Tuesday 11 November 2008

ww1 ww2 www?

by Mark GarrettArmistice Day marked in NZ Today marks the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I. WWI left nine million soldiers and five million civilians dead, with over 18,000 New Zealanders dead.

I often forget important historical events like this. 14 million people died, yet in my excitement of riding the www, I forgot ww1.

I have made an entry into my calendar and a pledge to remember Armistice Day with my class next year.

What did you do to remember?

2 comments:

  1. Kia ora Shaun.

    In that I wasn't living, and neither were you, when WW1 ended, my memories are only by association. I have only one.

    At 11 am on 11 November 2005, my Father died. At the time, I didn't realise that it was Armistice day.

    I was about to take a flight to Britain to be at his bedside when the news of his death came to me here in New Zealand.

    Sad? Yes. Tragic? No. He was 84 and had lived a good, long and happy life.

    But he was what was known as a conscientious objector in WW2. So were all his older brothers. They did not go to war, but still they contributed to the so-called war effort by practicing their trades - a baker, a builder, a fitter of admiralty ship's cabins.

    What is it that flows through the mind on Armistice Day? It's so long ago, yet still we stand in contemplative silence about the gravity of what occurred on that day.

    It's strange that, for me, it was my Father's death that made me stop and contemplate Armistice Day. In over 50 years, nothing else had.

    Ka kite
    fro Middle-earth

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for sharing something so personal Ken. I feel the value in remembering such occasions, are the opportunities to make connections and reflect on what they make us feel as individuals.

    ReplyDelete