Red poppies.

[mrissa]

They think it's Veterans' Day, but it's really Armistice Day. I don't have anything against honoring veterans, but...we thought we were going to end wars once, and I think that's worth remembering all by itself.

If you haven't read Pat Barker's WWI trilogy, do. Worth every second. I need to pick up copies myself, since I borrowed them from David-in-California and don't have my own. I also love L.M. Montgomery's Rilla of Ingleside, and I've got a dozen things on my "to read" list on this topic.

I've talked before about how the very concept of fandom -- that people who liked the same books as me might have other things in common with me, too -- was a revelation when I was a kid. That there were other people who would find the same things important, not just one at a time but in groups. In practical terms, what this means is that while most of the rest of the world doesn't even think to make me cry on Armistice Day, my friendslist is extremely good at posting and linking the stuff that makes me lose it entirely. Like the war poets, and like this.

Comments

[poeticalpanther.livejournal.com]

Interesting timing - as I'd just posted Bogle's other well-known anti-war song.

It's weird for me. I served. I stood in my country's uniform, and was posted to Germany in a time before glasnost - a time when "the enemy" meant Russkies. So I guess I'm a veteran.

On the other hand, they kicked me out for being queer, and I've got no pension or benefits or anything. So am I? I certainly don't feel like I am.

It's weird.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Your service means as much to me as anybody else's; *I* don't care (in the sense of accepting their position) that the system rejected you and screwed you over. Perhaps it means even more, given that you probably knew you were risking that when you elected to serve.

[poeticalpanther.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I have to say I'm glad I never had to hurt anyone. I wish I were certain I never could have, but I know me better. I'm not that squeaky good.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I can see why you don't feel like you are, but I do feel like you are. You served, and their judgment of what is and is not honorable is not my problem.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Very much yes to your first paragraph.

Never seen Willie McBride. Now wish to listen to it. Because, yes, didn't make me lose it, but... Close.

[jenett]

Yes, to the point about Armstice Day.

You may already have known this - but there's an actual poem, for the poem mentioned in Rilla that Walter writes.

http://www.tickledorange.com/LMM/Poems.html#THE%20PIPER

This, incidentally, and in more hopeful vein, was my first lesson in the power of the Net: my freshman year in college (94), I was taking a music composition class which had a song setting assignment. I wanted to track down the text, if there was one, and politely subscribed to and asked on the main L.M. Montgomery list whether the text was anywhere.

Got sent it three times. I'm still pleased with my song setting.

[orangemike.livejournal.com]

Yup, Americans call it Veteran's Day, because Armistice means peace, and if we celebrate peace the terrorists have won or something.

That doesn't stop me appreciating the choices and sacrifices made by the veterans (including the Conscientious Objectors) I know.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

What's weird is the disabled veterans have switched to forget-me-nots, and it's just not the same. The red poppies held so much meaning for me, because I knew where they came from. (Nevermind that the U.S. had relatively few casualties in WWI.) I think the reason the U.S. calls it Veterans Day and not Armistice Day is because it's the day when we honor ALL veterans, and not just the ones from a specific war.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I know, but I would as soon have Armistice Day and V-E Day and V-J Day and the rest. If they wanted to have a holiday that honored all veterans, I don't think it should have taken over Armistice Day.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

Isn't that what Memorial Day is supposed to be for?

(Oh, and insert rant here about holidays being on their proper days, or changing over to "bank holidays" like they have in Britain. Celebrating Memorial Day on a day other than May 31st still feels wrong to me, after all these years. And I assume I don't have to get into how I feel about "Presidents' Day.")

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The difference between Memorial Day and Veterans' Day was explained to me that Memorial Day only honors the dead ones. In my family, at least, the old folks decorate the graves of non-veterans and veterans alike on Memorial Day (but All Saints' Day is for the honored dead in general, so I'm really confused). I still think that if they wanted a veteran-honoring day, they could have picked some other day and left Armistice Day alone.

I have no desire whatever to celebrate Presidents.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I started to understand WWI some because of Paul Mitchell (character in Anthony Price's novels). Sounds like I should look into this Pat Barker.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

If I manage to track down copies for myself, I'm willing to lend them to you, of course. If I was considering whether to recommend them to you without any interest on your part, I would think hard about the brokenness of the characters, but on the other hand I don't think you expect characters to have come skipping back from the front singing tra-la in this example.

[spaceoperadiva.livejournal.com]

They think it's Veterans' Day, but it's really Armistice Day. I don't have anything against honoring veterans, but...we thought we were going to end wars once, and I think that's worth remembering all by itself.

Beautifully put.