Friday November 10
Veterans Day
All Electronics Off (or Airplane Mode) & Away
“If it is not right do not do it; if it is nottrue do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius
Veterans DayOr
Armistice Day
The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Dayof the Eleventh Month
of 1918
November 11, 1918
Alan SegerRendezvous
I have a rendezvous with DeathAt some disputed barricade,I have a rendezvous with DeathAt some disputed barricade,When Spring comes back with rustling shadeAnd apple-blossoms fill the air--I have a rendezvous with DeathWhen Spring brings back blue days and fair.
It may be he shall take my handAnd lead me into his dark landAnd close my eyes and quench my breath--It may be I shall pass him still.I have a rendezvous with DeathOn some scarred slope of battered hill,When Spring comes round again this yearAnd the first meadow-flowers appear.
God knows 'twere better to be deepPillowed in silk and scented down,Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,Where hushed awakenings are dear . . .But I've a rendezvous with DeathAt midnight in some flaming town,When Spring trips north again this year,And I to my pledged word am true,I shall not fail that rendezvous.
A blaze of glory or a lonely death…
Prior to arrival in Europe for the Great War, Captain Harry Truman summed up the feelings of most doughboys:
“I felt I was Galahad after the Grail.” They expected an adventure.
In this picture taken east of Ypres, what
stands out to you?
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling,Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
—Wilfred Owen, "Dulce Et Decorum
Est", 1917
Dulce Et Decorum Est
(It is sweet and
proper to die for one's country) Roman poet Horace on “Duty”.
By Wilfred Owen (Nov 4, 1918)
• Gassed painting by John Singer Sargent
• Effects of Gas
"If it must be, let it come in the heat of action. Why flinch? It is by far the noblest form in which death can come. It is in a sense almost a privilege. . . “
-Alan Seeger
Der Krieg (The War) by
Otto Dix
… but the horrors made the armistice or cease fire very welcome.
Armistice Train – Signed at 11:00 A.M., November 11, 1918.
The same train in which the French were forced to surrender to Hitler during World War II.
ASSIGNMENT: The question: should veterans be honored? Take a stand, yes or no and explain. If yes: what is the proper way to honor a person that served in the armed forces
or, to borrow Lincoln’s phrase, “gave the last full measure of devotion”? Is it by waving flags? By wearing a flag pin on your lapel? By taking one day to
recall myriads upon myriads of deaths? Being a good citizen? Perhaps by living up to the ideals and principles upon which this nation was established? Informing your conscience? I’m not looking for a perfect answer, just one that shows you’re thinking!
When you meditate upon issues like these, you are educating your conscience. What is your duty?
¾ of a page – due when you walk in on Monday.
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