Posted on 11/11/2004 8:47:46 AM PST by MarcoPolo
PARIS (AFP) - In sombre ceremonies, world leaders and war veterans paid tribute to their war dead on the anniversary of the end of World War I, a conflict remembered only by a rapidly dwindling band of survivors.
In London, Queen Elizabeth led a two-minute silence, a tribute especially poignant with British troops still in conflict -- and dying -- in Iraq.
As the Last Post sounded in the shadow of London's Westminster Abbey, the queen laid a cross at a special grass plot next to where relatives and friends of the dead will plant 20,000 tiny wooden crosses.
Each will be adorned with a blood-red poppy, the name and rank of a fallen loved one and a message of commemoration.
One cross was for Scotland's Black Watch regiment, currently stationed near Baghdad to relieve US-led forces elsewhere in Iraq. At its Scottish base, the flag flew at half-mast in memory of five of its soldiers killed in Iraq in the last fortnight.
Later, 1.3 million poppy petals -- one for every British and Commonwealth soldier killed in action since the beginning of WWI -- were to be dropped over the river Thames.
Armistice Day commemorations are held on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to mark the November 11, 1918 signing of the accord that ended World War I, although they also honour the dead from all wars.
More than 950,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers died in that war.
Few WWI veterans are left now. In France there are only 15, aged at least 105 -- last year there were 36 -- and none was able to attend the main French ceremony in Paris.
There, President Jacques Chirac laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier underneath the Arc de Triomphe.
He inspected troops assembled beside the landmark before laying the wreath on the grave marking the last resting place of an unidentified soldier killed in the 1914-1918 conflict.
Veterans minister Hamlaoui Mekachara said the homage was also in honour of nine French soldiers killed during an upsurge of violence in Ivory Coast over the weekend.
"Nine soldiers died while fulfilling their duty. They died defending peace, building it. They were killed in cowardly fashion."
Other ceremonies were taking place elsewhere around the world.
In Canberra, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said while the world of 1918 would be unrecognisable now, "what has not changed are the qualities of sacrifice and patriotism and independence of spirit,"
Australia has several hundred soldiers in Iraq, a deployment which remains highly controversial at home.
In Wellington, the remains of an unknown soldier from New Zealand killed in France during WWI were returned Wednesday to an emotional Maori and military welcome.
They were to be entombed Thursday at a national memorial following a lying in state and a funeral cortege.
New Zealand was thus becoming one of the last of the war's participants to create a tomb of the unknown soldier.
Other ceremonies were planned Thursday in Belgium -- the first country to bear the brunt of WWI and whose last veteran from the conflict died two months ago -- as well as Poland, Latvia and the Czech Republic.
Further afield, events including a wreath-laying by US President George W. Bush at Arlington National Cemetery on what is known in the United States as Veterans Day, and in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Oh My God.
Ironic that one of the fruits of WWI, the Balfour Declaration, that inspired Jewish and Palestinian nationalism, had as it's worst manifestation, Yassir Arafat die on the anniversary of the Armistice.
Anyone here know how many WW1 vets are left? I am just wondering.
Here, here. I have the utmost respect for Canadian military folks in WWI and WWII. I highly reccomend the book "Generals Die in Bed". It's about an American who served in the Canadian army during WWI. Outstanding book.
When you look at Canada now, you just shudder and wonder what the heck happened. I seriously question if the Canadian leadership could respond as they eventually did in WWI and WWII.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' fields.
John McCrae
Perhaps the WWI Museum in Belgium has the up-to-date count.
- Be sure to check out the links.
According to the commentator on the broadcast of our Remembrance Day ceremony this morning, Canada has eight surviving WW1 vets.
At least one was present at the ceremony; he was 104 years old, having enlisted at 14.
The eleventh hour, the eleventh day, the eleventh month.
I just got a chill when I saw the clock.
"World War I, a conflict remembered only by a rapidly dwindling band of survivors"
My grandfather passed away years ago. He was a brave veteran of WWI (& WWII). He was an Italian immigrant who went to France as part of an American army to fight for the freedom of Europe.
Saving Europe was an American tradition in the 20th century that modern Europeans take for granted, belittle, or, as the article states, have forgotten.
Many of us on this side of the Atlantic, however, remember.
I get chills from that poem. Thank you for posting it.
What intrigued me in particular was how it started. What a fascinating chain of events leading up to the first shots being fired and the declarations that followed.
My great-uncle:
John L. Klemm
Sergeant, U.S. Army
9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Arkansas
Died: October 3, 1918
Buried at: Plot H Row 28 Grave 25
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
Romagne, France
My grandfather survived, after a grueling convalescence, and went on to have four children (including my mother) and a long career as an educator before passing away in 1973.
My husband and I visited your great-uncle's resting place in May as we were in the Meuse-Argonne region to follow in the footsteps of our own relatives who fought in WWI. It was a very moving and sobering experience.
On the History Channel (8 EST) they are having a special "The Last Day of WWI"
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