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My wife and I attended the outdoor memorial service in our tiny English village with one hundred or so other people yesterday, Sunday 11 November. I saw an old man brush away a tear during the two minute silence. He stood proudly alongside a broken hearted young mother and her three young children – her soldier husband was killed last month in Afghanistan.

The service made me appreciate again the debt I owe for my freedom – we all need to be reminded. Yesterday was not a time to argue the rights and wrongs of war. Yesterday was simply about remembering millions of young men and women who lost their lives in wars fighting for the freedoms I now enjoy. We must NEVER be allowed to forget.

Posted by Trevor Gay at November 12, 2007 6:17 PM

"Yesterday was not a time to argue the rights and wrongs of war. Yesterday was simply about remembering millions of young men and women who lost their lives in wars fighting for the freedoms I now enjoy."

Few things irritate me more than those who tie support for a war to support for the soldiers and sailors involved. It is our duty as citizens of a Democracy to oppose wars we think are wrong; God help us when that stops. That in no way diminishes our pride for and compassion, and love, toward the men and women who serve in those wars, including the ones that we may well question.

Posted by tom peters at November 13, 2007 1:24 AM

Amen and thanks Tom.

Posted by Trevor Gay at November 13, 2007 4:27 AM

The day after Labor Day--Mt. Rushmore National Memorial--sunset. Audience in the amphitheatre of about 500. Flag lowering ceremony begins and the ranger calls all veterans and active-duty personnel in the audience to come forward to the stage. Forty eight came and the remaining members of the audience spontaneously stood and applauded them on their way. One Korean war veteran could only walk slowly and with assistance. The audience remained standing and clapping until he made his very slow way to the stage. After the flag was folded each person passed it from hand to hand and then they presented the flag to the Korean vet. Meantime, the lights are slowly coming up above us on Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Washington. Wonderful. No disruptive Sheahanite protestors or other bozos, just Americans being Americans--despite differences and all the rest.

Posted by mike at November 13, 2007 10:08 AM

I read yesterday that there is only one living WWI vet left in the United States. How sad that we'll only realize there are none left only when they're gone. My grandfathers were both WWI vets (one a chaplain in the US Army, the other a machine gunner in the British Army) and having heard some of their stories both directly and indirectly I gained a huge amount of respect for every man or woman who spends time in the armed forces and fights for their country.

I was going to add some editorial about supporting troops and supporting war, but I think Tom said it very eloquently.

Posted by Andrew Hayden at November 13, 2007 3:41 PM

I remember what it was like to come back from overseas during Viet Nam. Tom's "Welcome home" has special meaning to those of us who came home then. We were not welcomed. Many of us were reviled and harassed. I think it was about ten, maybe fifteen, years ago that people started going out of their way, when they discovered that someone was a vet from that era to say, "Welcome home."

One of the things that makes me think we can actually learn something is that, for the most part, today's people who oppose the war seem to be able to still welcome the troops home and thank them for their service. If we can learn this, perhaps we can learn other important lessons.

Posted by Wally Bock at November 13, 2007 4:05 PM

Tom, while you were serving in Vietnam, I was stateside listening to Phil Ochs and Tom Hayden....never ever think that those of us who found difference with our government for a moment doubted our friends who chose, or could not avoid, serving. The warriors deserve our praise, gratitude, and love...they did then, they do now

Posted by Mike Neiss at November 15, 2007 8:28 PM