Take the time to remember this important day.

[DanF.]

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the end of WWI, and is also Veteran's Day in the US. I'd just like to thank everyone who's served.

[sleet]

very good thread. thanks to all who have served. i am getting ready to go to the cemetary to visit my grandpa (korean war) and my uncle (2 terms in vietnam).

[SaabKen]

Excellent, Dan. It's Remembrance Day in Canada, statutory holiday.

[Jezzadee]

We call it Armistice day.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gall...ture=339561557

[BZach9-3]

A sincere thanks to all who have served, and may those who passed rest in peace, for without the brave men and women who fought (or are still fighting) for freedom, who knows what the world would be like today.

Thank you,
Brandon

[900t]

Happy Polish Independence Day!

[DanF.]

Originally Posted by 900t

Happy Polish Independence Day!

That's the spirit.








(thank you mods)

[SaabKen]

Originally Posted by DanF.

That's the spirit.








(thank you mods)

[ragtopcav]

As a youngster remembrance Sunday was always well marked but armistice day passed by almost unnoticed.

IIRC some dreadful tabloid rag pulled it back into the fore, probably the Sun, and it has been a feature of my life since. A couple of minutes of quite reflection does a lot more good than harm. On a Sunday it is easy, but being in noisy modern industrial plant and having that fall as quiet as it can during the working week is a little more effective.

Seeing the footage of Henry Allingham yesterday wanting to place the wreath personally at the cenotaph, I found that quite moving.

The BBC has ran some interesting programming including some celeb types looking back at their ancestors; Rolph Harris, that hirsute and ever green entertainer from down under, tracing the steps of his father and uncle is a curious analogy of his big song hit Two Little Boys. Kirsty Wark breaking and showing emotion on camera - worth the license fee. I'm not being glib, the stories that unfolded were worth hearing and were not unlike some many others.

[valbowski1980]

My Grandpa is a veteran of the Stalingrad campaign and one of my best friends did 2 tours in Iraq so I do indeed remember.

[SaabKen]

My wife's maternal grandad was a WWII RAF pilot who died in action. Too bad we never actually met him nor most of that side of the family (in Durham) to hear about the stories. My mother-in-law left London after finishing nursing school in the early 50s so she has some childhood stories of London nightly bombings, but she doesn't like to talk about them so we've never really heard anything from her.

[aeropilot]

Originally Posted by valbowski1980

My Grandpa is a veteran of the Stalingrad campaign

Much respect.

[aeropilot]

Originally Posted by SaabKen

My mother-in-law left London after finishing nursing school in the early 50s so she has some childhood stories of London nightly bombings, but she doesn't like to talk about them so we've never really heard anything from her.

Shame.

My Mum talks freely about the bombing of London and then later the V1/V2 campaign which she said was more terrifing than the Blitz had been.

My father's familiy had been bombed out in 1942 and they lost everything, thankfully except their lives, all were out at school or work at the time, although sadly his father died the following year from complications following injuries sustained in a munitions accident while on Home Guard duty.

[stipud]

On the German side...

My grandfather was forced into the Hitler youth, and was deployed at the end of the war at age 16. He fortunately never saw combat, but his father and brothers were not so lucky, and perished. After the war, instead of becoming a scientist, he had to become a carpenter to support what was left of his family. He took his "rebuilding money", handed down by the government to all citizens, and spent it on a suit, with which he managed to win my grandmother over. In 1964 they moved to Canada, in search of a new future.

My grandmother's family ran a large gasthaus & dance hall in Sudetenland. After the war, they were forced to become refugees. My great grandmother lost everything... her husband, her home, her work. She started over from scratch, and had to run the family alone. She is still alive today, at 97.

On the Dutch side...

My grandfather was taken out of school and forced to work in a munitions factory, along with other students. His Nazi ID card picture from back then looks like the spitting image of myself... it was somewhat shocking!

My grandmother's family were dutch resistance members. They hid many Jews in their attic, and snuck data on the Germans to allied forces. There are many harrowing tales of escape, when they were ratted out by informants and had to sneak through hidden passageways and assume false identities to elude the Nazis. My grandfather still has all of their false identity papers in his albums.


May we hope to never again have to face this. These tales are not unique; it affected everyone. We are very fortunate that all we currently have to worry about is the economy.

[Mattlach]

Wow. I didn't know people made such a big deal out of veterans day. I didn't even realize it was veterans day until I glanced at my calendar towards the end of the day.

My grandfather fought under Patton in Western Europe during the battle of the bulge. I know he was in charge of an anti aircraft group, but I have no idea what his rank was, or how large a group.

Maybe a Captain?

I also have two cousins in the Navy, one cousin in the Air Force and another cousin currently at the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

While I respect more recent service members for their sacrifices, I honestly feel there has not been a conflict of as great importance or a generation of soldiers with such poise and grace as those of WWII since.

Every war since, we could have fought, or we could not have fought with little consequence to the safety of mainland America, so I sometimes take a little bit of exception to current service members who claim they are "defending America".

They neither defend nor represent me.

[Jezzadee]

Originally Posted by Mattlach

Every war since, we could have fought, or we could not have fought with little consequence to the safety of mainland America, so I sometimes take a little bit of exception to current service members who claim they are "defending America".

They neither defend nor represent me.

I'm glad you didn't say this yesterday, as it was neither the time nor the place, but...

You may not agree with the political decision behind the deployment of troops, and indeed sometimes the troops themselves might not agree with those decisions, but they have a job to do - obey the orders of the Commander in Chief, or in Britain, defend the sovereign - so in that sense, as long as those troops are acting under orders of a democratically elected government which you are a citizen, or in the case of Britain, a subject of, then they are both defending and representing you.

[bkrell]

Yes, my belated regards to the vets on SC. Thank you for serving when your country asked you to.

[KC9-3SE]

My grandfather on my mothers side flew in WW2 in the Pacific as a radio operator, onboard PV-1/2 Ventura's/Harpoons.

My fathers parents were both in Nazi work camps in Poland during WW2. I'm not sure how dziadziu (Polish for grandfather) was interned, but he, at the time could speak Polish (obviously), Russian, French, German and some English I believe. Babcia (Polish for grandmother) was taken from her home as a child by the Nazis. The only reason why she, and not others from her family was because everyone else was sick. She was the only one healthy enough to work. They later met at a refugee camp where dziadziu was working and the rest is history.

[TROLLhattenschatten]

And today (November 12th) is the day that Marty McFly played at the "under the sea" dance. a very big day in back to the future history

[SaabKen]

Originally Posted by TROLLhattenschatten

And today (November 12th) is the day that Marty McFly played at the "under the sea" dance. a very big day in back to the future history

You're a slacker, McFly !!!