[harpygoddess]

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

~ Lawrence Binyon (wiki), For The Fallen

[IronJack]

His name is actually spelled "Laurence."

And the stanza immediately before that one is just as poignant:

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

To the fallen ...

[Kriggerel]

I made a point of going to the Col. John McCrae Memorial Museum in Guelph, Ontario early this morning for the commemorative service at 06:00 (equivalent to 11:00 in France), where the Guelph Pipe Band played “The Battle’s Over” at the exact moment when the Armistice took effect 100 years ago. (information on the event is here: http://guelphmuseums.ca/event/remembrance-day-4/)

I couldn’t think of any place that felt more appropriate to be at that particular moment, but the birthplace of the man, who wrote “In Flanders Fields”.

It was a very profound moment, to say the least.

[Fiji Hill]

Thanks for the Memory--Charlie & His Orchestra (1942)

Thanks for the memory
In every German's mind
When you broke the ties that bind
And dictated a pact called the Treaty of Versailles.
How rotten that was!

Thanks for the memory
Of British aims divine,
French Negroes on the Rhine,
Your food blockade and misery
All over the German Reich.
What an injustice that was.

Many's the time that you feasted,
And many's the time that we fasted.
For you, it was swell while it lasted.
You did have fun, but harm was done.

Well, thanks for the memory.
It gives us strength to fight
For freedom and for right.
It might give you a headache, England,
That the Germans know how to fight
And hurt you so much.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I’m still angry that the left wants to remove more WW1 memorials than Hitler did. Hitler only got rid of one because it was basically a middle finger to Germany. He made sure that the rest were protected. Libs, how does it feel to know that Hitler had more respect of our troops who fought in WW1 than you do?

[odawg]

The armistice was signed about five thirty that morning, and for some unfathomable reason, the cease fire was set for the elevens.

I suppose they wanted the alliteration.

Their bullheadedness sentenced over 2500 soldiers to a needless death. A Canadian solder was killed at 10:58.

[Rummyfan]

To my grandfather, who served in the AEF and carried shrapnel in him for the rest of his life.

[jmaroneps37]

That pos Pershing killed almost 2700 Americans needlessly on the last day of the war when the Germans had already asked about a surrender four days earlier.

Had things been just a little different my grandfather would have still been in the NYS NG and called up but he finished enlistment in 1916 after making believe he and his fellow NYS NGers chased Ponco Villa. He was not called up because he was marries and my mom’s dad already.

My father’s cousin Jimmy was KIA on Oct 20 1918.

[caww]

[JoeFromSidney]

My paternal grandfather had fought in the Balkan wars of the early 20th century. He immigrated to the U.S. after that. He returned to Italy on some family business, leaving my father in he care of an uncle, and was caught by the outbreak of the war. He was called up as a Reservist and killed in the fighting in Italy.

I guess I'm lucky Dad was "stranded" in the U.S. He became a naturalized citizen and served the Navy during WW II. Still, I wish I could have known my grand-parents.

[nonliberal]

While the politicians and the military geniuses who prosecuted the war got men needlessly killed before the armistice.

[MuttTheHoople]

The beginning of a 21 year truce.

[DoodleDawg]

Now is as good a time as any to put in a plug for National World War I Museum and Memorial in my home town of Kansas City. The only memorial in the country dedicated solely to World War I. It's well worth a visit if you're near KC.

For the past week the museum has been projecting poppies on the north wall and tower in remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the war's end. It's quite a site. Link