Reclaiming Armistice Day #VeteransForPeace #ThisVeteranIsForPeace #VeteransDayIsForPeace

Short link to this page: erka.me/vfp

What is the meaning of Veterans Day? Reclaiming Armistice Day, Veterans Day is for peace. “Over one hundred years ago the world celebrated peace as a universal principle. The first World War had just ended and nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars.  Armistice Day was born and was designated as ‘a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.”

“After World War II, the U.S. Congress decided to rebrand November 11 as Veterans Day. Honoring the warrior quickly morphed into honoring the military and glorifying war. Armistice Day was flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.”

“Veterans For Peace has taken the lead in lifting up the original intention of November 11th – as a day for peace. As veterans we know that a day that celebrates peace, not war, is the best way to honor the sacrifices of veterans. We want generations after us to never know the destruction war has wrought on people and the earth.” – Veterans for Peace

Reclaiming Armistice Day
Bootcamp Pic, Erika Sanborne, U.S. Coast Guard Active Duty NCO PO3 Feb. 1994 – Nov. 1997

From today’s overly militarized police departments in the U.S. to the unimaginable scale of ecological destruction carried out with impunity by the U.S. military today, and through every war, shooting, bombing and veteran who dies by suicide in between, it continues to break my heart to see that we really are a part of such continued mass destruction. Let us never forget the true costs of war, and all the lives lost, both military and civilian, until there is only peace. I pray for peace and work for peace to the best of my ability.

Rev. Erika Sanborne, Chaplain
Member, VFP Chapter 27