Posted on 11/12/2010 11:13:42 AM PST by Kaslin
If you’ve ever been to England this time of year, a touching nationwide memorial can be seen everywhere. Red paper poppies adorn lapels, shirts, and dresses in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day. All across the Commonwealth nations, citizens show their respect by sporting a red and black poppy. Then on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, moments of silence are observed across Britain in remembrance of the war dead.
You cannot overstate how pervasive the wearing of the red poppy is across British culture. Newscasters, game show hosts, and politicians all sport it. So do barkeeps in pubs and ticket takers at the football pitch. You can buy them everywhere.
All the poppies are made by the Royal British Legion Poppy Factory. The proceeds are used to help disabled veterans. The red paper poppies are charitable symbols as well symbols of remembrance.
In America, we have no equivalent. Indeed, modern America is characterized by the loss of shared experience, shared culture. Common experiences as simple as a massive television audience for a sitcom or a space shot are gone. Even something unifying from a scant 15 years ago, such as a song which everyone knows, are lost. There will never be another Beatles.
Our cultural fragmentation extends to politics, where a polarized base is as useful as a persuasive argument to the middle.
Wouldn’t it be grand if America could adopt a counterpart to the Remembrance Day poppy? Perhaps in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day, Americans could, for a dollar, purchase a similar symbol to wear. How about an evergreen, as was Washington’s symbol on the Washington Cruisers?
Or better still, perhaps a lilac, as Whitman gave us as a symbol of annual remembrance for Lincoln’s sacrifice and also a generation of war dead?
Debris and debris of all the dead soldiers of the war
But I saw they were not as was thought
They themselves were fully at rest—they suffer’d not.
America, even with ongoing wars against Islamic terror, has lost sight of the tragic price in lives in other eras, in other nations. In just the single battle of Passchedaele in 1917, the British lost 300,000 men. Casualties in a single day sometimes were 15,000. The bodies of 42,000 were never recovered. Such losses are unknown in American history.
No wonder the poppies of Flanders still echo through the British memory.
But Americans, I believe, would embrace a more meaningful Memorial Day. Instead of just mattress sales and cookouts, Memorial Day (and Veterans Day) should mean more. Regardless of political persuasion, Americans have a deep reverence for the history of sacrifice in this nation. Why not borrow an idea from the British, and pay tribute to fallen servicemembers in a new and more visible way?
Alas I am no organizer. Few things bother me more than when I hear “someone should write an article about” such and such — but they don’t write it themselves. Maybe someone with sharper business instincts will see an opportunity here. Maybe not.
If you are intrigued, may I suggest a weekend in London this time of year? You will see a nation sharing a common history, a common reverence, and a deep respect for the sacrifices of the past. You can’t help but wonder why we couldn’t do the same here in America.
This would never happen in the US. We have an enemy within who seeks to destroy such unification.
Remember in the years following 9/11 the left protesting the showing of any footage, saying it would be too painful for the nation & the families? Gimme a break. Now, hardly anyone marks the occasion, and it was only 9 short years ago.
Rememberence Day pretty much unites left and right here in Britain, only the most loathesome and contemptuous Islamic Extremists protest against it, for the obvious reasons.
Everyone else who isn’t of immigrant stock (i.e. 95% of the population) has had family members who fought in WWI. In fact, even many of the commonwealth immgrants had family members who fought for Britain in those years.
I definitely think veterans should be remembered and honored. It seems like I’m bombarded with books, movies, commercials, and special programs about wars and soldiers—there’s even a History channel—so I feel like I’m remembering the sacrifices veterans have made for this country at least weekly.
But Britain is an island drenched in history and a lot of warfare. From the Romans onward, Britain has seen a lot of invasions, internecine warfare, and even imperial wars. Britain can’t help be reminded constantly of shed blood.
I like the poppy as the symbol of remembrance. It’s a striking and yet humble-looking flower all at once. It’s not gaudy. It’s subdued and an excellent reminder of sacrifice: it reminds one of a bullet wound.
There are at least three US holidays where veterans are honored: Memorial Day (though admittedly almost as an after-thought by most), the Fourth of July, and Veterans Day. We’re also encouraged to be reminded on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Professional sporting events are usually opened with a color guard and singing the national anthem, so there’s ample opportunities for thoughtful reminders year-round.
England is the dirty bastard that created efficacious civilization.
The only proposition that has survived or has a chance of surviving the entropic threshing floors of world history.
Hmm, it seems like the ‘wear a ribbon’ campaign to me. So, you wear a poppy...Britain is going to hell in a handbasket. Why not DO something to save the country so that the vets who fought for it are not dishonored? Or just watch it fall to the muslims and wear your poppy. Symbols never trump action.
Take a look at this video - “A Pittance of Time” - it’s a very moving remembrance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kX_3y3u5Uo&feature=related
An issue a-brewing is that McDonald’s has foolishly prohibited their employees from wearing the poppy on their uniforms. While it’s not a big deal in the USA, this is near sacrilige in Commonwealth countries.
Well we used to celebrate Armistice day but it was replaced with Veterans Day, a day that could have been placed anywhere else on the calendar.
I guess since we didn’t lose millions of troops in that war it doesn’t matter to the USA any longer. Still matters to me.
When were you last in the UK?
As a yank who’s been living here for almost 20 years, I can tell you that the idea that this country is about to fall to islam is hugely overplayed.
We DID used to do this in the U.S.! I was raised in Kansas, and we ALWAYS bought “red poppies” for this remembrance. It was done in other states, too. It was just part of our “tradition”. I wonder why no one is mentioning this? Has everyone truly “forgotten” this tradition?
I’m a bit confused. Last year, or maybe the year before, I got a paper poppy from the DAV guys down at the local supermarket, here in Virginia. I made a small donation to their outreach programs. It wasn’t like everyone was wearing them, but it was fairly common that day.
Not only that the Brits remember, we should, too. We were allies and while we shed our blood in no small measure in the Great War, it bears remembering that the UK lost almost a million KIA, over 1.6 million wounded, in that one war alone. Of the Western Alliance, Britain, France, Russia really shed rivers of blood.
You touched on my exact thought, here...the British lost exponentially more than we did in the Great War so naturally their “rememberence” of the 11th of November would dwarf ours in the USA.
As for this: “But Americans, I believe, would embrace a more meaningful Memorial Day.”
Doubtful—just look how we’ve bastardized Christmas.
Unless you focus on the Civil War [which is impossible for obvious reasons] or a few battles in the PTO of WW2, Americans have never participated in a bloodbath quite like the Western Front of the Great War. We’ve fought in a lot of wars but none of them bloody enough to affix a certain date upon which to focus.
Sadly, you are correct. But there are a vast number that do honor all veterans. Perhaps the effort could be promoted it in our churches/synagogues, communities, etc., and pressuring local, state officials to take up the cause thereby making it easier to make it national. Once wide support is seen, then elected officials will follow. Hopefully.
Let’s start the effort right here at Free Republic. Someone find the poppy manufacturer. American Legion and VFW have poppies, though different styles.
Sadly, you are correct. But there are a vast number that do honor all veterans. Perhaps the effort could be promoted it in our churches/synagogues, communities, etc., and pressuring local, state officials to take up the cause thereby making it easier to make it national. Once wide support is seen, then elected officials will follow. Hopefully.
Let’s start the effort right here at Free Republic. Someone find the poppy manufacturer. American Legion and VFW have poppies, though different styles.
There must be a standard (banner) under which battle is fought. Symbols are important. If there is wide support for something, which is visible by a symbol, then things get done. It doesn’t mean that the battle is won easily or in short order. Britain is in a mess because of the Progressive agenda.
But who is actually coming to the forefront to DO something about it? So far the most radical people I’ve seen are the Top Gear fellows and Lord Monckton on Global Warming.
I think they need a Tea Party of their own. By the people. Who’s sounding the alarm?
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