Armistice Day

This was originally posted at LewRockwell.com.

Here is a letter Eric Norris wrote to his diocesan newspaper in Indiana:

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Dear Editor:

I am greatly disappointed by your announcement on the cover of the October 20 issue.

  1. It is “Veterans Day”, no apostrophe.
  2. It was originally Armistice Day, and is still defined as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace”, not fighting.
  3.  It is not meant to honor in any way current members of the military (“fighting”), but Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations defines a veteran as “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.”
  4. Armed Forces Day is the time to recognize those currently in the military.
  5. Please explain how, in what way, any current “fighting” is benefiting our country (“fighting for our country”).  This bothers me to no end.  Do you know why Osama bin Laden attacked the US?  He stated explicitly it was the actions (“fighting”) of the US military in the Middle East in the 1990s.
  6. I am a combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  It brought no freedom to the Iraqi people, or you, or me.

We are meant to be counter-cultural and worship the Prince of Peace, not to knee-jerk support the military policy and actions of the US or any other government.  The wide world will be falling all over themselves “supporting the troops” on November 11.  What would Jesus do?  Maybe, just maybe, he would look at each one of us veterans individually, try to understand our personal reasons for joining, and the struggles, successes, and failures in the aftermath thereof.

Sincerely,

Eric S. Morris

St. Elizabeth Seton, Carmel

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Eric tells us that his pastor wrote in the bulletin this week partially in response to his concerns about the diocesan newspaper. You can see the response here on page 3.

3 thoughts on “Armistice Day

  1. Henry Kelly

    Mirriam – Webster defines armistice as a temporary cessation of hostilities. That date may have been adopted for the nifty date and time of 11,11, at 11a.m. Was this coincidence, if not staged, given to suggest God had just ended the “war to end all wars”? Would that God ruled at Versailles to do something to avert the next world war. But the armistices of the last century, ironically true to definition, only lasted a generation, time enough for a new crop of youths to be called up for war. There’s about a twenty year difference between the Spanish American War and World War I and World War II and Vietnam, with the exception of Korea, the forgotten war. Eighty percent of the American casualties of Vietnam were between 17 and 21 years of age.
    Thanks to the internet, one is now able to learn more than what we have learned about the necessity of the wars in which the U.S. has been engaged. Today there doesn’t seem to be any need on the part of government and its media to justify its warmongering.
    At the Veteran’s Day parade yesterday I felt respect for those marching who believed their service was in a just cause. As for myself I just wanted to get mine over with, not really caring “Why we are in Vietnam” as President Johnson often tried to explain. We’ve come a long way since the visible government bothered to even try justifying its wars for every generation.

    Reply
    1. Cammy Post author

      Thank you for your comment, Henry. I’m hoping to have someone on the podcast for World Peace Day, Jan. 1, to talk about the Treaty of Versailles and how peace could have been attained instead of war. God bless.

      Reply
    2. Eric Morris

      Very good points, Henry. I often go to the dictionary, but had forgotten to remember the definition of “armistice”. We definitely need people with moral and teaching authority to speak Truth to government power. Based on the Catechism, it almost seems like the Bishops have that in their job duties!

      Reply

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