Armistice Day 2015

WWI monument

Young men receiving medals

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month--the end to unimaginable butchery, staggering loss of life, and to what end?  Here in Carcassonne, this day is given over to a ceremony of remembering.  There will be no pre-Christmas sales, no huge marketing campaign for cars or televisions.  The stores are closed.  The streets are quiet.  Last night's television offerings were heavily weighted with movies and documentaries about the Great War. This day is much more than a day off of work or school.  

Flags shine in the November sun

Army

Do I think that every citizen here watched the ceremony at the WWI memorial this morning?  Of course not, but it was well attended.  Do I think that every citizen here is engaged in a day of reflection about war and power and waste?  Of course not, but enough are so occupied.  What's crucial is that the up and coming generation is involved with the ceremonies and if only briefly, think about the past.  

So very young

I am convinced that there were no WWI veterans in the crowd today.  They'd have to be--what?--nearly 120 years old.  I think they have all long since passed into the next world.  So the people in attendance today weren't commemorating something they themselves actually witnessed.  They are there because of the stories of their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers. 

Paratroopers stationed here in Carcassonne

I am embarrassed by my ignorance of WWI.  Thanks to my time in France two years ago, I know more than I did, but am still woefully uneducated about the whole affair.  I do know this, however:  the carnage was unimaginable.  And I know that many--maybe most-- of the worst battles were fought on French soil.  That has to shape the national psyche. 

What struck me today, as it did two years ago when I first witnessed this ceremony, was how this community's memorial involved its young people.  Teens from one of the local schools read the names of the local boys killed in battle.  After every single name, the school choir spoke in unison, "Mort pour la France,"  (Died for France).  It gave me shivers.  These teens know about Armistice Day and will know forever. 

Gendarmes are represented

Little elementary school children accompanied local officials as they placed flowers on the monument.  They will remember.  It is an honor to be chosen; proud parents and relatives capture the moment in photographs. 

Another group is represented

Elementary school children help place flowers

I have seen several posts on my Facebook page today lamenting the fact that in the US, our school children do not know anything about Armistice Day other than it's a day off from classes.  That is our own fault.  We cannot leave it to the schools to teach this; we as communities must insist that the meaning of our national holidays not be lost in the heap of consumer advertising.  We have to show that we have not forgotten, and put our money where our mouths are.  We need to make meaningful memorials and give our future leaders ways to participate that will imprint upon them the importance of Independence Day, Armistice Day and Memorial Day.  Maybe that's easier to do when the battles have been on your own soil, but we cannot use the lack of local bloody fields as an excuse to shirk our duty to keep memories alive.  We just have to do better.

Choir members

There is a saying about those who cannot (or will not) remember history are condemned to repeat it.  If another war on such a scale ever takes place here, it will not be because the citizens here have forgotten.

Multi-generational participation