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Bonnie and Janet, I don't know how Remembrance/Veteran's Day is observed in your bit of the world but here in Australia and Britain it is marked by the playing of the 'Last Post' and the observation of a minutes silence to remember the dead of ALL wars. The choice of the 11th day of the 11th month is because 11/11/18 is the day WW1 ended. I believe the practice began when in the late teens/ early twenties people began spontaneously gathering at the cenotaph in London on the anniversary of the ending of the war to end all wars. The following is not a poem I would normally send to the list - but as the thread is already going I might as well: Remembrance Day At the eleventh hour we heard the 'Last Post' through speakers, and every person in the mall stopped and stood still, as silent as the host of dead for whom the bugle made its call, its song of pride and pain and aching sorrow, of prices paid before the cost was known of hope that we won't need to learn tomorrow the price our fathers paid in blood and bone. The music stops, we stand in empty silence, each with our thoughts, our memories, our wars, our dreams of worlds which never suffer violence of worlds where no one ever keeps old scores. The long drawn silence ends with a reprise and people everywhere awake from peace (c) Dennis Greene 1999 ----- Original Message ----- From: janet paterson <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, 12 November 1999 1:47 Subject: Re: Veteran's Day > At 10:06 1999/11/11 EST, you wrote: > >Happy Veteran's Day to all! > >For those outside the United States > >today is Veteran's Day > >Since this is an international list(s) > >& I know there are Veteran's for each country > >May you each have a good day. > >My dad is a vet of WW2 > >Love to all, > >Bonnie > >daughter of Jim 77/4 > > hi bonnie > > i think the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month > was originally recognised by the countries involved in World War One > as a time of commemoration for those > who fought and were lost in it > > i could be wrong though > > my father was in WW2 with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals > he would never talk about the war itself > but he had fond memories of holland > and being treated like royalty > there when the war ended > > > janet > > janet paterson > 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset > e-mail - [log in to unmask] > web-site - http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/ >