Remembrance Day 2010

Trafalgar Square 11:00am Nov. 11, 2010

Fountain of Poppies

The entire month of November people of Great Britain wear a red poppy in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives for the people during wars. The red poppy developed from the Great War of 1914-1918 (World War I). The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of the armistice, on the 11^th of November 1918, to signal the ending of World War I. Hence the holiday is celebrated at that time each year.

I heard that there would be a moment of silence at eleven o’clock everywhere in England, but the place to be was Trafalgar Square. I was at the square a little before eleven o’clock and was surprised by the number of people that were there. Everything stopped (including the traffic that stops for nothing in London) and the large crowd of people paid tribute to the men and women serving their nation with a few minutes of silence. I had some friends that were standing in line for the Harry Potter Premier at Leicester Square and they had a similar experience with the stopping of everything and universal moments of reflection. Red paper poppies were given out to everyone so that during these few minutes of silence poppies would be thrown into the Trafalgar Square fountains’ water. The holiday is similar to Veterans Day or Memorial Day in the United States, but it was symbolically similar to the day we remember September 11^th 2001. Both World Wars tainted the land and structures of England similar to the way September 11^th terrorist attacks tainted the land and structures of America. Both holidays are honored through moments of silence.   

 

I chatted with a couple of officers of the British Army that were present. They were highly decorated and I wondered how similar their ranking structure and medallions were to those the U.S. Army has in place. I realized that the British are usually fighting next to the men and women of my country so I appreciate their service as well. Anyone in the world that is contributing to the peace, safety, and freedom of humankind deserves to be honored.

  

An all-boys military battalion handed out the poppies to the hundreds of people that gathered. I couldn’t get over how young some of them were. I also chatted with a few of the young men and discovered that they are all between the ages of 13 to 18. Their school name was something to the effects of Royal Military Academy and they too were in uniform.