Veteran's Day (2010)
Veteran's Day, 2010--
A day of remembrance (or at least it should be) in honor of all Veterans, past, present and future... and especially to the memory of those we've lost.
And also, to many other countries, it's Armistice Day and/or Remembrance Day. 92 years ago, on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month of 1918-- the guns stopped and the fighting ended-- the Great War, aka World War I, the war once called "The War to End All Wars" was over. We shouldn't forget the millions who died on the battlefields of that war, nor should Americans (who were spared much of the bloodshed of that war) forget that our day for Veteran's Day was chosen *because* it's also Armistice Day.
We also shouldn't forget that, although people in 1918 thought that would be the war to end all wars-- we're still fighting more wars around the world today. Will humanity ever get to the point where there will be no more war? Maybe if we're all extinct, or under a one-world government (for better or worse)-- so long as we're still trying to divide ourselves by nations and races and ethnic groups and political divides and economic blocks and etc etc etc-- we'll probably still have wars.
Anyway-- to my fellow Veterans-- I'll raise a glass for you today.