How do you feel about remembrance day?

leviathanmisha

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I wear a poppy in honor of the man I called my father. So, I think it's obvious how I feel about remembrance day. I respect all soldiers, because I know what they go through and I know how it effects them.

Boletes Net said:
I don't want to appear cold hearted but frankly I don't really care about the dead....they always go on about how soldiers died for us but I pretty sure they died for the government....okay well theres an acception when it comes to WWII.....I still don't really give a shit and i'm not going to wear a poppy so that I can pretend I do :)
If we don't honor our dead, who will? You may not like it, but you have so much to thank a veteran for. And is it that hard to honor them for one day out of the year? I honor my father every day, yeah, but I owe him for giving me life and raising me to see the world the way that I do, so, is it wrong for us to ask for one day to honor those that fought for us and those that died defending the freedom that we deem most precious?
 

scnj

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It was drilled into me as a kid that I had to care about the whole thing, but I was never told why, so I kind of stopped caring. I think it's tragic that all those people died, but I'm not going to wear a poppy, because it would feel false to me.
 

Soviet Steve

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I don't wear poppies but Denmark was never a player on the global stage as far as military matters were concerned, and in fact the biggest event here aside from the occupation was a stray allied bomber destroying a children's school.

I've spent a lot of time studying history though, and in my mind remembering and understanding what happened is more important than carrying around a flower for a day.
 

Wicky_42

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My Grandfather fought, and fought well. I didn't know him that well, and he barely spoke of his time there, but at his funeral his medals were there and the couple of stories he'd shared emerged, and I gained a new found respect for the old man.

I may disagree with the politicians leading the wars, and be on occasion a vocal liberal with a strong anti-nuclear stance, but I can at least respect the men doing one of the hardest jobs on the planet in some of the harshest most lethal conditions, and support those who are critically injured as a result.

When I attend a Remembrance Day gathering I remember him, and the others who gave so much to protect our freedom.

[sub]plus they had an artillery cannon in the square. That's just cool.[/sub]
 

Zhukov

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Dec 29, 2009
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Eh, not a lot.

I used to have quite a bit of respect for soldiers. Then I met a bunch of them. Any and all respect promptly went out the window without a second thought.

As for all those past soldiers "who died to protect my freedom"... well, that's bullshit. Those soldiers never knew me and they sure as hell didn't die for me. They died for all sorts of reasons. Many of them barely had any idea why they were dying. Many of them died because someone in a big hat told them to. Many of them were conscripts who probably didn't even want to be there in the first place.

Also, remembrance stuff has a nasty tendency to get covered up with a whole load of nationalistic "Oh-wow-our-country-is-so-much-greater-then-everyone-else's" crap which I can't stand.

I mean, I suppose I could wear one of the those little flowers and pretend to give a damn. You know, bow my head at 11 o'clock while thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner. But wouldn't that be even less respectful then being openly indifferent?
 

DiscoLenin

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you need to remember that rememberence day isn't just about the dead, it's about those currently serving and those who have served and are still alive.
It doesn't matter whether you agree with any of the wars currently going on, but at least show some respect for the soldiers
 

EightGaugeHippo

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*Im not going to post the full comment as it would result in multiply swear words aimed at the OP.*

Short version is
"I disagree very, very strongly"
 

leviathanmisha

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Zeithri said:
I'm not going to dignify that with anything more than this: you disgust me...

Sorry that I was raised by a good man who taught me the importance of what people fought for and that I can still respect that to this very day.

 

Ekit

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Zhukov said:
Eh, not a lot.

I used to have quite a bit of respect for soldiers. Then I met a bunch of them. Any and all respect promptly went out the window without a second thought.

As for all those past soldiers "who died to protect my freedom"... well, that's bullshit. Those soldiers never knew me and they sure as hell didn't die for me. They died for all sorts of reasons. Many of them barely had any idea why they were dying. Many of them died because someone in a big hat told them to. Many of them were conscripts who probably didn't even want to be there in the first place.

Also, remembrance stuff has a nasty tendency to get covered up with a whole load of nationalistic "Oh-wow-our-country-is-so-much-greater-then-everyone-else's" crap which I can't stand.

I mean, I suppose I could wear one of the those little flowers and pretend to give a damn. You know, bow my head at 11 o'clock while thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner. But wouldn't that be even less respectful then being openly indifferent?
What he said basically.

Just out of curiosity, what did the soldiers do to lose your respect?
 

C95J

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Apr 10, 2010
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I wear a poppy, and do the 2 minute silence a 11am.

But I guess you could say I don't care too much, like someone else said the past is the past, and I don't have anything to do with it, so it doesn't effect me at all.
 

Count Igor

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Pirate Kitty said:
We remember not just the soldiers or what they did - we remember what needed to be done to (in an idealist's mind) protect freedom and home.

If we forget this, we become ungrateful, spoiled, and loose sense of just how bloody amazingly lucky and privileged we are.
Do we?
That's generalising a fair bit :D

Anyway, I buy the poppy and wear it, but I know many things I could be doing in that 2 minutes.
 

Wutaiflea

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Boletes Net said:
I don't want to appear cold hearted but frankly I don't really care about the dead....they always go on about how soldiers died for us but I pretty sure they died for the government....okay well theres an acception when it comes to WWII.....I still don't really give a shit and i'm not going to wear a poppy so that I can pretend I do :)
Personally, I think its wrong to glorify the hideous atrocities that take place in war, or to blindly use the word "hero" to sum up someone who, in all honesty, probably didn't come home feeling particularly heroic.
I hate war movies, war books, and anything that overemphasises this side of it.

However, in my daily life, I benefit from the sacrifices made in war. While I very much doubt that my uncle, who was a POW in WWII, considered himself to be fighting for my future freedoms, what he did, and indeed what he lost while doing it, is worthy of respect.

I've been accused of being irreverent towards vets in my day to day life by choosing not to glorify them, but Remembrance Day is a time I respect, and turn my mind towards reflecting on those who died.

I respect you for staying true to your beliefs though. If you don't want to wear a poppy, you shouldn't.
 

Count Igor

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Pirate Kitty said:
Count Igor said:
Pirate Kitty said:
We remember not just the soldiers or what they did - we remember what needed to be done to (in an idealist's mind) protect freedom and home.

If we forget this, we become ungrateful, spoiled, and loose sense of just how bloody amazingly lucky and privileged we are.
Do we?
That's generalising a fair bit :D

Anyway, I buy the poppy and wear it, but I know many things I could be doing in that 2 minutes.
Note that I said "If we forget this", not 'we do forget this'.

No generalization.
I was more referring to the fact that we become ungrateful, etc...
Surely you can forget it and NOT become that? Or do you have something against people with Alzheimers? [gasp][/shockhorror]