# Question for Non-Americans: Veterans Day **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313 "2014-11-11T05:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/41 "2014-11-12T05:05:44Z")
In the US, Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day after the Civil War. I have no idea when it was changed. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/42 "2014-11-12T05:45:57Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I’ve noticed that veteran remembrances outside the U.S. seem very WWI-centric. Which makes sense, I guess, being the first one, but I sometimes wonder whether all the other vets of all the other wars get anything at all. There hasn’t been much in the way of “other wars” (besides WWII) hence “other veterans” in most western countries , to begin with. And even in the rare cases where there has been some, they aren’t necessarily much celebrated (say, French colonial wars). Besides, the cult of the military is an American peculiarity (in current times). In most countries, people don’t care the slighest bit about their military (and by extension their veterans) nowadays. So, they’re unlikely to be highly celebrated, ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/43 "2014-11-12T07:41:34Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > Maybe a dim question: but, is Israel’s Remembrance Day November 11th – or on another date? > [@Alessan](#): > > It’s in spring, the day before Independence Day (it’s based on the Hebrew calendar, so it changes from year to year). You honor the fallen before celebrating what they died for. Thanks ! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/44 "2014-11-12T08:02:26Z")
Of course, that’s Memorial Day. Israel doesn’t have a Veterans’ Day, probably because in Israel, every day is Veterans’ Day. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/45 "2014-11-12T08:07:19Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > There hasn’t been much in the way of “other wars” (besides WWII) hence “other veterans” in most western countries , to begin with. And even in the rare cases where there has been some, they aren’t necessarily much celebrated (say, French colonial wars). I recall many years ago, seeing the war memorial in a medium-sized town in Brittany. Many names for World Wars I and II; also, the name of one luckless guy killed in Algeria in, IIRC, 1954. I thought it rather moving that he, too, was commemorated. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/46 "2014-11-12T09:11:28Z")
In Germany, there is a rembrance day (_Volkstrauertag_) on the second Sunday before 1st Advent Sunday (i.e. on the sixth Sunday before 25th December). One of the somber November holidays where depending on the state public dancing is prohibited and movies screened need an additional OK (on top of age classification) from the motion picture rating agency. It’s strictly for rembrance of the victims of wars and oppression, i.e. soldiers are not honored for serving (no public occasion for that) but remembered (along with other victims) for dying. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/47 "2014-11-12T15:27:09Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I recall many years ago, seeing the war memorial in a medium-sized town in Brittany. Many names for World Wars I and II; also, the name of one luckless guy killed in Algeria in, IIRC, 1954. I thought it rather moving that he, too, was commemorated. Yes, they got their name on the monuments. What I mean is that nobody has much reverential thoughts for Algeria war veterans. We never hear about them. Contrast this with for instance US Vietnam war veterans, who are talked about a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/48 "2014-11-12T18:30:58Z")
I happened to be in Ottawa a year ago, staying at a hotel just a block or so from the War Memorial and they made a pretty big deal of it. Parades and the like. This year, both because of recent events and because it is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war, they made a huge deal of it. As a matter of fact, at 11:00 yesterday I was entering onto the McGill campus and they had a huge event there too. There was some guy giving a speech; I heard at least one cannon go off; and I saw two Mounties on great big black horses. Very impressive. I would estimate a couple thousand people on the lower campus. I never saw such a celebration on campus before. The temperature was around 5 C (41 F). While it was a bright sunny day, the sun is so low in the sky these days that it didn’t help much. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/49 "2014-11-12T19:56:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > In the US, Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day after the Civil War. I have no idea when it was changed. Before World War II. This might be of interest: [My Memorial Day speech this morning - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=565240) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/50 "2014-11-13T02:45:23Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Israel is the only democratic country where war is immediate and touches the lives of every citizen. > So veterans day is taken very,very seriously, as a day of mourning.( And it is not called veterans day, because that sounds like you are only honoring ex-soldiers. It is called by the more inclusive name “Rememberance Day”.) > > It is a serious day of mourning.By law, all places of entertainment are closed (restaurants, movies, etc). > The major ceremony marking the day is a nationwide moment of silence. At 11:00 a.m, sirens sound , and for two minutes, the _entire country_ comes to a standstill. Everybody stops what they are doing, and stands at attention. Businessmen in conference rooms stop talking in mid sentence, everyone around the table stands up, and stands in silence. Cars stop in the middle of their lanes on the highway,drivers step out of the vehicle and stand at attention. > It’s [an impressive sight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeozUSWdoQA). I never knew that - that was indeed an impressive sight. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Remembrance Day is a provincial holiday in most provinces in Canada. The two exceptions are Ontario and Quebec. > > Here in Regina, there will be two ceremonies: an indoor one at the Armoury of the local regiment, and an outdoor one at the Cenotaph at the main park downtown. > > Since it’s snowed overnight, the outdoor one will be cold, but it will be well-attended. Wreath-laying by different community groups, prayers, The Last Post, followed by a minute of silence at 11 am, then Reveille. Pipers will play, and representatives from the different branches of the Armed Forces will stand at the four corners of the Cenotaph, with their rifles reversed. “In Flanders Fields” is often read, as well as the prayer “They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old …at the going down of the Sun, we will remember them.” > > After the minute of silence, a twenty-one gun salute will begin in front of the Legislature, three miles away, and the guns will boom every 30 seconds, just a brief reminder of what it was like in the trenches. > > The Cenotaph Ceremony is usually short, since it’s outdoors. A new custom that had been evolving in the past ten years is that after the ceremony, people individually take off their poppies and pin them to the ribbons of the wreaths. > > Then the crowd disperses. It’s not a celebration, and certainly it has patriotic themes, but the overall theme is sadness coupled with gratitude. That’s what all the Remembrance Day ceremonies I’ve seen on tv have been like. The one this week was, well, I’m not going to say bitterly cold, but it was pretty damned cold, and everyone turned out anyway. > [@clairobscur](#): > > \ > Besides, the cult of the military is an American peculiarity (in current times). In most countries, people don’t care the slighest bit about their military (and by extension their veterans) nowadays. So, they’re unlikely to be highly celebrated, I wouldn’t say Canada has a cult of the military (I agree that it sure looks like that in the US), but our soldiers (past and present) are respected and honoured. [People always line the highway in Ontario where deceased Canadian soldiers are brought home to show their respect.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yCga1VczQ9E/Udhx7ZuugCI/AAAAAAAAEUk/DhiZG-oxrKQ/s1600/hwh3.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/51 "2014-11-13T03:20:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Bonus question: How many WWI vets are still alive in your country? I’m pretty sure no one from that Siamese force is still alive. There were some when I first came here though. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/52 "2014-11-13T03:47:48Z")
In New Zealand Armistice Day is not as well observed as is ANZAC Day, but is still marked by ceremonies at major sites, such as the National War Memorial in Wellington. Outside that, there isn’t much public observance. ANZAC Day is not limited to remembering the WWI and WWII servicemen. There are also those who served in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, and now Afghanistan, and they will be noted on war memorials where a local person was killed in any of those conflicts, and are also in the Auckland War Memorial museum, where a hall is dedicated to remembering servicemen that were killed in overseas conflicts. On ANZAC Day, no businesses may open before 1 o’clock in the afternoon, it is observed as a public holiday and there are parades and memorial services at just about every town and city that has a war memorial, such as a cenotaph or obelisk or memorial gates or plaque on a building or whatever, and that’s just about any place bigger than a petrol station and one house. Larger places will have a dawn parade of veterans and serving military, and later a memorial service, in mid morning. Smaller places may not have any returned servicemen/women so will have a memorial service without the parade. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/53 "2014-11-13T04:36:09Z")
> [@Kiwi\_Fruit](#): > > In New Zealand Armistice Day is not as well observed as is ANZAC Day, but is still marked by ceremonies at major sites, such as the National War Memorial in Wellington. Outside that, there isn’t much public observance. > > ANZAC Day is not limited to remembering the WWI and WWII servicemen. There are also those who served in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, and now Afghanistan, and they will be noted on war memorials where a local person was killed in any of those conflicts, and are also in the Auckland War Memorial museum, where a hall is dedicated to remembering servicemen that were killed in overseas conflicts. > > On ANZAC Day, no businesses may open before 1 o’clock in the afternoon, it is observed as a public holiday and there are parades and memorial services at just about every town and city that has a war memorial, such as a cenotaph or obelisk or memorial gates or plaque on a building or whatever, and that’s just about any place bigger than a petrol station and one house. Larger places will have a dawn parade of veterans and serving military, and later a memorial service, in mid morning. Smaller places may not have any returned servicemen/women so will have a memorial service without the parade. Is Oderings still fighting the Anzac day closure? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/54 "2014-11-13T04:42:24Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > Yep we are the A in ANZAC and as said ANZAC day is a national holiday and is a bloody big deal for some people. There’s a few here that are the NZ in ANZAC as well… ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/55 "2014-11-13T08:25:10Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I recall many years ago, seeing the war memorial in a medium-sized town in Brittany. Many names for World Wars I and II; also, the name of one luckless guy killed in Algeria in, IIRC, 1954. I thought it rather moving that he, too, was commemorated. > [@clairobscur](#): > > Yes, they got their name on the monuments. What I mean is that nobody has much reverential thoughts for Algeria war veterans. We never hear about them. Contrast this with for instance US Vietnam war veterans, who are talked about a lot. Rather a different set of circumstances, I suppose. European countries trying after World War II to hold on to their possessions on other continents, were going then against the general trend of thought as to what was right to do – and general world sentiment nowadays, is even more thus. (And most of the guys in the European forces then involved, would have been reluctant conscripts.) European countries mostly feel somewhat ashamed about their mid-20th-century colonial wars. I can’t think of an exact parallel for the US – the business in the Philippines circa 1900 was an awfully long time ago, and overall world sentiment then was that “natives” needed to be ruled and civilised, and the US won in that conflict. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/56 "2014-11-13T09:46:14Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I’ve noticed that veteran remembrances outside the U.S. seem very WWI-centric. Which makes sense, I guess, being the first one, but I sometimes wonder whether all the other vets of all the other wars get anything at all. From a British perspective, firstly the iconic poppy that is used as a symbol of remembrance has the roots of its usage in WW1. Secondly, this year is 100 years since the start of WW1, so there is a special focus on it. Additionally, whereas WW2 is seen as a just war to stop tyranny, WW1 has a feeling of utter pointlessness about it, meaning the deaths really just never needed to happen. That resonates. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/57 "2014-11-13T09:48:59Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I recall many years ago, seeing the war memorial in a medium-sized town in Brittany. Many names for World Wars I and II; also, the name of one luckless guy killed in Algeria in, IIRC, 1954. I thought it rather moving that he, too, was commemorated. The war memorial for where I grew up (Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England) has 140 for WW1, 68 for WW2 and 1 for the Korean War. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/58 "2014-11-13T10:15:47Z")
Australia has already been mentioned, I work in a Government department ad at 11:00am they play a recital of a verse from the [Ode to Rememberance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_of_Remembrance): > [@](#): > > \*They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: > Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. > At the going down of the sun and in the morning, > We will remember them. > \* Follewed by _The Last Post_, a minutes silence and then _The Rouse_. There is always a service at the Australian War Memorial and people place poppies next to names of relatives/friend etc on the [Roll of Honor](http://www.awm.gov.au/visit/commemorative-area/). > [@amanset](#): > > The war memorial for where I grew up (Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England) has 140 for WW1, 68 for WW2 and 1 for the Korean War. There is a [little town](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilpa,_New_South_Wales) (little as in “Official Population: 6” little) I would go through once a year located _waaaaaaay_ out in the outback that has Harry “Breaker” Morant on its War Memorial. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313/59 "2014-11-13T11:19:23Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > There is a [little town](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilpa,_New_South_Wales) (little as in “Official Population: 6” little) I would go through once a year located _waaaaaaay_ out in the outback that has Harry “Breaker” Morant on its War Memorial. The rightly-executed _war criminal_? That’s weird. You Aussies take your celebration of criminals a bit far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-veterans-day/704313.md?page=2)