Monday Miscellany

From Byter David B in respect of the Remembrance Day post in which I said that it appeared to me that in Australia Remembrance Day has been eclipsed by Anzac Day:

Interesting that in Australia you note that involvement and the period of silence are decreasing.  

Here in the UK interest in Remembrance Day has increased enormously in the last twenty years.. I think that this is the result of a dichotomy in public thinking. There is a great public revulsion against the wars of this century - Iraq, Afghanistan - a feeling that we are only involved because of the "special relationship" with the USA. But we have a great respect for the men - some of them little more than boys - who have been the cannon fodder of these wars.

As I understand it, the UK does not have an equivalent to our Anzac Day, unless it is Armed Forces’ Day (formerly Veterans’ Day), celebrated for the first time on 27 June 2009. The remembrance of those lost in war is greatly honoured on Remembrance Day in the UK, more so on Anzac Day in Oz where we also honour the living - the vets and service personnel, young and old - with special services, parades, the dawn service, silences and so on.

The Tower of London and the grounds around it have been host to a display of planted ceramic poppies, 888,246 in number, one for each British and Commonwealth fatality in the First World War. Those poppies have been sold to the public and are now being harvested. Prime Minister David Cameron gave one of the handmade poppies to each of the leaders at the G20 Conference in Brisbane, each poppy being presented with the following message from the poet John Maxwell Edmonds:

When you go home, tell them of us, and say

For your tomorrow, we gave our today

Pics of the London poppies installation:

The following item is from a website that calls itself The Anthem Community Council, being a website by and about the town of Anthem in Arizona, US, population 21,700.

The Anthem Veterans Memorial, located in Anthem, AZ, is a monument dedicated to honor the service and sacrifice of our country’s armed forces. This pillar of pride provides a place of honor and reflection for veterans, their family and friends, and those who desire to show their respects to those service men and women who have and continue to courageously serve our county.  

The five pillars represent the unity of the five branches of the United States military serving steadfast together.  

They are staggered in size with their appropriate military seal placements on each pillar based upon the Department of Defense prescribed precedence.  

At precisely 11:11 a.m. each Veterans Day (Nov. 11), the sun's rays pass through the ellipses of the five Armed Services pillars to form a perfect solar spotlight over a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States.  

Additionally, the brick pavers within the Circle of Honor are inscribed with the names of U.S. servicemen and women, symbolizing the 'support' for the Armed Forces. The pavers are red, the pillars are white, and the sky is blue to represent America's flag. The circle represents an unbreakable border.

       http://www.onlineatanthem.com/anthem-veterans-memorial

Some pics of this unique memorial: