OMNI
ARMISTICE DAY/ WORLD UNITY DAY NEWSLETTER (Reclaiming “Veterans Day”)
NOVEMBER 11, 2020, 102nd Anniversary
WE, THE PEOPLE BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR THE PLANET.
Compiled by Dick Bennett
www.omnicenter.org/donate/
What’s at Stake: An addition to US militarization: the replacement of a day of peace—Armistice Day—with a celebration of warriors.
See OMNI’s newsletters on US Armed Forces Day, US Military Industrial Complex (MIC), US Culture of War, Arkansas MIC, many more.
Table of Contents OMNI Armistice Day Newsletter #14, November 11, 2020, 102nd ANNIVERSARY
Vonnegut on Armistice Day
Veterans for Peace
Reclaim Armistice Day
2018-19
World Beyond War: Remembrance Day to Mourn the Dead
and Abolish War
Media
Abel Tomlinson
Janine Jackson
Newsletter #13 Contents
TEXTS ARMISTICE DAY NEWSLETTER ![]()
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Taking Action Nov. 11 to #ReclaimArmisticeDay in the Time of COVID 2020 Veterans For Peace via salsalabs.org |
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| | | Armistice Day is right around the corner, and once again, Veterans For Peace is taking the lead to #ReclaimArmisticeDay. Veterans For Peace has been celebrating Armistice Day almost since the organization's inception, with a few chapters doing yearly events. Since 2008, with the passing of an official Veterans For Peace resolution, it has become a VFP national effort. Each year, chapters across the country "Reclaim Armistice Day" by pushing the celebration of peace into the national conversation on Veterans Day. This year, Armistice Day celebrations will look a little different than in past years. Many of our chapters are hosting virtual actions instead of gathering in person. If you’re not sure how to arrange something like that, please email our membership coordinator membership@veteransforpeace.org. Veterans For Peace is calling on everyone to stand up for peace this Armistice Day. More than ever, the world faces a critical moment. Tensions are heightened around the world and the U.S. is engaged militarily in multiple countries, without an end in sight. Here at home we have seen the increasing militarization of our police forces and brutal crackdowns on dissent and people’s uprisings against state power. We must press our government to end reckless military interventions that endanger the entire world. We must build a culture of peace. We have compiled a list of COVID-safe actions for you to take this year. We are asking VFP members to do what they can to keep the conversation going around peace and Armistice Day. Please let us know what you have planned by filling out this form. Let's #ReclaimArmisticeDay as a day for peace. 11 Ways Take Action this Armistice Day: 1. Fly the VFP flag from your yard: The VFP flag comes in two sizes and has grommets, which can be easily attached to any standard pole. Order your VFP flag from the VFP store by October 25th to ensure delivery in time for November 11th. 2. Download & hang the Armistice Day Sign from your window (see image below): Hang the sign from your front window, or anywhere else you feel it would be most visible to others. Click the image below this list to download and print! 3. Host a virtual peace vigil with your local peace groups: Call together your members and supporters by hosting a virtual action on Zoom. If you choose to meet in person this year, please wear masks and practice social distancing at your action. You can read the proclamation at your vigil and ring 11 bells for peace, as we do most years. Be sure to send us any photos of your action! 4. Ring 11 bells for peace: Make it a community effort! Reach out to local churches, community centers, and schools to ring their bells at 11am. Here is a sample outreach letter from Chapter 27. 5. Host a car caravan for peace: Pick a route and drive by your capital building or mayor's office: Call your members and supporters out together, decorate your cars and bring your VFP flags to organize a drive-by action celebrating Armistice Day as a day of peace. 6. Attend the Stand Down Live - special Armistice Day edition! *More info coming soon. 7. Send letters to the editor: Write from the heart and tell them why you’re a veteran for peace and why you celebrate Armistice Day. 8. Order a bundle of Armistice Day materials: Send an email to membership@veteransforpeace.org to get a bundle sent out to you. Order by Oct 25th to ensure delivery in time. 9. Share the 2020 Armistice Day video (stay tuned!): We will have a special VFP video ready for distribution as Armistice Day approaches. 10.Submit a proclamation to your city council: Reach out to your mayor, city council member, or county supervisor to create city and county proclamations in support of Armistice Day. 11.Share the Liturgy of the Bells!: The Liturgy of the Bells is a great opportunity to reach out to local houses of worship to commemorate Armistice Day. |
| | | 11 Ways Take Action this Armistice Day: 1. Fly the VFP flag from your yard: The VFP flag comes in two sizes and has grommets, which can be easily attached to any standard pole. Order your VFP flag from the VFP store by October 25th to ensure delivery in time for November 11th. 2. Download & hang the Armistice Day Sign from your window (see image below): Hang the sign from your front window, or anywhere else you feel it would be most visible to others. Click the image below this list to download and print! 3. Host a virtual peace vigil with your local peace groups: Call together your members and supporters by hosting a virtual action on Zoom. If you choose to meet in person this year, please wear masks and practice social distancing at your action. You can read the proclamation at your vigil and ring 11 bells for peace, as we do most years. Be sure to send us any photos of your action! 4. Ring 11 bells for peace: Make it a community effort! Reach out to local churches, community centers, and schools to ring their bells at 11am. Here is a sample outreach letter from Chapter 27. 5. Host a car caravan for peace: Pick a route and drive by your capital building or mayor's office: Call your members and supporters out together, decorate your cars and bring your VFP flags to organize a drive-by action celebrating Armistice Day as a day of peace. 1. Fly the VFP flag from your yard: The VFP flag comes in two sizes and has grommets, which can be easily attached to any standard pole. Order your VFP flag from the VFP store by October 25th to ensure delivery in time for November 11th. 2. Download & hang the Armistice Day Sign from your window (see image below): Hang the sign from your front window, or anywhere else you feel it would be most visible to others. Click the image below this list to download and print! 3. Host a virtual peace vigil with your local peace groups: Call together your members and supporters by hosting a virtual action on Zoom. If you choose to meet in person this year, please wear masks and practice social distancing at your action. You can read the proclamation at your vigil and ring 11 bells for peace, as we do most years. Be sure to send us any photos of your action! 4. Ring 11 bells for peace: Make it a community effort! Reach out to local churches, community centers, and schools to ring their bells at 11am. Here is a sample outreach letter from Chapter 27. 5. Host a car caravan for peace: Pick a route and drive by your capital building or mayor's office: Call your members and supporters out together, decorate your cars and bring your VFP flags to organize a drive-by action celebrating Armistice Day as a day of peace. 6. Attend the Stand Down Live - special Armistice Day edition! *More info coming soon. 7. Send letters to the editor: Write from the heart and tell them why you’re a veteran for peace and why you celebrate Armistice Day. 8. Order a bundle of Armistice Day materials: Send an email to membership@veteransforpeace.org to get a bundle sent out to you. Order by Oct 25th to ensure delivery in time. 9. Share the 2020 Armistice Day video (stay tuned!): We will have a special VFP video ready for distribution as Armistice Day approaches. 10. Submit a proclamation to your city council: Reach out to your mayor, city council member, or county supervisor to create city and county proclamations in support of Armistice Day. 11. Share the Liturgy of the Bells!: The Liturgy of the Bells is a great opportunity to reach out to local houses of worship to commemorate Armistice Day. Click the image below to download & print our Armistice Day poster! |
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6. 7. Attend the Stand Down Live - special Armistice Day edition! *More info coming soon. 8. Send letters to the editor: Write from the heart and tell them why you’re a veteran for peace and why you celebrate Armistice Day. 9. Order a bundle of Armistice Day materials: Send an email to membership@veteransforpeace.org to get a bundle sent out to you. Order by Oct 25th to ensure delivery in time. 10. Share the 2020 Armistice Day video (stay tuned!): We will have a special VFP video ready for distribution as Armistice Day approaches. 11. Submit a proclamation to your city council: Reach out to your mayor, city council member, or county supervisor to create city and county proclamations in support of Armistice Day. 12. Share the Liturgy of the Bells!: The Liturgy of the Bells is a great opportunity to reach out to local houses of worship to commemorate Armistice Day. Click the image below to download & print our Armistice Day poster! |
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| | Contact Us Veterans For Peace
3407 S. Jefferson Ave, #219
St. Louis, Missouri 63118
(314) 725-6005
vfp@veteransforpeace.org |
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Armistice Day 2018-2019 in Washington, D.C. with VETERANS FOR PEACE
The weekend before Armistice Day, Veterans For Peace was lucky enough to be invited to join Jane Fonda at Fire Drill Fridays in Washington, D.C - actions to bring urgent attention to important intersectional analysis around Climate Change. Friday, November 8th focused on the intersection between War, Military and the Climate Crisis. About a dozen VFP members from Minnesota, North Carolina, Philadelphia, and as far away as California were joined local VFP members to march alongside Jane Fonda, CodePink and more. Speakers at the event included VFP Advisory Board Member Phyllis Bennis, Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Krystal Two Bulls of About Face. Check out the Livestream.
On Armistice Day Ron Carvers’ Waging Peace in Vietnam exhibit (which was featured at the VFP Convention in Spokane) opened its run in D.C. at George Washington University. The opening was followed by a week-long series of events that included commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Mobilization Demonstration against the Vietnam War, the largest antiwar protest in American history, a book launch, a peace poetry open mic, three movies, the reenactment of Cortright v Resor and a full day symposium with the morning focused on convincing historians to include the GI Movement when teaching and writing about the war.
Listen to the audio documentary: Soldiers for Peace - featuring VFP members Susan Schnall, Paul Cox, VFP poet laureate Jan Barry, and more
On the 101st Anniversary of Armistice Day, VFP Chapters and Members across the U.S. and abroad once again took the lead to Reclaim Armistice Day as a "day dedicated to the cause of world peace," as it was celebrated at the end of World War I when the world came together to recognize the need for lasting peace. On our website you will find our featured stories, reports from local chapter actions, and links to articles, podcasts, radio shows, videos and more from Veterans For Peace members and chapters reclaiming Armistice Day across the globe!
You can view the full Armistice Day 2019 photo album here for additional pictures from actions across the world!
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World BEYOND War Big Plans: Remembrance / Armistice Day 10-23-2020 Inbox ![https://www.google.com/s2/u/0/photos/public/AIbEiAIAAABECOqr9prukuXEogEiC3ZjYXJkX3Bob3RvKihlN2Y2NzdjNjRiM2I5NGI3NWUzYzAxNzRmOTE3YzM3NzU2N2I1NmI3MAE6NlGsCUTngyB5KSXENi_GwRa3_g?sz=80]()
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| | November 11, 2020, is Armistice Day 103 — which is 102 years since World War I was ended at a scheduled moment (11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 — killing an extra 11,000 people after the decision to end the war had been reached early in the morning). In many parts of the world this day is called Remembrance Day and should be a day of mourning the dead and working to abolish war so as not to create any more war dead. But the day is being militarized, and a strange alchemy cooked up by the weapons companies is using the day to tell people that unless they support killing more men, women, and children in war they will dishonor those already killed. For decades in the United States, as elsewhere, this day was called Armistice Day, and was identified as a holiday of peace, including by the U.S. government. It was a day of sad remembrance and joyful ending of war, and of a commitment to preventing war in the future. The holiday’s name was changed in the United States after the U.S. war on Korea to “Veterans Day,” a largely pro-war holiday on which some U.S. cities forbid Veterans For Peace groups from marching in their parades, because the day has become understood as a day to praise war — in contrast to how it began. The story from the first Armistice Day of the last soldier killed in the last major war in which most of the people killed were soldiers highlights the stupidity of war. Henry Nicholas John Gunther had been born in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents who had immigrated from Germany. In September 1917 he had been drafted to help kill Germans. When he had written home from Europe to describe how horrible the war was and to encourage others to avoid being drafted, he had been demoted (and his letter censored). After that, he had told his buddies that he would prove himself. As the deadline of 11:00 a.m. approached on that final day in November, Henry got up, against orders, and bravely charged with his bayonet toward two German machine guns. The Germans were aware of the Armistice and tried to wave him off. He kept approaching and shooting. When he got close, a short burst of machine gun fire ended his life at 10:59 a.m. Henry was given his rank back, but not his life. Let’s create events around the world: Find and add events for Armistice Day 2020 to list here. Use these resources for events from World BEYOND War. Use these resources for Armistice Day events from Veterans For Peace. Events Planned: David Swanson speaking by Zoom 11/10 to Veterans For Peace Southeast U.S. regional meeting. David Swanson speaking by Zoom 11/10 to State University of New York, U.S. David Swanson speaking by Zoom 11/11 to Armistice Day Event in Milwaukee, Wisc., U.S. Webinar 11/11 on The remarkable story of a young Catholic husband & father from Denver who was placed in military prison for refusing to be drafted into WWI A Few Ideas: Plan an online event with World BEYOND War Speakers. Plan a bell ringing. (See resources from Veterans For Peace.) Get and wear white poppies and blue scarves and World BEYOND War gear. Share graphics and videos. Use hashtags #ArmisticeDay #NoWar #WorldBeyondWar #ReclaimArmisticeDay Use sign-up sheets or link people to the Peace Pledge. Learn More About Armistice Day: Armistice Day 100 in Santa Cruz Film Celebrate Armistice Day, Not Veterans Day Tell the Truth: Veterans Day Is A National Day of Lying An Armistice Day Newspaper from Veterans For Peace We Need a New Armistice Day Veterans Group: Reclaim Armistice Day As Day Of Peace A Hundred Years After the Armistice New Film Takes Stand Against Militarism Wait Just a Minute On Armistice Day, Let’s Celebrate Peace Armistice Day 99 Years On and the Need for a Peace to End All Wars Reclaim Armistice Day and Honor the Real Heroes An Armistice Day Poem Audio: David Rovics on Armistice Day Armistice Day First Audio: Talk Nation Radio: Stephen McKeown on Armistice Day World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace. 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Comment 2019 on NADG Reporting Armistice Day by Abel Tomlinson.
NWA Letters to the Editor 11-27-19
Newspaper should cover peace efforts thoroughly.
For the sake of balance and peace, I offer a counterpoint to the Democrat-Gazette's Veterans Day extravaganza. Remarkably, the newspaper went overboard with a full page ad, and over two more full pages of editorials, cartoons, images and stories.
Please recall that Nov. 11 was originally Armistice Day, an internationally recognized day for peace, a solemn remembrance of the horrors of world war. Many nations still celebrate it, but the U.S. government replaced it in 1954.
Many veterans, past and present, have denounced this change. In fact, the wonderful organization Veterans for Peace is engaged in a #ReclaimArmisticeDay campaign.
In 1973, author and World War II veteran Kurt Vonnegut wrote:
"(Once upon a time,) all the people (who fought in World War I) were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It was during that minute ... that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. (Old) men who were on battlefields ... told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God ... when God spoke clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans Day is not. So I will throw Veterans Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things."
Rory Fanning, a more recent veteran of the so-called global war on terror, wrote, "Armistice Day was sacred because it was intended to evoke memories of fear, pain, suffering, military incompetence, greed and destruction on the grandest scale for those who had participated in war ... Armistice Day was a hallowed anniversary because it was supposed to protect future life from future wars.
"Veterans Day, instead, celebrates 'heroes' and encourages others to dream of playing the hero themselves ... But becoming a 'hero' means going off to kill and be killed in ... one of our government's current, unending wars ... for reasons that have very little to do with democracy or freedom. (The) day is more of a slap in the face than a pat on the back to those who served, despite the endless thank yous, parades, (etc.)."
I applaud the Democrat-Gazette should they publish this, in the interest of First Amendment freedoms, which our veterans are told they fight for. Ironically, we should thank Trump's intermittent dark honesty in admitting troops are fighting for oil in Syria. Bush and Obama were not half that honest.
If we are sincere about honoring veterans, we must work harder at understanding causes of wars, and harder at preventing them. What could be more disrespectful to veterans than sending more youth to kill and die in another preventable war?
I helped organize events for peace locally, including three months of weekly "Stop Iran war" protests this summer, and rarely the Democrat-Gazette covers them. KNWA and 40/29 cover them often, in more depth. I encourage the Democrat-Gazette to offer more balanced war and peace coverage, or explain why not?
Abel Tomlinson
Fayetteville
11/27/2019 NWA Letters to the Editor
Janine Jackson takes a quick look at coverage of Veterans Day 2019, including the origin and peacemaking purpose of Armistice Day.
MP3 Link FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING
Table of Contents: OMNI Armistice Day Newsletter #13, November 11, 2019, 101st ANNIVERSARY
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2019/11/omni-armistice-day-newsletter-november.html
NADG Reporting the End of WWI Leading Not to Peace but as Veteran’s Day preparing for the next war, from Nov. 8 to Nov. 12.
Let’s Celebrate Peace Not War
Veterans for Peace
World Beyond War, David Swanson
The Humanist
Calendar of Peace Activities
Two Books offering an alternative history:
Docherty and MacGregor, Hidden History: the Secret Origins of the First World War.
Jack Beatty, The Lost History of 1914.
Other US Wars.
Kurt Vonnegut on Armistice Day.
Buy an Armistice Day shirt.
Read OMNI’s newsletters on WWI and other US Wars.
END OMNI ARMISTICE DAY NEWSLETTER #14
