As we impatiently await the decision on troop deployment to be offered up by our wonderful President, the tendency of most Americans is to forget that we are not the only nation with “skin in the game.” Our allies and partners in the Afghan War are also greatly impacted by the eventual decision made by President Obama. Sunday, as the United Kingdom honored their fallen soldiers on “Remembrance Day” and the impact on our former sovereign was on display.
In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is the second Sunday of November, the Sunday nearest to 11 November (Remembrance Day), which is the anniversary of the end of the hostilities of the First World War at 11 a.m. in 1918. The day is filled with ceremonies similar to those conducted here in the US on Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. The fallen are honored with wreaths of poppy flowers because after World War One, many of the battlefields were covered with poppies and some soldiers believed that they were so red because of all the suffering and blood on the battlefields.
Today the poppy is worn on Remembrance Day, the 11th of November. At 11 o’clock on that day, everyone is asked to be silent for just one minute. The silence is a chance to remember all those who have died in wars and to be glad that we are not at war today. A writer first made the connection between the poppy and battlefield deaths during the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century, remarking that fields that were barren before battle exploded with the blood-red flowers after the fighting ended. During the tremendous bombardments of the First World War the chalk soils became rich in lime from rubble, allowing ‘popaver rhoeas’ to thrive. When the war ended the lime was quickly absorbed, and the poppy began to disappear again. After John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields was published in 1915 the poppy became a popular symbol for soldiers who died in battle.
The Royal Family lay wreaths at the Cenotaph in a service of Remembrance, as British troops in Afghanistan also honour fallen comrades
The Queen lays a wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, along with the Duke of Edinburgh, Princes William and Harry, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Cenotaph in London with the Queen and Royal Family fall silent in honour of those killed serving their country
British troops serving in Afghanistan have held a Remembrance Sunday service at Camp Bastion in one of the bloodiest years for the Armed Forces.
It is fitting to remember the shared losses of our allies. One of those videos has someone talking about our war – and meaning britain’s war not the US’s war. It caught me by surprise but then I remembered that sometimes we do assume that it is only us.
I think your sentiments could be echoed by many Americans. We do typically bear the majority of the burden on these “international” efforts, but when they suffer casualties they are certainly no less tragic. Gordon Brown and the Brits already kicked in their chips for an increased troop presence. Not sure when our President plans to return the gesture.
It isnt their war. They are helping to fight our war. When we lose, no one will say that the Afghans defeated the Australians and the English. Will they?