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(UK WWII observance) Remembrance Sunday brings grief, reconciliation and Twitter exasperation
This article by The Guardian provides context of the UK observing Armistice Day this Remembrance Sunday, 11 November, basically what the Brits call the American "Veterans' Day":
On one of the rare Remembrance Sundays when the day coincided with the date commemorated, the original Armistice Day of 11 November 1918, millions fell silent in town and village centres, workplaces and churches, in the open air and in their homes.
There was a poignant reminder that those who dubbed the first world war "the war to end all wars" were tragically premature. In Afghanistan there were unconfirmed reports that another British service member had died in Helmand province, shot by an individual wearing Afghan army uniform. Officially the incident was still being investigated, and the nationality of the member of the International Security Assistance Force who was killed was not confirmed, but it was feared that British forces in the country had suffered their 44th death of this year. At Lashkar Gah representatives of five nations, including Afghan generals, joined British troops for a Remembrance Day service.
This was the first Remembrance Sunday when no first world war veteran remained to bear witness: Florence Green, who served as a mess steward at RAF bases and died last spring aged 110, was the last known survivor.
In Ireland there was an unprecedented gesture of reconciliation, when the taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and his deputy, Eamon Gilmore, both crossed the border to attend official Remembrance Day ceremonies in the north. Kenny attended a particularly poignant event in Enniskillen, marking the 25th anniversary of the bombing when 11 Protestant civilians were killed at the town's Cenotaph. Gilmore went to the main Remembrance Day ceremony in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. Their attendance, described by a spokeswoman for the Irish department of foreign affairs as "an opportunity to underline the Irish government's support for reconciliation" was also seen as recognition of the thousands of Irish men who fought and died with British services in both world wars. Earlier this year the Irish government pardoned some 5,000 soldiers, many posthumously, who deserted the Irish army to fight with the British against the Nazis.
There was a poignant reminder that those who dubbed the first world war "the war to end all wars" were tragically premature. In Afghanistan there were unconfirmed reports that another British service member had died in Helmand province, shot by an individual wearing Afghan army uniform. Officially the incident was still being investigated, and the nationality of the member of the International Security Assistance Force who was killed was not confirmed, but it was feared that British forces in the country had suffered their 44th death of this year. At Lashkar Gah representatives of five nations, including Afghan generals, joined British troops for a Remembrance Day service.
This was the first Remembrance Sunday when no first world war veteran remained to bear witness: Florence Green, who served as a mess steward at RAF bases and died last spring aged 110, was the last known survivor.
In Ireland there was an unprecedented gesture of reconciliation, when the taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and his deputy, Eamon Gilmore, both crossed the border to attend official Remembrance Day ceremonies in the north. Kenny attended a particularly poignant event in Enniskillen, marking the 25th anniversary of the bombing when 11 Protestant civilians were killed at the town's Cenotaph. Gilmore went to the main Remembrance Day ceremony in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. Their attendance, described by a spokeswoman for the Irish department of foreign affairs as "an opportunity to underline the Irish government's support for reconciliation" was also seen as recognition of the thousands of Irish men who fought and died with British services in both world wars. Earlier this year the Irish government pardoned some 5,000 soldiers, many posthumously, who deserted the Irish army to fight with the British against the Nazis.