I remember by father, who is gone but served in the 82nd Airborne in World War II, then also. As well as my Grandfather who served in World War I.
I now salute the Veterans both current and no longer serving on active duty.
Salute’
Fred,
Thank you for the simple but sincere Remembrance and Honoring of Veterans.
JimC.
My sincere thanks go out to all veterans past and present.
I’m reminded of a line from the movie, “Saving Private Ryan”. As Tom Hanks’ character is dying, he tells Pvt. Ryan, “Earn this”. In a sense, he was speaking to all of us. So many gave so much, to win and preserve the freedoms that we take for granted. And too often we foolishly trade those hard-won freedoms away piece by piece in pursuit of social agendas, political correctness and false promises of security.
A lot of my ancestors served with regiments from Illinois and from Tennesssee and Kentucky during the War Between the States. Before that, there were Featherkiles at Chapultapec and at Vera Cruz. There was one, I am told, with O’Bannon at Tripoli, and one served with Francis Marion during the Revolution. My Grandfather-in-Law was a Navy Gunner’s Mate who served with the USMC on one of our Rail Guns during WWI in France, I wore his “Liberty Tie” on the beach several times. My Father-in-Law was a Machinist’s Mate on an APA (Troop Transport) during WWII in the Pacific. I proudly wore his Inspection Neckerchief (which had been handed down to him from his father the GM1) for inspection many times. Once the Admiral had the audacity to comment that it was getting a bit threadbare. After I told him the history of the neckerchief, he actually had a tear in his eye. I have given both to my son who is a FC2 (Fire Control Technician) who maintains the CIWS Gatling gun. My father’s cousin was on the B-17 flight into Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. My father went in with the second wave in the Alutians.
I guess that I am bragging a bit, but that is OK. I get to do that, today.
Steven Featherkile, HMC(SW, FMF) USN, RET
Fine tributes from all of you! Thank you for sharing them!