11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

[MisterCairo]

Today, November 11th, is throughout the Commonwealth Remembrance Day. Today at 11 am we will pause to remember those who went before us and fell in battle, and those who fought and survived. We also remember those currently serving in war overseas.

Lt.-Col John McRae, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, authored perhaps the best known poem from the Great War:

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
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.

 

[Doctor Strange]

And it's Veterans Day here in the US.

I'd like to send a shout-out to my parents, both of whom served in WWII.

My dad was a sergeant in the Army Air Corps/Air Force. Already 22, he enlisted in the fall of 1941, and was through basic training and on leave before assignment at the time of Pearl Harbor. Though he never saw action, he performed important, mostly photographic work, primarily in Hawaii (where he was among the first wave to rebuild in early 1942) and Gulfport, Miss. (where he ran a large darkroom staffed by civilian women... and had his own show in an art gallery in nearby New Orleans!) He went on to become a professional photographer for over fifty years.

For the A-2 fans, here he is in 1943, posing in a jacket borrowed from his "flyboy buddies":

And earlier this year, in the Bradley Associates A-2 we got him in 2001 to honor his war service:

Yes, he's still with us and doing pretty well for 90!

My mom was a sergeant in the Marines. She enlisted in 1942 at 19, and spent most of her service at El Toro in California. I'm not sure how much she really did to help the war effort, but she certainly had some interesting adventures!

After the war, she met and married my dad, and was eventually his full-time partner in the photography studio. Besides that and raising two kids, she repaired pendulum clocks and made welded sculptures. (Yeah, she was a "liberated woman" long before the 70s!)

Alas, she is now in a nursing home, far gone to late-stage dementia. She can only barely communicate with us, but every now and then a fragment of her old Marine tough-cookie persona emerges...

Anyway, let's hear it for the citizen soldiers of WWII! I'm not a big fan of the "greatest generation" label, but there's no denying that these folks really rose to the challenge of their times with amazing honor!

 

[Alexi]

I'll remember my grandfather today who was blacklisted from the army in WWII (for previously fighting in a foreign army), my father who fought in Vietnam and the 6 marines my brother has lost under his command in Afghanistan

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've been thinking a lot today about the passing of the whole WW1 generation, and what this day used to mean to them. People my age -- born in the late fifties and early sixties -- were pretty much the last generation to have known World War 1 vets as part of the daily scene. They were elderly, but many were still vital, still active in the community: my childhood doctor and optometrist were both former doughboys, as was our local pharmacist, the guy who ran our local hardware store, and so many others. We'd see them marching in parades, they'd be honored in ceremonies, we'd hear them speak in school assemblies -- and now they're all gone.

It's inevitable, of course, that all generation will eventually pass from the scene -- but World War 1, especially in the United States, has disappeared more completely than any other from the public consciousness. If you knew a WW1 vet in your own family, or your own town, take some time today to remember them.

 

["Skeet" McD]

http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100014/RLMRIBlueStar

My father joined the Army the day after Pearl Harbor; the eldest of 13 Irish slumrats in Depression Providence, RI, he mostly got through his days on a piece of toast and a cup of tea because he gave his food to his younger siblings. He was turned down on December 8th because he didn't weigh enough. A recruiting sergeant told him to eat a whole bunch of bananas and then return. He did...and got in.

He had been apprenticed as an engraver and enameler (Providence was the center of the US jewelery business in those days): the name on this window-card "blue star" is in his own hand, in full engraver's script.

He successfully transferred to the Air Corps and after training was detailed air traffic controller at Bradley Field, Windsor Locks CT. He married my mother in the base chapel Sept. 1st, 1942 (she had a war job at Pratt-Whitney). He never made it out of that base. Five times during the war he put in for combat duty, packed his duffel, said "goodbye" to my mother--and returned the same night, told off on the tarmac as "essential base personnel".

He is still alive, God bless him, at 90 YO, although my mother has been dead almost a decade. He lives by himself in the house I grew up in, and the war years are still very, very present to him. Like the generation that fought our Civil War, that generation was "touched by fire" as Oliver Wendell Holmes so memorably said.

God bless them all, living and dead. Their service, sacrifice, and suffering saved Western Civilization from a great evil--although like all victories it was neither complete, nor free from bringing other evils in its train. We may hope and pray to do as well facing our challenges.

"Skeet"

 

[jamespowers]

For all the soldiers who have served this country. Today is their day.
Specific to me would be my grandfather, who served in the Army during WWI, my father, who served in Korea, and my uncles who served in WWII.

 

[Forgotten Man]

May we never forget our vets of that terrible war! The war to have ended all wars... Let us not forget them!

My dear Grampa Smith with the 8th in WWII↓

He's the good lookin' chap on the left.

 

[jamespowers]

I see quite a resemblance to your grandfather there.

 

[GallatinHatMan]

To my father, Paul W. Lucas. The first photo is a newspaper clipping of him with his two brothers, all U.S. Marines actively serving in the Pacific.

The Second photo is his boot camp graduation photo, he is the left front row end.

He's been gone now almost 10 years and I still miss him everyday.

 

[Forgotten Man]

I see quite a resemblance to your grandfather there.

Yes, I've been told that before

I wish I had knew him better... He never really talked much when I was a kid... I guess he learned that if he spoke too much it may land him some more work around the house... lol poor ol' Grampy.

 

[jamespowers]

Yes, I've been told that before

I wish I had knew him better... He never really talked much when I was a kid... I guess he learned that if he spoke too much it may land him some more work around the house... lol poor ol' Grampy.

lol lol lol lol lol

 

[Story]

Found elsewhere -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQju-Kl9nLI

On November 11, 1999, Terry Kelly was in a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the store's PA asking customers who would still be of the premises at 11:00 am to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us. When eleven o'clock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the "two minutes of silence" to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect. Terry's anger towards the father for trying to engage the store's clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was later channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, "A Pittance of Time". I think that you will find it to be a moving video and song.

 

[Smithy]

This was on the NZNewsUK site in honour of Rememberance Day and which I think typifies the loss of young life which occurred...

http://www.nznewsuk.co.uk/people/?ID=4221&StartRow=1

(Soren - you might found this interesting as it relates to 85 Sqn)

 

[fortworthgal]

Today is also our 9th wedding anniversary.

I have had family in every war the United States has been a part of. I always take time to remember our veterans of all wars today. We usually participate in our local Veteran's Day parade, but this year did not. On Saturday we participated in an honor guard for a Veteran's Day ceremony. Afterward, an elderly man came over to us - he had spotted the patch my husband was wearing from across the lawn. My husband's grandfather was in the 2nd Marine Div., 2nd Regiment, 2nd Battalion - and so was this veteran. Really neat! He had some great stories.

 

[MisterCairo]

We had a wonderful ceremony today in Stratford, a large turnout at the Cenotaph, in no small part due to some of the nicest weather we've had in a while.

Two things struck me during the ceremonies. First, the list of vets who'd died since November 11th 2008, seemed to go on and on.

Second, the announcement that since Canada is "still at war", the list of our killed in action in Afghanistan since November 11th 2008 was read out.

It too seemed to go on and on.

Lest We Forget.

I will post pics of today's events shortly.

 

[Spitfire]

This was on the NZNewsUK site in honour of Rememberance Day and which I think typifies the loss of young life which occurred...

http://www.nznewsuk.co.uk/people/?ID=4221&StartRow=1

(Soren - you might found this interesting as it relates to 85 Sqn)

Thanks for sharing, Smithy.

Lest we forget!

 

[MisterCairo]

This is the Cenotaph in Stratford, Ontario after the wreath laying ceremonies, prayers and acts of remembrance:

A park bench memorial to the Perth Regiment, now amalgamated into the Royal Canadian Regiment, 4th Battalion:

Local veterans of the Second World War, Korean War and peacetime service on parade:

Royal Canadian Sea Cadets on parade. The drill wasn't the best, but God bless 'em they try!

 

[MisterCairo]

Here is the Perth County Pipe Band leading the way for the post-ceremony parade:

The Perth Regiment is now a component of the Royal Canadian Regiment reserve battalion:

Self as a nice gentleman offered to take my pic:

 

[Story]

MisterCairo,
You guys are great neighbors.

 

[MisterCairo]

Story,

as are you....