Happy Veterans Day

[DanicaFan]

From one veteran to all other veterans, Have a Great Veterans Day. I thank you all for your service, past and present. It was a priviledge to serve this great country !

Let's not forget the fallen soldiers and keep them in our memories...

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/patritoiceagles.jpg

[Mark]

Here we call it Armistice Day. We had two minutes silence at 11am.

I appreciate your sentiment but 'happy' is certainly not the correct word :)

[Roamy]

From one veteran to all other veterans, Have a Great Veterans Day. I thank you all for your service, past and present. It was a priviledge to serve this great country !

Let's not forget the fallen soldiers and keep them in our memories...

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/patritoiceagles.jpg

Thank you DanicaFan - I hope you had a great day as well. Great Pic.

[Knock-on]

Agreed Mark. I don't understand the 'happy' comment but perhaps it's different across the pond.

Remembrance day for me is a time for reflection. A moment to pause and offer silent thanks to the men and women who's sacrifice means I can sit here and argue mundane points on a Motorsport forum.

Lest we forget.

[Eki]

Some here talk about a "Veterans' Day" and some "Remembrance Day" and Mark called it "Armistice Day". Is it similar to our "Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers" on 3rd Sunday of May or the "Remembrance Day of the Veterans" on April 27th or both? The first one is just for the fallen Veterans and the second is is for all Veterans.

Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commemoration_Day_of_Fallen_Soldiers)


Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers (Finnish: kaatuneiden muistopäivä) is the commemoration day on 3rd Sunday of May for the fallen soldiers of the Winter War and Finnish Civil War 1918.[1] After 1940 is was also the day of commemoration of the fallen soldiers of the Continuous War and the Lapland War. There were also members of Lotta Svärd, who also were victims of war serving in uniforms on the front.
The idea of the day was raised in the bishops' meeting in April, 1940. They made a proposal of the day for 19th May. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim as the war time supreme commander ordered 1st May, 1940, not to celebrate 16th May, 1940 as the victory of the Senate of Finland in the Finnish Civil War, but have Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers for the fallen soldier of the both sides of the war and also the Winter War.
The day is a religious one, which includes remembering fallen soldiers in the local grave yards after church services.

[Mark]

The official day of remembrance in the UK is today 'Remembrance Sunday'.

It's only in recent years we've started to mark the occasion on the 11th November too.

[libra65]

Here in the US it used to be called Armistice Day after WWI. My parents still call it that because that was the name when they grew up. However, after WWII it was later changed to Veterans Day to celebrate and appreciate all Veterans whether they served in war time or peace time. They have all worked to keep us free and for that we celebrate their hard work. We also celebrate the work of our current troops whether stateside or deployed overseas. In May, we also have Memorial Day to honor our war dead who made the ultimate sacrifice for God and country. That day is much more reverent.

[ShiftingGears]

It is Remembrance Day in Australia - it is more specifically connected to WW1 and, it must be said, is losing its cultural impact here. It's really being overlooked in comparison to ANZAC Day, which commemorates war veterans of all wars that Australian and New Zealand soldiers have fought.

[Knock-on]

I think that the distinction between Armistice and Remembrance is becoming more blurred these days.

Armistice day commemorates the ending of the First World War at 11:00 on 11/11/1918 whereas Remembrance Day is the 2nd Sunday in November and encapsulates remembrance for all Service people who have lost their lives, although 2mins silence is still held on the 11th as well.

[libra65]

Some cities and towns still have parades on Veterans Day but not as many as there used to be. There is a lot of flag waving but not as much as 4th of July (I know you guys across the pond don't celebrate that one;-). We make sure to say Thank You to any veteran for his service to our country.

[race aficionado]

On a serious note, many vets will soon be coming back home and their arrival will be happy in the sense that they will be reunited with their loved ones. But in terms of their emotional and physical re-adjusting and their absorption into society and the work force is a tough one to say the least.
I hope that serious steps are taken so that their return to society will be supported by federal and local programs that will be creative and compassionate.
this will be a different type of battle.

Lets walk the walk.

[Dave B]

On a serious note, many vets will soon be coming back home and their arrival will be happy in the sense that they will be reunited with their loved ones. But in terms of their emotional and physical re-adjusting and their absorption into society and the work force is a tough one to say the least.
I hope that serious steps are taken so that their return to society will be supported by federal and local programs that will be creative and compassionate.
this will be a different type of battle.

Lets walk the walk.

Whatever one may think of the current conflicts we're involved in, it's pretty disgusting that we have to rely on charities such as Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion to provide the sort of rehabilitation and support which should be the responsibility of the governments that sent these people to war in the first place.

What's it like elsewhere? Do your countries give servicemen and women the support they require when they come home?

[monadvspec]

There is a guy named Bill O'Reilly whom I have seen on Fox ,occasionally, but have read about a little more on various blogs and such that he is a big star in the US and also he one that denies that there is an issue with soldiers (military) men coming home and being homeless. The general argument he had right up and until president Bush was in office was/is that there was no such thing as a homeless veteran. It was all propaganda according to him.
Well, it seems as though he has suddenly stopped talking or writing about this horrific situation of homeless veterans now that president Obama is in office.
There is a serious situation along with the fact that men are in a serious condition from their experience and that is redeploying two and three times. There is something wrong when men want to return to a battlefield a number of times when it is voluntary.
Great Pic by the way.

[Roamy]

No Veteran left behind should be the norm with the free world. We are making progress but way to slowly

[airshifter]

Whatever one may think of the current conflicts we're involved in, it's pretty disgusting that we have to rely on charities such as Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion to provide the sort of rehabilitation and support which should be the responsibility of the governments that sent these people to war in the first place.

What's it like elsewhere? Do your countries give servicemen and women the support they require when they come home?

I am very glad to say that overall support from the government here in the US has grown considerably over the years. Medical assistance now applies to incomes of up to approx $80,000 regardless of if any medical condition is service related. Service related problems can also result in compensation in the form of disability payments. There are all types of help lines, suicide prevention, substance abuse, job placement, etc programs as well.

Not long ago I got some almost free of charge work done at a local VA hospital. While waiting for some X-ray work I spoke with an elderly woman who was married to a Korean War vet who had for many years suffered from very severe PTSD. They were there for him to continue his counseling and from talking to her it was obvious both of them had suffered for a long time as his condition was so intense that he essentially lived in complete paranoia and fear. Speaking with her it was clear that changes in the resources available over the years had finally given them their lives back. I must admit that I admired her for standing by him all those years until those changes took place.


From what I understand essentially all administrations since the Reagan era have pushed for changes and suceeded. I know just very recently Obama visited one of the bases I call on for work and made some comments about encouraging private businesses to support returning veterans, as well as pushing for some government policies that give veterans hiring preference for government jobs in some instances.