G.D. Falksen's Blog, page 1390
November 13, 2011
Artist: Gil Elvgren
Artist: Gil Elvgren
November 12, 2011
Winter by Alphonse Mucha, 1897
Winter by Alphonse Mucha, 1897
November 11, 2011
As the Veterans Day comes to a close, amid the enjoyment of a...
As the Veterans Day comes to a close, amid the enjoyment of a three-day weekend, let us remember the origin of this holiday.
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the First World War ended, after four years of violence and millions of casualties (both military and civilian). At that time it was the single most destructive conflict in history. The First World War had been characterized by some as "the war to end war" and the war to "make the world safe for democracy", neither of which happened (indeed, the chaos and bitterness of the war led directly to the founding of oppressive dictatorships such as Soviet Russia, Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany).
Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the United States) is symbolized by the poppy, a reference to the poem In Flanders Fields by the Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, written in 1915.
This day reminds us of the great tragedy of war and of the sacrifices made by the soldiers who fight it. Let us never forget the horrors of the past (and the horrors of the present), and let us always strive to make the future a better and more peaceful place.
Autumn, by Alphonse Mucha, 1897
Autumn, by Alphonse Mucha, 1897
