On November 11 Americans celebrate
Veterans Day to honor the military veterans who fought in the service of our country. It wasn't always this way. King George V first proclaimed
Armistice Day on November 7 1919 to celebrate the
1918 armistice agreement with Germany which ended Eastern Front conflict in World War 1. Woodrow Wilson proclaimed an
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Good point, and yet oddly contradictory on it's face. Americans did NOT experience either war as did those living in the countries where they were fought; so why would we acknowledge a veteran's service the same?
Sounds a like bit of an 'apples and oranges' comparison.
It would also be nice if we came around to their way of doing things as well. Why?
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You have accurately rephrased what I stated in my post. The American civilian celebrates war differently in part because they experienced it differently.
It would also be nice if we came around to their way of doing things as well. Why?
I doubt my ability to explain the benefit of celebrating the end of armed hostilities if you do not intuitively understand it already.
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And I'm not so sure that intuition is in play here? I might be mistaken though; since I have always felt there was something flawed in the notion that something could be 'the same, but different' so I'd have to make quite an intuitive leap in this case.
Further (if I might wander a bit), celebrating the end of armed hostilities without context is not always a beneficial thing.
Oh well, I was simply trying understand the point you were making and I don't. Europeans essentially started both wars, primary elements of both wars were largely fought in Europe. That they would view the end of both a certain way is clearly probable. I'm just not so sure it's a superior view.
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Maybe you could think of it like Seat Belt Day. Someone who has had the good fortune of never being in a car accident might not appreciate seat belts as much as someone who has, but a day noting the benefits and importance of seat belts is still worthwhile even for those people due to the many ancillary benefits of seat belts.
celebrating the end of armed hostilities without context is not always a beneficial thing.
Armistice Day was proclaimed in the context of the November 7 1919 armistice which ended World War One. Germans do not typically celebrate Armistice Day for this reason, except that this year was the first year that they did, so even the Germans are coming around.
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So if Americans are celebrating Nov 11th, does that mean that they are stabbing the trooops who were still fighting the commies in russia into the 20's? Not to mention the american in poland, but that way complicates other parts of the discussions about which was the peace, and which was the interlude, and....
You have skipped over Memorial Day, which was suppose to have been about helping americans cope with the forgetting of those who died defending their way of life....
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We have Memorial Day, a separate day, to honor those who died in service (popularly and erroneously called "the greatest sacrifice.")
There is no special day set aside to honor American military asskicking in general - that is not, for instance, the purpose of Flag Day - and I am not aware that V-E and V-J Days are celebrated by more than a handful of folks. July 4th is remembered as a day early in the inauguration of a war, not as that war's successful conclusion; and so is December 7th, a day which is not celebrated, but rather lives in infamy as predicted by FDR.
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