Remembrance Day and Veterans Day 1

[Brandybee]

It's  Remembrance Sunday in the UK.
There are parades up and down the country to remember our military heroes.

For all those brave heroes, military and otherwise, who fought and died for the freedom I and my family enjoy today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, each and everyone of you for what you gave and to your families who suffered your loss.

The Military Wives Choir – Wherever You Are

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ7f4lV3e0c

Wherever you are – Military Wives  lyrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lsxDvfG96M

[mooncalf]

Here in the United States, today is Veterans Day, it's a day we set aside to honor our military veterans.  Now, I realize that this is an international site, and an international forum, which I do enjoy, so I would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to all our veterans.  Not only from the United States, but all military veterans regardless of which country you served.  It takes special people who are willing to put everything on the line to defend what they hold dear.

A Brief History of Veterans Day here in the USA:
Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislation that was passed in 1938, November 11 was “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.'” As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress — at the urging of the veterans service organizations — amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

In 1968, the Uniforms Holiday Bill ensured three-day weekends for federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on Oct. 25, 1971.

Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on Nov. 11.

[Brandybee]

In the UK , we also have Remembrance  or Armistice Day which is officially at 11am on 11 Nov.  In addition to this we have Remembrance Sunday held as close to the 11/11 as possible, where we have military parades and laying of poppy wreaths at cenotaphs or memorials to our war dead.

We observe a two minute silence at 11am on the 11/11 across the country in remembrance and respect to our fallen military. In addition to this we buy red poppys to wear on our lapels, coats, suits etc.. for this same reason, and the money collected is a recognised charity to assist surviving soldiers.

Here's our UK history – 

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognised as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918.

Hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,” in accordance with the Armistice, signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. (“At the 11th hour” refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am) World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.

The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I. This was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.

The Initial or Very First Armistice Day was held at Buckingham Palace commencing with King George V hosting a “Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic”  during the evening hours of November 10, 1919. The first official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the grounds of Buckingham Palace on the Morning of November 11, 1919. This would set the trend for a day of Remembrance for decades to come.

The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields”. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

In Flanders Fields
Flanders Poppy on the First World War battlefields.
by John McCrae, May 1915

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.

Thank you to all military personnel, past present and future who fight selflessly to ensure the freedom we have today and keeping me and mine safe.
Thank you to the soldiers who have paid the ultimate price of this freedom with their lives and to the families they left behind.  You have my never ending gratitude and respect.

[Momma_andrea]

It brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it.

“I FOUGHT FOR YOU”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgYLr_LfhLo

[ItsAmy123]

[jayc]

an Interesting fact on why the poppy became the symbol for Remembrance Day (UK) / Veterans Day (USA).

COPIED FROM ENATURE BLOG

Poppies have been associated with Veterans Day since its first observance, as Armistice Day, in 1919.  While often seen in the U.S. around Veterans Day, red poppies have become a prominent part of what’s become known as Remembrance Day in Canada, England, Australia and many of the Commonwealth nations around the world.

Why Poppies?
The poppy’s significance to today’s observance is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I.  And their red color seemed an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare.

Started By An American
Two days before the Armistice was declared at 11am on November 11th, 1918, an American woman named Moina Michael was working in the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries’ headquarters during its annual conference in New York City.

Inspired by McCrae’s poem, Michael purchased 25 silk poppies that she distributed to attendees of the Conference.  The poppies were well received at the meeting, which prompted her to begin effort to have the poppy adopted as a national symbol of remembrance.  She succeeded in having the National American Legion Conference adopt it two years later.

The custom quickly spread to Europe and was especially embraced by the British Royal Legion and veterans groups throughout the British Commonwealth.

[Momma_andrea]

Well now it's Veteran's Day

I love my GI's, thank you.

[Covems]

Thank you.

And thank you too all the others who served, too.

[Brandybee]

Armistice Day (Remembrance Day)  – 11th day, 11th month, 11th hour.

Armistice began at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – the time in 1918 when The Great War, now referred to as World War I, ended with the signing of an armistice between Germany, the United States and the allied governments.
On the 11th hour (the armistice was signed in Paris and Central European Time Zone was employed) of the 11th day of the 11th month…the war that claimed the lives of over 8 and a half million was to end.

[img width=400]http://rattlergator.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c838c53ef0168ebe14f5f970c-pi[/img]

Wear your poppy with pride to remember our heroes in all conflicts.

[Anatasia97]

Thank you Veterans for your Service!

https://funnyadultgamesplay.com/forum/index.php/topic,4336.45.html

[Vaughan]

[Soniaslut]

I wanna make
Something beautiful
For you and from you
To show you
To show you
I adore you
Oh you
And your journey
Toward me
Which I see
And I see
All you push through
Mad for you
And because of you
I couldn't thank you in ten thousand years
If I cried ten thousand rivers of tears
Ah but you know the soul
And you know what makes it gold
You who give life through blood
Blood, blood, blood…
Oh I wanna make something
So lovely for you
'Cause I promised that's what I'd do for you
With the bible I stole
I know you forgave my soul
Because such was my need
On a chronic Christmas eve
And I think we're agreed that it
Should have been free
And you sang to me
They dress the wounds of my poor people
As though they're nothing
Saying “peace”
When there's no peace
They dress the wounds of my poor people
As though they're nothing
Saying “peace”
When there's no peace
Days without number
Days without number
Now can a bride forget her jewels
Or a maid her ornaments
Yet my people forgotten me
Days without number
Days without number
And in their want
Oh in their want
And in their want
Who'll dress their wounds
Who'll dress their wounds

Sinead O'Connor              Something Beautiful

                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haYbyQIEgQk

[JessiCapri]

This is one of the coolest pictures I have ever seen. The men on the right are about to paratroop into Normandy on D-Day, 1944. The men on the left are the very same group 70 years later. Even more amazing, they are on the same plane which carried them into battle.
God bless our heroes.

[Soniaslut]

                    The Pogues              A Pair Of Brown Eyes

                                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-tunRwGPIQ

[img]https://i.imgur.com/PrZVrkA.jpg?3[/img]

[Soniaslut]

               [img]https://i.imgur.com/JzyXxK1.jpg?1[/img]

                                                            Metallica        One
                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7yooZaW6zw

                                                                   For The Fallen

                                              With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
                                                        England mourns for her dead across the sea.
                                                        Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
                                                        Fallen in the cause of the free.

                                                        Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
                                                        Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
                                                        There is music in the midst of desolation
                                                        And a glory that shines upon our tears.

                                                        They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
                                                        Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
                                                        They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
                                                        They fell with their faces to the foe.

                                                        They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
                                                        Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
                                                        At the going down of the sun and in the morning
                                                        We will remember them.

                                                        They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
                                                        They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
                                                        They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
                                                        They sleep beyond England's foam.

                                                        But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
                                                        Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
                                                        To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
                                                        As the stars are known to the Night;

                                                        As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
                                                        Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
                                                        As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
                                                        To the end, to the end, they remain.

                                                        BY LAURENCE BINYON 
        [img]https://i.imgur.com/MivXPA8.jpg?1[/img]

            [img]https://i.imgur.com/Ex5hEWy.jpg?1[/img]

If you're in-game at 11 a.m GMT, please observe 2 minutes silence for those that gave so much to give us the freedoms we have.

[Author]

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