Close Meditations of a Visual Kind

At the 11th Hour on the 11th Day of the 11th Month...

Mayhap it is a personal thing. This day, in the country of my birth, is known as Veterans Day. This is not the original name once used to refer to the day, that was Armistice Day in memory of the the signing of the armistice which ended active hostilities of the Great War, and first commemorated in 1919. In 1938 it became a legal holiday.

The Great War was also called the War to End All Wars; it did not in fact achieve that status. The signing of the armistice in all probability actually sewed the seeds which became World War Two. And a multitude of other armed conflicts raged around and about involving multitudes of different peoples. In 1954 the country of my birth officially changed the name of the date to Veterans Day.

I prefer a name used in another country where I spent a good deal of time growing up: Remembrance Day.

There is a subtle difference between this day and another national holiday in the country of my birth. This day is meant to honour all those who served in the nations military; Memorial Day to honour those who died in that service.

Either way. Remembrance Day is my take on this day. Time to remember absent friends and present company. Time to remember that not only my countrymen sacrificed (surviving or otherwise) for their country. Time to remember to respect those who would be considered 'the other side'.

I will likely be busy at the 11th Hour. Livestock to feed, Ranch chores to do, life goes on. None the less, at that time I will pause, and Remember.

Lest we forget.

Remember.

Remember why it is this day that we in this country call Veteran's Day. Remember that other names preceded this one, and that in other parts of the world those names are still The Name.

Remember that this month, this day, at the hour specified marked the end of hostilities in the War to End All Wars. Remember, too, that War did not end all wars.

Remember those who went and did not come home. Remember those who did, and know this; some may look whole, some may not, and none of them are. All left something of themselves behind.

Remember them all.