It’s been 107 years since the world celebrated peace as a universal principle. WW I had just ended and nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars. Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.” After World War II, the U.S. Congress decided to rebrand November 11 as Veterans Day. Honoring the warrior quickly morphed into honoring the military and glorifying war. Armistice Day was flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism. VFP has taken the lead in lifting up the original intention of November 11th – as a day for peace. As veterans we know that a day that celebrates peace, not war, is the best way to honor the sacrifices of veterans. We want generations after us to never know the destruction war has wrought on people and the earth.
More than ever, the world faces crisis. Tensions are heightened around the world and the U.S. is engaged militarily in multiple countries. Here at home we have seen the increasing militarization of our police forces and brutal crackdowns on dissent and people’s uprisings against state power. This year, with a political arena fueled by hate and fear, the conversation of peace is missing from almost every interaction.
Join VFP-WNC on November 11 at 10AM at the WNC Veterans Memorial at Pack Square Park to learn more, and think more, about what the marginalization of peace means for our future.
Veterans For Peace - Western North Carolina 