can we have a two minute posting silence at 11:00?

[wannaBe]

?

I'm Irish, living in London, and I observed it, naturally, it's very moving. PT's point is, we don't actually mark the day in Ireland as we do in the UK. We don't have 'Remembrance Sunday' as it is known in the UK.
We mark our respects in other ways on other days. No disrespect intended.

they joined the british army to fight.... ireland sent no army, we had a war of our own going on.

millions of people have died far more recently in genocide, famine and war all over the world which i find far more horrific tbh and very few of them are 'remembered'

This jingoistic Rubert Brooke "forever England" shit is not just anachronistic but damaging and an embarassment in a modern Europe. And if you want to contribute towards a world which doesn't feature mass genocide for the sake of capital/oil/land/power, reverent silence is the LAST thing you need.

I feel great sorrow for the bereaved relatives of murder victims too, but that doesn't mean it's disrespectful of me to oppose inviting them to attend executions.

IIRC a minute silence was traditionally always and exclusively used to remember the war dead ... nowadays the minute silence just seems to be hijacked and over used...

I observe the silence as I think it's terribly important to never forget one of the darkest times in European history. Realising I knew nothing of the causes of WW1 I've read a few books about it over the past few years and I was shocked at how pointless it all was. Remembrance day for me is a reminder of the dreadful sacrifice so many young men made in the name of what? Empire building and jostling for power in Europe none of which would benefit the common man. Should never be forgotten lest it happens again.

It IS happening again

I don't think the three gentlemen at the cenotaph would disagree with the sentiments about war expressed on this thread.

WW1 was mostly about posturing for position in a post empire Europe and in fighting between Queen Victoria's grandchildren.

May i ask how you feel about the reasons for fighting in WW2 though? (since we're talking about mass genocide).

Arse, I would LOVE to debate this but I have got to pick ds2 up from preschool

Not seeking to rile or offend anyone here btw (although I realise it's inevitable) I think this is really important and should be discussed.

[scarper]

I observe the silence. Its for ALL the fallen soldiers since WW1 and that includes some friends of ours who recently lost their lives in Afghanistan.
I think its very scary but also very relevent when its personal.
But...each to their own, just my opinion.

i think remembering those who died (note i don't say fought as millions of the dead never fought but were simply murdered) in WW2 is a very differant issue, and very necesary as it reminds us that genocide and murder in the name of religion/beliefs aren't just things that happen in 'other places' they happened to us here in what is supposedly the developed part of the world too.

we should remember events like that lest we fall into the trap of thinking 'oh how horrific, but things like that don't happen here' when we see similar acts repeated around the world.

i don't think that has any relevance to what was origionally discussed on this thread though.... it wasn't a noble war, or a war where any side fought on the side of dignity or justice. it was petty squabbling between nations that caused the deaths of a staggering number of young men for absolutely no reason at all.

i feel no absolutely no inclination to honour tha.

would love to stay and argue debate however i have to run and get dd and do the shopping.

but it's not "honouring" the war - it's remembering those that died

I know Greensleeves, but not on that scale, 20,000 men died on the first day of the battle of the Somme alone. They destroyed a whole generation to gain a few yards. I disagree with much of the military action taking place around the world today, but nothing beats the First World War for sheer pointlessness and waste of life.

But, like Nixz said - it's to honour the dead of all wars all over the world for the last 90 years.

There is nothing so dangerous as ignorance.

And yes - DS1 (poorly, off school) and i stood silently for 2 minutes.

There's a time and a place to make a point about the futility of war (or certain wars), it's about respect and after all learning about all the dead of WW1 makes the point far better than you or i ever could.

can i just point out quickly though that the irish soldiers who fought in ww1 did so voluntarily. no one forced them to enlist, they did so of their own free will as the pay was enticing, all 350000 of them, of whom 10% lost their lives..... some to the british they were fighting for in rascist attacks, some to the irish at home who felt they'd betrayed their country but most in the pointless fighting abroad.

the 90% who came home came home to war on their own doorsteps and many lost their lives at home fighting for a free state in the years to come.

does it really make a difference whether they volunteered or whether they were forced to? The fact is they died.

"it's not "honouring" the war - it's remembering those that died"

Precisely. I couldnt' get the radio to work today but I always blub when they play the Last Post. Remembering all the lost and wasted potential.

It gets on my nerves when people start mentioning politics.
I can remember when DD was 1 and I was queueing in the post office, sending her Dad his first fathers day card to Iraq whilst listening to some 'newspaper genius' spout off about how she had no sympathy for the troops as they were all trigger happy blah blah...

Politics schmolitics tis what I say... I just want to show the soldiers and their families that we recognise them.

Nixz - and Sailors and Airmen/women as well I hope?

Of course, with out a doubt!!!!!
Sorry, I just had to type as quick as i could as im in work!!!!

I thought about the news stories of soldiers not getting proper compensation & that those that fought should be looked after fully by the state.

It's ok, some of us RAF and Navy wives on here get a bit annoyed at the constant references to "ArmY", as if no other branch of the armed forces ever do anything. The BBC are especially bad for it

Anyone who says that she has no sympathy for the troops and that they are trigger happy is a loon. That's not a political argument, it's indefensible and I certainly wouldn't agree with it.

BUT there are different definitions of respect and different views of what constitutes a show of respect. And it would be difficult to have a meaningful postion on war and its costs without 'mentioning politics', IMO.

Can I just add here that in Ireland on Sunday there were commemmorative services in Church of Ireland churches.

In Ireland the wearing of the poppy was converted, as so much was, into something it was never meant to be: a political symbol. It was assumed that if you wore the poppy you were Protestant and therefore Unionist, or British and therefore Unionist. There was never any space for the argument that the poppy was for remembering those who died, and remembering that it should never happen again - not a militaristic or triumphalist symbol.

My grandfather fought in WW2 and I'd do anything in my power to prevent my children having to do something like that.