I find it confusing that America replaced Armistice Day with Veterans' Day. The former was a day of commemoration, but the later is closer to celebration. The two are different sentiments.
American moved commemoration to Memorial Day, which is to honor the military dead, moving us away from our allies who commemorate the deaths of WWI. In so doing, we confuse November 11. It would not be appropriate to wish anyone "Happy Armistice Day," as the occasion recognizes loss, not a celebration of freedom alone.
I rather think WWI merits its own observance, and for the reason that it was a terrible waste and we failed to learn the lesson that was supposed to be the War to End All Wars. Seventeen MILLION humans died, of which eleven were military. That's worth remembering all by itself. When we stopped observing it, we did sweep them away a little, much like the voice of "In Flanders Fields" warns. For comparison, Ireland and Scotland together only had a population of eleven million souls in 1920, just after the war. The UK had a population of only 27 million.
We all have something to hang our heads about, to make us ponder why so many men had to die and for what? Vainglory? It should not be glossed over with patriotism and pride. It is to our shame that we sent boys off to die for so little. This was the realization of the nation that kept us from entering WWII so soooo long. It has progressively been swept away by nostalgia and patriotic pap, so much so, that the Vietnam experience was the first time we were "allowed" to speak that war was a mistake.
And even when we commemorate the dead on Memorial Day, we do so without recognizing that all who died were not enthusiastic patriots, sure that their sacrifice was necessary. We dust it over with glitter and cheer and actually wish people "Happy Memorial Day" to wit:
That seems thoughtless, and more than a little witless and propagandistic towards militaristic.
