Early Veteran's Day Entry

The fighting of the “Great War” ceased with an armistice which took effect on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918. November 11^th was celebrated as Armistice Day for many years. The “war to end all wars” was not successful in that aspect, so Armistice Day has morphed into Veteran’s Day to honour the vets of all the succeeding wars.

When I look back on my education, I’m amazed in how I was taught nothing in regards to WWI. In my high school, World History was taught in Junior year. My instructor was a displaced fine arts teacher who spent ¾‘s of the year teaching the glories of ancient Greece and Rome. When we finally got into the Renaissance, classes stalled as we learned about the artists and their painting styles. The industrial revolution, 19^th and 20^th centuries were covered by hurried reading assignments.

American History was taught in senior year. The NY State Regents exam for 1970 was centered on Supreme Court Cases. That was pretty much what I was taught. There were no classes for the cause and effect for any of the wars America fought. In hindsight this was ludicrous as my draft card was 1HS for the last months of my senior year. Here I was set up to be drafted into a war I had no earthly concept of: except according to the “Domino theory”, if Viet Nam went communist so would go the rest of Southeast Asia and the world would end.

The effect WWI had on the ensuing 20^th Century is mind boggling. The flawed Treaty of Versailles set the ground work for the world depression of the 1930’s which set the stage for Hitler and WWII.

“To the Victors belong the spoils”: That is how wars end. Among the spoils of WWI was the carving up of the Ottoman Empire. Much of the discourse in the Middle East today can be traced back to that dismemberment.

When I lived in Lockport, NY my radio was constantly tuned to the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Commission) FM Toronto station at 94.1. I trusted the CBC for my world news. The political satire shows “Royal Canadian Air Farce”, and “Double Exposure” were decades ahead of John Stewart and Steven Colbert.

Bob Kerr hosted an afternoon program called, “Off the Record”. I learned so much from his programmes. The music he introduced to me has so enriched my life. Bob would always have a stellar broadcast for “Remembrance Day”, the Canadian equivalent of America’s Veteran’s Day.

It was back in the mid 1980’s he broadcast Eric Bogle singing “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”. I cried the first time I heard it. Never had the reality and horrors of war been explained to me with such poignancy.

I’ve only ever heard this song performed one time in the US. It was sung by Garrison Keilor on a “Prairie Home Companion” show many years ago. Doing a compare and contrast to the Youtube slideshow and the present day returning Vets from Iraq and Afghanistan breaks my heart. This video slideshow was originally put together for the Canadian Remembrance Day, but the message rings true universally..