Veterans Day

[Guest]

I just realized that no one posted anything for Veterans Day.

I decided to post something that made me cry the first time I ever saw it.  I think it was about 20 or 25 years ago.

[SpiritDragon]

I had actually thought about posting about Remembrance Day (what we renamed armistice day as opposed to what you renamed armistice day), but I wasn't sure how it would be received. On my mission in the States I was sent a poppy in the mail that I could wear as I have always done for Remembrance Day. I wore it naively thinking that people would be okay with me honouring heroes in my way that day, instead I was met with great ridicule for wearing a "gay little flower" as my companion put it, and he wasn't the only to disrespect me and my custom. I still haven't figured out that reaction and decided since we Canadians are such a minority here, I'd just do my thing and not ruffle any feathers. 

Thank you for putting something up to keep in remembrance those who have fought for our freedoms.

[zil]

8 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

poppy

Definitely not an American tradition - though apparently British.

8 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

I still haven't figured out that reaction

That was an immature young man's reaction, not an American one (per se).  More mature Americans, even if they didn't know the meaning of the poppy (I wouldn't have until this year), wouldn't have (or at least shouldn't have) found a reason to mock a man wearing a flower in his lapel - that's well understood to relate to some special occasion, whether one knows what the special occasion is or not.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

I had actually thought about posting about Remembrance Day (what we renamed armistice day as opposed to what you renamed armistice day), but I wasn't sure how it would be received. On my mission in the States I was sent a poppy in the mail that I could wear as I have always done for Remembrance Day. I wore it naively thinking that people would be okay with me honouring heroes in my way that day, instead I was met with great ridicule for wearing a "gay little flower" as my companion put it, and he wasn't the only to disrespect me and my custom. I still haven't figured out that reaction and decided since we Canadians are such a minority here, I'd just do my thing and not ruffle any feathers. 

Thank you for putting something up to keep in remembrance those who have fought for our freedoms.

Sorry to hear about people's reactions.  For the most part, if I see an unusual tradition like that, I may make a comment or ask a question.  But when someone tells me the nature of the tradition, then the worst I'd do is look sideways at them and say ,"Whatever."

But with that specific one you mentioned, I would think someone would simply say,"Oh.  ok."  and move on.

If your poppy was a smaller version, I don't see why it would elicit any response at all.  People wear flowers on their lapel.  But I'm imagining it is one of the larger varieties.  Such a large flower would certainly draw attention, and therefore, a response and possibly comment.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Guest

[anatess2]

10 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

I had actually thought about posting about Remembrance Day (what we renamed armistice day as opposed to what you renamed armistice day), but I wasn't sure how it would be received. On my mission in the States I was sent a poppy in the mail that I could wear as I have always done for Remembrance Day. I wore it naively thinking that people would be okay with me honouring heroes in my way that day, instead I was met with great ridicule for wearing a "gay little flower" as my companion put it, and he wasn't the only to disrespect me and my custom. I still haven't figured out that reaction and decided since we Canadians are such a minority here, I'd just do my thing and not ruffle any feathers. 

Thank you for putting something up to keep in remembrance those who have fought for our freedoms.

Well.  Our young men handed out poppies before Sacrament Meeting that Sunday.  So we all wore poppies on our clothes that day.

[SpiritDragon]

1 minute ago, anatess2 said:

Well.  Our young men handed out poppies before Sacrament Meeting that Sunday.  So we all wore poppies on our clothes that day.

Remind me. You're in Florida, right?

[anatess2]

14 hours ago, Carborendum said:

I just realized that no one posted anything for Veterans Day.

I decided to post something that made me cry the first time I ever saw it.  I think it was about 20 or 25 years ago.

 

Love that picture!

I've always reserved honoring the soldiers who died in active duty on Memorial Day, though.  I see Veterans Day as honoring soldiers who are still alive or those who passed outside of military service.  But that's just me (because of my husband).  I love Veteran's Day parade because there's always those super old guys on the parade - like this year we had a 93 year old veteran sitting on a float.  Wish we could just sit for a few hours with them listening to their stories.  This is the 2nd year that my son has been on the parade marching with his jROTC unit.

 

[SpiritDragon]

I should have known better than to be concerned about posting here. I also should probably have thicker skin, but I must admit that being ridiculed over something so dear to me (I imagaine a large part of my respect for the day comes from my grandfather fighting in Europe during the second world war) was really hurtful and left me gun shy of sharing that side of myself again with others that I wasn't confident felt the same way.

This year marked 100 years since the signing of the armistice to end the Great War. Too bad it hasn't been 100 years since war was fought. 

[anatess2]

4 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Remind me. You're in Florida, right?

Yep.  100 years of armistice.  One of our speakers that day is a Welshman whose dad (or may be an uncle or a family friend or something) joined the Royal Air Force.  He talked about the poppies and the armistice.  Our concluding speaker was a retiring navy and talked about the life of a member of the church while on active duty.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Love that picture!

I've always reserved honoring the soldiers who died in active duty on Memorial Day, though.  I see Veterans Day as honoring soldiers who are still alive or those who passed outside of military service.  But that's just me (because of my husband).  I love Veteran's Day parade because there's always those super old guys on the parade - like this year we had a 93 year old veteran sitting on a float.  Wish we could just sit for a few hours with them listening to their stories.  This is the 2nd year that my son has been on the parade marching with his jROTC unit.

 

Here's an interesting side note.  My family has had many people serve in the military.  But no one has ever served in a war.  Not even the smaller ones.  Each member of my family that served were there at the wrong time.  Too old or too young to be in the service during a war.

My father got out of the military around the Korean War, but was never sent into combat -- interesting.

So, we spend Memorial day visiting the graves of our family who have passed on.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Guest

[Guest MormonGator]

2 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

  My family has had many people serve in the military.  But no one has ever served in a war. 

@Carborendum-that's interesting! Virtually no one in my family has served in the military except my grandfather, who saw combat in WWII during the Battle of the Bulge. He even earned a purple heart! 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

@Carborendum-that's interesting! Virtually no one in my family has served in the military except my grandfather, who saw combat in WWII during the Battle of the Bulge. He even earned a purple heart! 

Oh!  I didn't go back far enough in my recounting.  There was a great-grand-uncle who served in the civil war.  Didn't die in it.

[Guest MormonGator]

Just now, Carborendum said:

Oh!  I didn't go back far enough in my recounting.  There was a great-grand-uncle who served in the civil war.  Didn't die in it.

I have a biological grandfather (remember, I'm adopted and didn't meet my bio family till I was 26) who was very, very loosely connected to the USS Thresher-the submarine that sank in 1960. He was not on it, but he was connected in some way to it. 

[anatess2]

10 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Here's an interesting side note.  My family has had many people serve in the military.  But no one has ever served in a war.  Not even the smaller ones.  Each member of my family that served were there at the wrong time.  Too old or too young to be in the service during a war.

My father got out of the military around the Korean War, but was never sent into combat -- interesting.

So, we spend Memorial day visiting the graves of our family who have passed on.

My grandfather served under the Americans in WWII where he died fighting the Japanese.  My father in law is a Desert Storm veteran.  He served in the tail end of the Vietnam War so wasn't really in the fight.

So we kinda got both types.  It just so happens that I'm usually in the Philippines around Memorial Day so I get to visit my grandpa around that time.

[NeuroTypical]

I've started digitizing stuff my dad kept.  Every time I look at this, I end up thinking something different.  My dad's war talk was mostly about always being wet, and how it should be legal to kill your recruiter.  He always poo-pooed any notion that he was anything besides just some schmoe who had an opportunity to send some money home from the army.

 

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Funny.  That sounds like what Forrest Gump did.  But he got the Congressional Medal of Honor.  So, what's up with that? 😀

[JohnsonJones]

I have recently been reading my Mother's diary.  I have found out that there were more of my family members who died in World War 2 than I previously knew.  I knew I had an uncle who was killed, but I was not aware that I also had several cousins who died in the Pacific and in Europe.  Obviously as I was born soon after WW2, I never got to know them.  I found also found out that Punch Bowl didn't always exist, but I had several cousins that were moved there later. 

I also have friends who are buried there and who should be remembered.

Hopefully some day I can find the time to go to Hawaii and visit their graves there.

[pam]

6 hours ago, zil said:

Definitely not an American tradition - though apparently British.

 

Actually it is an American tradition but for Memorial Day not Veterans Day.  

Q. Why are red poppies worn on Veterans Day, and where can I obtain them?

A. The wearing of poppies in honor of America's war dead is traditionally done on Memorial Day, not Veterans Day. The practice of wearing of poppies takes its origin from the poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by John McCrae. For information on how to obtain poppies for use on Memorial Day, contact a veterans service organization, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) or The American Legion, as a number of veterans organizations distribute poppies annually on Memorial Day. You can find veterans groups in the Veterans Service Organization link on VA's Veterans Day web page. Veterans groups in your area can be found in your local phone book. Look in the yellow pages under "Veterans and Military Organizations" or a similar heading.

https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetday_faq.asp

It's a remembrance thing.  We celebrate those who lost their life serving our country on Memorial Day.  Veterans Day is to honor all veterans.  

[bytebear]

19 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

I had actually thought about posting about Remembrance Day (what we renamed armistice day as opposed to what you renamed armistice day), but I wasn't sure how it would be received. On my mission in the States I was sent a poppy in the mail that I could wear as I have always done for Remembrance Day. I wore it naively thinking that people would be okay with me honouring heroes in my way that day, instead I was met with great ridicule for wearing a "gay little flower" as my companion put it, and he wasn't the only to disrespect me and my custom. I still haven't figured out that reaction and decided since we Canadians are such a minority here, I'd just do my thing and not ruffle any feathers. 

Thank you for putting something up to keep in remembrance those who have fought for our freedoms.

I think the poppy tradition varies from region to region.  Here in Southern California, I have seen them being handed out outside shopping centers.

[SpiritDragon]

1 hour ago, bytebear said:

I think the poppy tradition varies from region to region.  Here in Southern California, I have seen them being handed out outside shopping centers.

Yeah. It seems to mostly be a commonwealth thing. 

[SilentOne]

5 hours ago, pam said:

Actually it is an American tradition but for Memorial Day not Veterans Day.  ng our country on Memorial Day.  Veterans Day is to honor all veterans.  

1 hour ago, bytebear said:

I think the poppy tradition varies from region to region.  Here in Southern California, I have seen them being handed out outside shopping centers.

19 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Yeah. It seems to mostly be a commonwealth thing. 

 

I remember men selling poppies for a holiday - probably Memorial Day - when I was a young child in New Jersey. I haven't seen them much recently, but my mother says they were big when she was growing up in Northern Utah.

[pam]

5 hours ago, bytebear said:

I think the poppy tradition varies from region to region.  Here in Southern California, I have seen them being handed out outside shopping centers.

Having grown up in So. California, that is where I grew up seeing them.