Interrupting NaNoWriMo ...
In 1918, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the formal hostilities of World War I ended.
In the US, we call the recognition of that event Veterans Day. Other parts of the world may call it Armistice Day or Remembrance Day. Not to be confused with Memorial Day which celebrates the sacrifice of those who died in the service of their country, Veterans Day honors all people who have served.
In four years, it will have been 100 years since that armistice was signed. World War I (of course, the I was added later) was also called the Great War and was supposed to be the war to end all wars. How sad that it wasn't able to achieve it, that the 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians who died were not the last to suffer death at war, that the generation of veterans who first experienced chemical warfare was not the last.
It can be hard to get your head around the sheer number of people who died. You can click
here to view pictures of the ceramic flowers being displayed at the Tower of London to recognize the human sacrifice--one for each of the hundreds of thousands of British soldiers who died in that war.
The last flower will be placed today.
As a veteran in a family of veterans, I have always been conscious of this day. But I am especially tender today since I'm working on a book whose main character is a wounded veteran.
No one goes to war and returns unscathed. No family of a veteran, having coped and agonized and sacrificed, is unscarred.
With all my heart, I thank those who have accepted the calls of their countries.
I would encourage everyone to reach out and find some way to help them, and please remember. Not all will wear their scars where everyone can see.
