Today is Armistice Day. Or Veteran's Day in the United States. Really, you can choose to call it anything you want. I'm personally an Armistice Day guy myself; the point of the day seems to be a little more positive: you know, celebrating the end of a war, Peace, and hope for the future instead of talking about sacrifice all the time. That seems to be rather fashionable at the moment. "Und das ist Quatsch," as the Germans would say.
And yes, a Quaker talking about a holiday is an oxymoron, but I just think it's interesting how the emphasis of the day was subtly shifted during the Cold War from peace to sacrifice. Just a disclaimer really quick: this kind of response is involuntary now; I was an English major, after all. And if you'll notice, the use of the semi-colon in this post is WELL above the national average. God, I can be pretentious.
As a rule, I am sceptical of days like this anyway, since men in dark suites and big shoulder pads tend to use them to further their own dreams of martial glory from behind a desk, and I'm pretty sure some as-yet-unnamed President of the United States will talk about how important it is to sacrifice on the Alter of Freedom (Quatsch noch mal), and I think the point is missed in there somewhere.
When the guns stopped pounding after four constant years, the soldiers in the trenches said they could hear the Voice of God in the sudden silence that followed, and the world, however flawed, resolved, at least for a short time, to put away the sword forever.
That is a much better present for a veteran than any flag, I think. So I do not believe in this day, but I do try to remember what it tried to say. That reminds me: I need to call my Grandfather tonight.
OK, I'm done. Really. I am. There's just something about German that makes both World Wars seem a lot more real. I guess the whole "3 million dead soldiers and cities almost totally destroyed" thing gets into the air sometimes. By the way, Lübeck has a war memorial that is now right up there with the Vietnam Memorial, as far as I'm concerned: the four hundred year old bells of the Marienkirche lay broken as they fell after the bombing in 1942 that almost destroyed the whole church, with the words: "Den Toten, die fern von der Heimat ruhen (To the Dead who rest far from home)" Are you cheered up yet?
On a lighter note, I'm going to go to a bakery today and eat a Berliner. His name is Klaas, and he owes me money. God, I'm funny! No, actually, it's a jelly filled doughnut thing. Normally, I'm not huge on things like that, but the history geek in me has to eat one. After all, President Kennedy was one.
Brief note: during is famous speech in Berlin in 1962, Kennedy said: "Ich bin ein Berliner." "Ein Berliner" is this doughnut thing. If you want to say "I am from Berlin," you just say "Ich bin Berliner." When I say "I am an American," I just say "Ich bin Amerikaner (Amerikanerin for the ladies out there)." Got it? It kind of sounds like Tarzan, doesn't it? "I am man, Jane: woman. Woman good." So, instead of saying "I am from Berlin," he said: "I am a jelly doughnut." Therefore, I MUST eat one.
And yes, a Quaker talking about a holiday is an oxymoron, but I just think it's interesting how the emphasis of the day was subtly shifted during the Cold War from peace to sacrifice. Just a disclaimer really quick: this kind of response is involuntary now; I was an English major, after all. And if you'll notice, the use of the semi-colon in this post is WELL above the national average. God, I can be pretentious.
As a rule, I am sceptical of days like this anyway, since men in dark suites and big shoulder pads tend to use them to further their own dreams of martial glory from behind a desk, and I'm pretty sure some as-yet-unnamed President of the United States will talk about how important it is to sacrifice on the Alter of Freedom (Quatsch noch mal), and I think the point is missed in there somewhere.
When the guns stopped pounding after four constant years, the soldiers in the trenches said they could hear the Voice of God in the sudden silence that followed, and the world, however flawed, resolved, at least for a short time, to put away the sword forever.
That is a much better present for a veteran than any flag, I think. So I do not believe in this day, but I do try to remember what it tried to say. That reminds me: I need to call my Grandfather tonight.
OK, I'm done. Really. I am. There's just something about German that makes both World Wars seem a lot more real. I guess the whole "3 million dead soldiers and cities almost totally destroyed" thing gets into the air sometimes. By the way, Lübeck has a war memorial that is now right up there with the Vietnam Memorial, as far as I'm concerned: the four hundred year old bells of the Marienkirche lay broken as they fell after the bombing in 1942 that almost destroyed the whole church, with the words: "Den Toten, die fern von der Heimat ruhen (To the Dead who rest far from home)" Are you cheered up yet?
On a lighter note, I'm going to go to a bakery today and eat a Berliner. His name is Klaas, and he owes me money. God, I'm funny! No, actually, it's a jelly filled doughnut thing. Normally, I'm not huge on things like that, but the history geek in me has to eat one. After all, President Kennedy was one.
Brief note: during is famous speech in Berlin in 1962, Kennedy said: "Ich bin ein Berliner." "Ein Berliner" is this doughnut thing. If you want to say "I am from Berlin," you just say "Ich bin Berliner." When I say "I am an American," I just say "Ich bin Amerikaner (Amerikanerin for the ladies out there)." Got it? It kind of sounds like Tarzan, doesn't it? "I am man, Jane: woman. Woman good." So, instead of saying "I am from Berlin," he said: "I am a jelly doughnut." Therefore, I MUST eat one.
posted by Der verwirrte Ausländer at 2:50 PM
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