Armistice Day – Veterans Day – A Celebration of Peace or War?
Armistice Day – Veterans Day
A Celebration of Peace or War?
In 1938, Congress declared Armistice Day – Nov. 11th a legal holiday dedicated to the cause of world peace. In 1954 the holiday was renamed Veterans Day and morphed into an occasion for flag waving and military parades.
Nov. 11, 2018 will mark 100 years to the day since the end of WWI – “The War to End All Wars.” Thirty million soldiers were killed or wounded and another seven million taken captive during World War I. Some 50 to 100 million perished from a flu epidemic created by the war.
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Members of the group Veterans for Peace are working across the U.S. to recover the original purpose of Armistice Day. They are using it to call for adequate psychological and material support for veterans, to help them cope with the terrors they have been forced to endure. Above all, they work to abolish wars, not glorify wars. What lesson do we want to teach our children? To become a “hero” by going off to kill or be killed in future wars, or to dream of becoming peacemakers?
Let’s be clear, Veterans Day, like Armed Forces Day, has less to do about honoring the sacrifices of troops than it does about recruiting the next generation of soldiers to be used as cannon fodder in future wars of empire. It’s time once again to remember and celebrate peace, not make more wars!
Kathy Kelly of the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence says “Armistice Day gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the brutal futility of armed conflict, the wastefulness of our military spending, and the responsibility we share to abolish all wars.”
No More War! War Never Again!
Thank you for your service in refusing to Kill!
- Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622. Email: ja@malu-aina.org
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Nov. 9, 2018 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet — 894th week – Fridays 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office
