That’s what they used to call Veterans’ Day. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the belligerent nations signed an armistice, ending perhaps the most stupid war every fought in the history of stupid wars.
World War I, also known as the War to End All Wars, ended 99 years of relative peace, caused millions of casualties, saw the Bolsheviks come to power in Russia, and led to a peace treaty that humiliated Germany and gave rise to both Mussolini and Hitler. The end of that war was worth celebrating, although it never should have begun.
Now we call it Veterans’ Day. We celebrate the men and women who served in all of our wars, including wars that were necessary (World War II, Korea, Afghanistan), and the ones that made little or no sense.
What is the appropriate comment? You say Merry Christmas or Happy Halloween. Somehow “Happy Veterans’ Day” seems wrong.
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ReplyDeleteI agree, "happy veterans day" doesn't seem right. What is happy about it? If you are a veteran and are alive, I guess you are happy to be alive. But what about all of my fellow veterans who have suffered great physical and mental problems. The VA has such a huge backlog of claims, in some cases it's as much as three years. Are veterans happy about that? And what about all of the homeless veterans and those who have returned from wars and can't get a job.
ReplyDeleteHappy--I think not!