Veterans Day -- Armistice Day 100

ARMISTICE DAY AND VETERANS DAY. In America, it is now called Veterans Day, an honorable and hallowed tradition in America. But, in some respects, it misses the point of focusing on the particular horror that was World War I. • I've been watching the Armistice Day ceremonies from Paris and London. It rained in Paris, but it was a sunny day in London. President and Mrs. Trump were in Paris for the French ceremonies. At the formal 11 AM ceremony in Paris, the President was standing beside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and they chatted a bit, but President Trump was very solemn throughout the entire ceremony. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the President shook hands, and President Trump privately acknowledged other leaders behind him. The spouses of the invited leaders had lunch with Mrs. Macron at Versailles, while the men, some 70 heads of state, were at the Elysée Palace for lunch and an afternoon "multilateralism" conference. President Trump instead went to the Suresnes American Cemetery near Paris to commemorate the Americans who lost their lives fighting to free Europe from the suicidal grip of World War I. • In London Prince Charles laid the Queen's wreath at the Cenotaph, with the German President, which is the first time a German has laid a wreath at the Cenotaph, the British war memorial for its fallen soldiers and tomb of the unknown soldier. The Queen was on the balcony overlooking the Cenotaph with the Duchesses of Cambridge and Cornwall -- Kate and Camilla -- standing with her. The entire - ENTIRE -- United Kingdom stood silent at 11 AM. It was a solemn and impressive sight. • But, in Paris and France, there was no minute of silence, a minute taken every November 11 to remember the fallen of World War I. Instead, the French the tone set by President Macron's speech was aimed at future peace and the end of nationalism. Yet, strangely enough, the French Youth Orchestra played the military drumbeat of the Bolero at the end of the ceremony. The French are not happy with their President Macron, and on November 17, a national strike is planned in protest at rising taxes and prices, especially that of gasoline. The strike will show more exactly the French character and their opposition to blurring France into a grand Globalist Europe. • With President Trump, let us honor America's veterans. In all the American wars there have been 651,008 battle deaths, and about 1.2 million deaths during service in war time. About 42 million Americans have served in the military during wartime. About 1/50th of the people serving during a time of war have died. This is according to the Veterans Administration current as of 2002, so the most recent wars are not included. American losses in World War I were modest compared to those of other belligerents, with 116,516 deaths and approximately 320,000 sick and wounded of the 4.7 million men who served. The US lost more personnel to disease (63,114) than to combat (53,402), largely due to the influenza epidemic of 1918. • What better way to honor America's war dead than with the words of soldiers. "Duty, honor, country : Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn." __General Douglas MacArthur. "It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." __Army Veteran Charles M. Province. • And, as Our Lord taught us : "Greater love has no one than this : to lay down one's life for one's friends." __John 15:12-14. • Today, Americans honor and express their gratitude to these brave men and women who have fought the good fight for America and for freedom around the world.