V.E day.

[ocean breeze]

I feel a bit foolish. What does V.E. stand for? I thought Veterans Day. But here (U.S.) we celebrate that in November. Maybe Veterans Day for a different country? Here Mothers Day was just celebrated.

Remember my last past life,

As a young man I was on a battlefield on WW2. A lost bullet hit me in the stomach and I fell dead into the ditch.

What as waste...

Originally Posted by ocean breeze

I feel a bit foolish. What does V.E. stand for? I thought Veterans Day. But here (U.S.) we celebrate that in November. Maybe Veterans Day for a different country? Here Mothers Day was just celebrated.

Ahhh bless you. Good grief no need to feel foolish around me . It stands for victory in Europe as being the beginning of the end of the second world war .

Originally Posted by ocean breeze

I feel a bit foolish. What does V.E. stand for? I thought Veterans Day. But here (U.S.) we celebrate that in November. Maybe Veterans Day for a different country? Here Mothers Day was just celebrated.

And ah yes ... See where you're coming from. Armistice Day in November which is the day we have rememberence on the 11th . We remember each year with poppy day.

Originally Posted by Legrand

Remember my last past life,

As a young man I was on a battlefield on WW2. A lost bullet hit me in the stomach and I fell dead into the ditch.

What as waste...

Awwww Legrand . That is really sad. For your family, your loved ones. So not only do we remember and salute those hero's.... You remember too, and you were one our hero's. How amazing is that !

Originally Posted by ocean breeze

I feel a bit foolish. What does V.E. stand for? I thought Veterans Day. But here (U.S.) we celebrate that in November. Maybe Veterans Day for a different country? Here Mothers Day was just celebrated.

Hi again... Yes I am only just realising that a lot of countries celebrate mother's day on the same day as you do. Here in the UK we celebrate it around the middle of march . And fathers day around mid June.

[one-light]

There were many in local streets here with bunting and small tables out front of their houses, showing 'respect' for people all those years ago, and all the terrible days/years they went through in such difficult times.

They 'should' be remembered... social distancing is important though, and people should remember this, or that thing virus will get more of a hold again. People must stay alert - and from what I witnessed when walking my dog they were behaving, smiling as they did in those terrible days, and being very respectful, remembering just what happened all those years ago.

[Busby]

Personally I object to those celebrations which underline the 'glory' of wars.
There just has to be another way to focus on the remembering of those days of death and devastation without walking around with medals clinging on breasts and gun salutes. We should rid ourselves of the word 'hero', it sends the wrong picture.
In 1945 I was seven years old. I lived with my family on Tyneside, in the North East of England in Newcastle. In fact we lived on the riverside just above the then railway line connecting the city of Newcastle to the shipbuilding yards where frigates and destroyers were built. Over the war period we were constantly bombed not only by German planes but also by rockets. The aim was to put the shipbuilding yards out of business and to destroy the railway feeding the yards with supplies. Our shelter was the living room table - every time the sirens went off we'd all crawl under the table and huddle together until clear.
I was one of the lucky little lads who came through alive, a number of my little friends didn't. I saw plenty of blood and fire and we had some lucky escapes too. When I see on TV the pictures of children in Syria for instance I see myself as a child accepting the surrounding destruction as 'normal' as there was nothing to compare the situation with.

My thought today when I see these pictures is 'How can grown men do this? The thought that there are women also prepared to kill other women's children is one which hurts me terribly.

But the horror I have not forgotten and those people, the politicians, the military forces, the stealers of human rights and respect, need to be reminded that the world isn't here to destruct but to construct.

It's never spoken of, and has been forgotten, something quite devastating really. In 1945 we moved down to London, my father was a Londoner and wanted to go back. Now just think of all those thousands of men who returned to British shores injured and maimed, to join parents and families and who, in some form or another had to find and keep a job simply to be able to eat and feed their people. There were terrible injuries to be seen on the streets, you can imagine what flame throwers, bombs, fire, bullets, mines and all the rest do to people's faces, heads, arms, legs, skin etc., and these poor souls were forced to expose their injuries in order to earn a wage. Some of them were young lads, with no idea about life and no chance of a future. These people get forgotten. But I've never forgotten those sights.

Mis-reporting, attention seekers, Hollywood, 'leaders' of all kinds, and all of these ilk should be under better public control and all governmental and political decisions should be made absolutely transparent.

We should not forget that we have to thank Russia for the main victory in WW2 - 27,000,000 people gave their lives. Atheists if you like.

Originally Posted by Busby

Personally I object to those celebrations which underline the 'glory' of wars.
There just has to be another way to focus on the remembering of those days of death and devastation without walking around with medals clinging on breasts and gun salutes. We should rid ourselves of the word 'hero', it sends the wrong picture.
In 1945 I was seven years old. I lived with my family on Tyneside, in the North East of England in Newcastle. In fact we lived on the riverside just above the then railway line connecting the city of Newcastle to the shipbuilding yards where frigates and destroyers were built. Over the war period we were constantly bombed not only by German planes but also by rockets. The aim was to put the shipbuilding yards out of business and to destroy the railway feeding the yards with supplies. Our shelter was the living room table - every time the sirens went off we'd all crawl under the table and huddle together until clear.
I was one of the lucky little lads who came through alive, a number of my little friends didn't. I saw plenty of blood and fire and we had some lucky escapes too. When I see on TV the pictures of children in Syria for instance I see myself as a child accepting the surrounding destruction as 'normal' as there was nothing to compare the situation with.

My thought today when I see these pictures is 'How can grown men do this? The thought that there are women also prepared to kill other women's children is one which hurts me terribly.

But the horror I have not forgotten and those people, the politicians, the military forces, the stealers of human rights and respect, need to be reminded that the world isn't here to destruct but to construct.

It's never spoken of, and has been forgotten, something quite devastating really. In 1945 we moved down to London, my father was a Londoner and wanted to go back. Now just think of all those thousands of men who returned to British shores injured and maimed, to join parents and families and who, in some form or another had to find and keep a job simply to be able to eat and feed their people. There were terrible injuries to be seen on the streets, you can imagine what flame throwers, bombs, fire, bullets, mines and all the rest do to people's faces, heads, arms, legs, skin etc., and these poor souls were forced to expose their injuries in order to earn a wage. Some of them were young lads, with no idea about life and no chance of a future. These people get forgotten. But I've never forgotten those sights.

Mis-reporting, attention seekers, Hollywood, 'leaders' of all kinds, and all of these ilk should be under better public control and all governmental and political decisions should be made absolutely transparent.

We should not forget that we have to thank Russia for the main victory in WW2 - 27,000,000 people gave their lives. Atheists if you like.

Dear Busby. I do empathise... For is it not stories like your own that each family deals with.? I myself have many horror stories. The lucky ones that came back. The ones that came back with missing limbs or missing minds. Are we to forget the great sacrifice that our fathers, fore fathers , women and children went througthat vh because it's convenient? It is painful yes. But I cannot forget that my grandmother age 26 was killed in the hull bombings. I cannot forget that my great ancestor nurse Edith Cavelle was executed at gunpoint. I CAN however understand that those veterans that are still with us would want nothing more than to forget all of it. As indeed they tried to after the event . It was , in main, never "spoken" about. Understandably. But if remembered in a later generation it is through pride. Because I do not think I could have ever gone through what they endured.

Originally Posted by Legrand

Remember my last past life,

As a young man I was on a battlefield on WW2. A lost bullet hit me in the stomach and I fell dead into the ditch.

What as waste...

Do you feel that this experience may give you a better understanding of what a waste war is then if you had not gone through it?