Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori

by: Evan Carlson

Thu Nov 11, 2010 at 13:10:06 PM EST

(In honor of Veteran's Day. Thank you, Evan. - promoted by Jennifer Daler)

I think on this Veterans Day, it is worth remembering where the holiday comes from.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, a general armistice was declared ending what was then hoped to have been "the war to end all wars."

In England, they call Veterans Day, "Remembrance Day" and at 11am each year, the country quite literally shuts down for 2 minutes of silence to remember those who have fallen in battle.

In honor of that sentiment, I would like to open this space up to everybody who would like to acknowledge a family member, a friend or somebody you just read about.

I'd like to share this excerpt from a poem by Wilfred Owen. He died in France just a week before peace was declared and his mother received the news of his passing as the bells in her town rang out announcing Armistice.

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, --
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

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