1100, 11/11/18

[onejayhawk]

On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month...

In less than two weeks, we will observe the centennial of the signing of the Armistice that ended the Great War, more recently called World War I. This is a larger event in France and England than in USA, but even here it is the official day to honor living veterans of foreign wars. Are you doing anything in particular to commemorate the event?

J

[Gregg]

There are no surviving members of WWI.

While I am glad we won the war, I have no real emotional attachment to it.

I think I will have some french fries.

[revo]

I plan on hanging around in a disgusting, wet trench, eating bully beef and contracting malaria.

[TranaGreg]

I couple of years ago I attended the main Remembrance Day event up here (there are many; being a commonwealth country we had participated early in WWI ... it's still kind of a big deal). It was a pretty somber event. Not sure if we'll go this year.

Looking at the numbers of combat deaths tho it's pretty surreal ... Deaths by Country: Germany 1.8 Million, Russia 1.7 Million, France 1.15 Million, Austria-Hungary 1.0 Million, UK 744K, and on and on ...

[Steve 2.0]

There are no surviving members of WWI.

While I am glad we won the war, I have no real emotional attachment to it.

I think I will have some french fries.

Go all out:

[nots]

I couple of years ago I attended the main Remembrance Day event up here (there are many; being a commonwealth country we had participated early in WWI ... it's still kind of a big deal). It was a pretty somber event. Not sure if we'll go this year.

Looking at the numbers of combat deaths tho it's pretty surreal ... Deaths by Country: Germany 1.8 Million, Russia 1.7 Million, France 1.15 Million, Austria-Hungary 1.0 Million, UK 744K, and on and on ...

Thanks for posting those. Sometimes I forget just how brutal WW1 was.

[B-Fly]

My kids are probably a bit too antsy for me to take them to a somber public ceremony, but I'll try to talk to them about it. It's a Sunday this year. My NYC government office is closed on Monday in observance, but my kids' school district and my wife's school district are both open, so I'll have a day to myself to relax, which is great.

[onejayhawk]

Names like Somme, Verdun, and Ypres are spoken in hushed terms. In third Ypres, often known as Passchendaele, almost three-quarters of a million in about four months. Some of the one-day totals are obscene. The first day of the Somme offensive, the allies had over 60,000 dead and wounded. That's more than all US losses in Vietnam.

J

[TranaGreg]

Thanks for posting those. Sometimes I forget just how brutal WW1 was.

A couple of years ago I read The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 ; it's an interesting read on the events that led up to the war. One of the main takeaways for me was that nobody - even in the leadership chambers in each country - believed that an all-out war was possible (there had been a number of "skirmishes" in the preceding decades, all of which got resolved without going full-scale) ... everyone thought someone would back down, that people would come to their senses ... but nobody did ...

[onejayhawk]

We are starting to see articles on the centennial.

It was a hopeful time, but very different from 1945. There was a clear loser but no clear winner. Much has been made of the Treaty of Versailles, but the real problem is that no one could enforce it.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/11/08/the_11th_hour_of_the_11th_day_of_the_11th_month_--_100_years_ago_138588.html

J

[B-Fly]

Painful to read as we approach Veterans' Day that the shooter in last night's California bar massacre appears to have been a war veteran with PTSD. We need to take better care of our veterans, and that includes mental health screening and treatment and additional supports.

[onejayhawk]

Having been in a conflict zone, I can say that there is extensive material and assistance available--if you want to take it. The problems lie with those that avoid such contact.

Suitable to the day.

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.

John McCrae