11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/NYTimes-Page1-11-11-1918.jpg/474px-NYTimes-Page1-11-11-1918.jpg)
And so ended “the war to end all wars”… (except it didn’t. While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the ceasefire on the Western Front, hostilities continued in other regions, especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the old Ottoman Empire. Then there is the inconvenient fact that harsh reparation terms leveled against Germany would actually lead to the collapse of the Wiemar Republic, the rise of Hitler, and WWII…) But, still, on this Veteran’s Day let’s remember the old traditions; two consecutive minutes of silence at 11:00 a.m. local time as a sign of respect in the first minute for the roughly 20 million people who died in the war (and the wars since), and in the second minute dedicated to the living left behind. 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.
