In the vein of "support the troops, end the war," I thought this piece (about US troops deployed to the US border) did an interesting job of showing how absurd the deployment is. For instance:
It was a chicken and noodle dish, one of the more sought-after rations because it came with Skittles. But from the cot outside his platoon's tent at the Army's latest forward operating base, Sergeant Micek could almost see the bright orange and white roof of Whataburger, a fast-food utopia eight miles away but off limits under current Army rules.
Given that we've been at war one way or another for most of the last 17 years, there's a non-trivial chance that some of the kids actually have a family member who was killed or maimed while deployed.
It seems like school officials might want to think very carefully about what sort of invented ceremony they lay on a bunch of elementary school aged kids under those circumstances.
I was wondering if the specifically named soldiers were connected to kids in the room.
When did BBC presenters start wearing poppies all through November? It seems unseemly to me.
Whenever I see that POW-MIA flag I'm reminded of how a political stunt turned into something that was real, and simultaneously unreal.
The UK, fwiw, has seen a lot of stupid remembrance ('poppy') inflation. I never used to see giant poppies pinned to trees in my local park (with explanatory notes) but now I do. Tube trains now have poppy decals on the front: new this year. Men dress in suits made entirely of poppies, poppy-clad balaclavas included. A reasonable way to memorialise is as you say: something personal, ideally on or around the day, instead of weeks in advance. What we've got is something clownish yet insidiously nationalistic that's difficult to push back on, because who wouldn't agree to 'honour the fallen'. Still, I want to go up to some of these morons and describe to them the impact of my father's PoW hospital tenure, his injuries and disability, and say that I strongly disagree with them, and further inform them that he would have disagreed too. And follow that up with a recital of _his_ father's WWI service (MC + 2 bars, DSO, plus something French (Croix de ...?)) ... and subsequent alcoholism and suspected PTSD ... but that would be gauche and self-serving. But then again, if we're into displays ...
My kid got made to make poppies at school (he's five). Not at my request. But I got the chance to gently give him some context, which is something.
My HS was more than 100 years old and did a British-style (I think) Armistice Day service, with reading of the names of the 170 alumni killed in action, actual veterans in attendance, last post, laying of wreaths by various organizations. And the flags of all the allies flown.
I don't we did anything in elementary school, and I think that was normal. The HS service was attended by representatives of neighboring schools. I think the vast majority of schools in the country were founded after WWII (which I imagine is also true in the US, though you've also had more recent wars).
That ceremony, along with the entire POW-MIA "movement", is a travesty. Grieving families were drawn into conspiricizing for short-term diplomatic points, and now it's practically a religious observance - and people assume it's apolitical because of the name.
The ceremony described in the post sounds ludicrous and utterly unsuitable for a school. (Where are these POWs supposed to be, anyway? Not Vietnam surely?)
Poppy inflation is a claim with some validity but we are comparing it to the situation in the 80s and 90s, which were by and large times of peace. This has changed. And I've found that the line about "they shall grow not old as we that are left grow old" is hitting home a lot harder now that I am starting to get old and some of my friends never will.
Historical note: even immediately after the Great War it was not the custom to wear poppies before Armistice Day. See (spoilers) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club: the General must have died the night before because it was unthinkable that he had been out on Armistice Day without his poppy but entirely natural that he should not have worn one on 10th November.
9: Ridiculous, I know, but yes, Vietnam. The US stopped acting like this when we normalized relations with Vietnam, but it's still common to see the movement's flag flying under the national flag on federal property on certain days.
That silly ceremony is bringing to mind the sublime "Naming of Parts"
As some of your know, I teach at a university that used to be a community college -- it's in a really poor town, which regularly gets named one of the worst places to live in the USA. (And I can attest that it is.)
All of which is to say that lots and lots of our students are returning vets, kids that signed up not because of patriotism especially (though sometimes out of patriotism) but mostly because what else are you going to do if you're 17 and broke and there's nothing for you except a part-time job at Pizza Hut?
My brother who died a few years ago signed up for essentially the same reason. He was 20, not 17, but he'd wrecked his last chance at college by sleeping through his finals, and what else was there? He joined the Army, and then the first Bush sent him to Iraq. He never got over that. He didn't exactly commit suicide, mind you, but he drank and smoke and ate terrible food until he died at 53.
So Veterans Day is just touchy. All my veteran students -- not all of them are badly damaged, and some of them are such smart tough kids. But it just seems so wrong to me that we live in a culture that requires our poor young men and women to do this, to sign up to risk their lives and their mental health in order to be able to pay for a university degree.
My rich kids don't have to do it. When they flunk out of college -- like my brother did -- their parents just buy them another semester. Or send them on a Gap Year. Or whatever.
So we can "honor" them for their "sacrifice," but, you know, it's not like they're going of their own free will. And they're not exactly sacrifices to "freedom," whatever the fuck that means. They're sacrifices to the Great God Capitalism. Even if they live.
Sorry. It's possible I'm a little bitter.
Lemon? That's sour, any Jew could have told them it's horseradish that's the bitter symbol. I know some people use lettuce but I don't think most people associate that with strong flavor.
8: If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, it wasn't diplomatic points, but worse. It was a right wing conspiracy theory that the Feds were selling out the POW/MIA to the Vietnamese to end the war. It morphed into this disgusting mini industry in the 80s scamming the families of lost soldiers out of their savings. "The military say your husband is dead, but that's just a cover up. Give us ten grand and we'll send our man in Bangkok in to investigate."
And there was this whole movement, with bumper stickers, calling for the government to fess up and admit they abandoned all these men. That was what Rambo 2 was about. So they eventually got their day in congress, and so we commemorate the nonexistent soldiers that were left behind with black flags at our post offices. I guess this is all ancient history now and the flag means something else, but it still bugs me.
My grandfather was a WWII vet, there some myth I heard that he shot down one of the first V1s approaching London using just his rifle (seems implausible to me). But our family was always very anti-war, one of my uncles dodged the draft in Canada, so almost no one including him ever talked about it.
Armistice Day was not a celebration of the end of the war but of the beginning of peace: The Great War would be followed by an even Greater Peace. Armistice Day celebrated that the bitterest of enemies, divided by language, history, and culture, eventually recognized they could accomplish nothing by continuing to shoot at each other, and tried to create a world without war by talking things through, writing it down, and signing their names. It's perfect for re-enactment in an elementary school assembly. Performers (could be real veterans, could be kids) come on stage, looking dirty and worn out, put down their soldier gear, and sign their names on the same page.
Veterans Day is an abomination, even to the veterans themselves. They served to make their kids' world peaceful, not to aggrandize themselves.
The OP ceremony really does seem to be telling those kids that people are still being held captive 40 years on. That's completely inexcusable.
"Armistice Day celebrated that the bitterest of enemies, divided by language, history, and culture, eventually recognized they could accomplish nothing by continuing to shoot at each other"
That makes it sound like both sides simply agreed to give up in exhaustion. Not actually the case - the Armistice came as a result of the defeat of the Central Powers in the field. Quite a lot had been accomplished in the months leading up to the Armistice. That's why the Armistice happened when it did!
If you prefer you could make the soldiers from stage right muddier than those from stage left.
Veterans Day is tricky
After one of those Armistice Day services while we were walking out one of my black classmates grabbed me by the arm, comically feigning hysterical sobbing*. That kind of ticked me off at the time, but why shouldn't he have? Those commemorated were killed on behalf of states that no longer exist, and which never belonged to him or his (even if he should be glad those wars turned out as they did).
*I think he expected me to join in, and many of my white cohorts would have.
We went to the RAF Museum in Hendon today, there was a ceremony, but we deliberately arrived after that had finished. There was also some poppy making activities for the kids, and some interpretative dance, but it was fairly low key. There were a few elderly veterans in wheelchairs cruising around.
xelA is really fascinated by it, and continually asks questions. I think, in part, because he was quite close to his great-grandfather, who had living memories of WW1* and served in WW2. We, as a family, don't make any kind of deal out of it, though. I can't remember the last time I wore a poppy. Years, I think. Not out of any particularly strongly held ideological objection -- although I do find poppy inflation unseemly -- so much as habit. I'm certainly happy to chuck some cash in a tin for the Royal British Legion. My Dad, though, who was in the Army, never wore a poppy, that I can recall.
* his much loved older brother died at the Somme.
but it's still common to see the movement's flag flying under the national flag on federal property on certain days.
Its more than common, its everywhere. Its basically a second national flag, at this point. And its horrible because its all because of a ridiculous con, but nobody can suggest maybe its about time we started taking it down, because that means then you hate The Troops.
I think it is state law in Mass. that the flag be displayed at least one government building in every municipality.
AT at least one. My proofreading is clearly MIA.
Those commemorated were killed on behalf of states that no longer exist
I'm pretty sure France still exists.
That silly ceremony is bringing to mind the sublime "Naming of Parts"
Have you read the other Lessons of War as well? I'm quite fond of "Psychological Warfare":
All the same we must not exaggerate; in the words of Saint Matthew:
'Clear your minds of cant.' That is point five: note it down.
Do not take any notice of claptrap in the press
Especially the kind that implies that the enemy will come here,
Solely with the intention of raping your sisters.
I do not know why it is always sisters they harp on:
I fancy it must ebb up from someone's self-conscious.
It is a patent absurdity for two simple reasons: (a)
They cannot know in advance what your sisters are like:
And (b) some of you have no sisters. Let that be the end of that.
26. I'm pretty sure France, Germany, Russia, the UK and Serbia still exist. If you were being pedantic you could say that the 3rd Republic, Deutsches Reich, the Russian Empire and the RSFSR, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Serbia no longer exist, but it would be fairly pointless except as an exercise to show the value of the Oxford comma.
I'm pretty sure my school wasn't in any of those countries.
If you are anti-Oxford comma, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Serbia sounds like an interesting place.
29. What country that doesn't exist any more was it in?
I came here to say "wtf, lemons are sour, not bitter," but I see SP already covered that. I'm afraid I would have laughed out loud at that part.
Do they know you don't have to eat the rind?