Today is Armistice Day by: Brad Linzy

Today is Armistice Day
by: Brad Linzy

Today is Armistice Day. It marks the end of World War I, The Great War, the War that would End All Wars. IT began as a result of rapid chain reactions of alliances after the assassination of one man. By the end of the fighting, more than 9 MILLION combatants lay dead and Europe was plagued by a legacy of economic depression, ethnic cleansing, mustard gas, and human tragedy, not to mention the seeds of the next Great War.

“Armistice Day” is a day that marks the end of this terrible war – a war people vowed never to fight again. In America, we were so disgusted by the tragic loss of human life and senseless destruction our US Mint issued the “Peace Dollar”. (I can’t imagine that happening today.)

We are a culture of hero worship. Outwardly, we decry the necessity of war, but effectively we glorify war through the subliminal proliferation of heroic symbolism. In America we call this day “Veterans Day” instead of “Armistice Day”. It holds no particular connection with World War I. We choose, instead, to remember all our veterans while perhaps forgetting the senselessness of the wars in which they fight and the actions of the politicians, industrialists, and bankers who drive us into conflict. In Europe, they hold two minutes of silence at 11:00 a.m. to mark the end of the Great War and to remember all the men who died senselessly in it. That is perhaps the last thing our leaders in this country want – 300 million people standing in silence reflecting on the senselessness of war.

I’m not a pacifist. Some wars are justified because an enemy is attacking and all diplomatic avenues have been exhausted. There are also avoidable wars that didn’t need to be fought, save for the greed of a select few who treat the common man as so much cannon fodder. I submit to you most of the wars fought by Americans have been of the latter variety.

Today, let us observe Armistice Day. Let us remember the dead and long for peace, if possible.