Armistice Day Is Coming

November 11, 2020, is Armistice Day 103 — which is 102 years since World War I was ended at a scheduled moment (11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 — killing an extra 11,000 people after the decision to end the war had been reached early in the morning).

In many parts of the world this day is called Remembrance Day and should be a day of mourning the dead and working to abolish war so as not to create any more war dead. But the day is being militarized, and a strange alchemy cooked up by the weapons companies is using the day to tell people that unless they support killing more men, women, and children in war they will dishonor those already killed.

For decades in the United States, as elsewhere, this day was called Armistice Day, and was identified as a holiday of peace, including by the U.S. government. It was a day of sad remembrance and joyful ending of war, and of a commitment to preventing war in the future. The holiday’s name was changed in the United States after the U.S. war on Korea to “Veterans Day,” a largely pro-war holiday on which some U.S. cities forbid Veterans For Peace groups from marching in their parades, because the day has become understood as a day to praise war — in contrast to how it began.

The story from the first Armistice Day of the last soldier killed in the last major war in which most of the people killed were soldiers highlights the stupidity of war. Henry Nicholas John Gunther had been born in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents who had immigrated from Germany. In September 1917 he had been drafted to help kill Germans. When he had written home from Europe to describe how horrible the war was and to encourage others to avoid being drafted, he had been demoted (and his letter censored). After that, he had told his buddies that he would prove himself. As the deadline of 11:00 a.m. approached on that final day in November, Henry got up, against orders, and bravely charged with his bayonet toward two German machine guns. The Germans were aware of the Armistice and tried to wave him off. He kept approaching and shooting. When he got close, a short burst of machine gun fire ended his life at 10:59 a.m. Henry was given his rank back, but not his life.

Let’s create events around the world:

Find and add events for Armistice Day 2020 to list here.

Use these resources for events from World BEYOND War.

Use these resources for Armistice Day events from Veterans For Peace.

Events Planned:

David Swanson speaking by Zoom 11/10 to Veterans For Peace Southeast U.S. regional meeting.

David Swanson speaking by Zoom 11/10 to State University of New York, U.S., at 10 a.m. UTC-4, will livestream on WBW Youtube.

David Swanson speaking by Zoom 11/11 to Armistice Day Event in Milwaukee, Wisc., U.S.

Webinar 11/11 on The remarkable story of a young Catholic husband & father from Denver who was placed in military prison for refusing to be drafted into WWI

11/11 Armistice Day Bell Ringing in St. Paul, Minn.

A Few Ideas:

Plan an online event with World BEYOND War Speakers.