NOVEMBER 11, 2021, 103rd Anniversary
OMNI
ARMISTICE DAY NEWSLETTER (Replacing “Veterans Day”)
NOVEMBER 11, 2021, 103nd Anniversary
WE, THE PEOPLE BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR THE PLANET.
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2021/11/armistice-day-newsletter-november-11.html
Compiled by Dick Bennett
CONTENTS ARMISTICE DAY 2021 NEWSLETTER
Syracuse, NY Remembers Armistice Day for Peace
Veterans for Peace, Reclaim Armistice Day
“Armistice Is for Everyone” by Garett Reppenhagen, VFP Exec. Dir.
World Beyond War
Kellogg Briand Pact
TEXTS
Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 10:30 am at Billings Park (S Salina St & E Adams St, Syracuse, NY 13202)
There will be a short program, and Mayor Ben Walsh will read the Armistice Day for Peace Mayoral Proclamation. Bells will be rung, followed by a moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. to honor the true purpose of Armistice Day, and to renew the commitment to work for an end to all wars and to foster justice and peace at home and abroad. Please bring handbells if you have them! Over one hundred years ago, the world celebrated peace as a universal principle. The first World War had just ended, and nations mourned their dead and collectively called for an end to all wars.
Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.” However, in 1954 the U.S. Congress renamed Nov. 11 as Veterans Day and the annual dedication to world peace mutated into the glorification of war and hero worship of the military . Armistice Day changed from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism. The primary beneficiaries of the continued emphasis on militarism are the weapons manufacturers and the “defense” industry. Rather than pay homage to weapons of destruction, this commemoration aims to amplify the voices of military resisters and remember all victims of wars.
We hope to see you there. Sponsored by Beyond War and Militarism (a joint committee of the Syracuse Peace Council and the CNY Solidarity Coalition) and Syracuse Veterans for Peace.
Veterans for Peace Newsletter (Fall 2021)
“Armistice Is for Everyone” by Garett Reppenhagen, VFP Exec. Dir. Whereas Veterans Day promotes US militarism and glorifies war, Armistice Day praises quitting a war, ceasing slaughter and chaos. VFP is building a Reclaim Armistice Day movement and asks us to urge our city officials to proclaim Nov. 11 Armistice Day.
“Peace Bells for Armistice” by Stephen McKeown. VFP asks us to ring bells 11 times on Nov. 11 (or
the preceding or following Sunday).
#ReclaimArmisticeDay
Join Veterans For Peace as we once again take the lead to #ReclaimArmisticeDay and lift up November 11th as a day for peace.
Following the end of the First World War, nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars. Armistice Day was born as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.” After World War II, the U.S. Congress rebranded November 11 as Veterans Day. Honoring the warrior quickly morphed into honoring the military and glorifying war. Armistice Day was flipped from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism. Veterans For Peace has taken the lead in lifting up the original intention of November 11th as a day for peace and is calling on everyone to stand up for peace this Armistice Day. Veterans for Peace has identified 11 ways you can take action this Armistice Day. For additional resources from World Beyond War CLICK HERE.
We are asking VFP members to do what they can to keep the conversation going around peace and Armistice Day. As veterans we know that a day that celebrates peace, not war, is the best way to honor the sacrifices of veterans. We want generations after us to never know the destruction war has wrought on people and the earth. Please let us know what you have planned by filling out this form.
Chapter actions will be listed on our Armistice Day webpage, so check back periodically to see if there is an event near you.
Let’s #ReclaimArmisticeDay!
Armistice Day TV
Veterans For Peace will stream 11 hours of Reclaim Armistice programming on November 11th 2021 through our Twitch channel hosted by the VFP initiative Gamers For Peace.
Join us as we host a day long event that will feature creative activism, live streamed local events and historic discussions. We will have panels that will include the rise of nationalism and war glorification and the struggles on culture jamming Veterans Day parades and how we can use opposition to organize and educate the public about the true cost of war.
Bells will be rung on the hour and will feature members and chapters around the country.
Tune in!
[We announced the following earlier; here we look ahead to 2022.]
Thursday Webinar Will Look Ahead to Remembrance/Armistice Day 11-2-21
World BEYOND War
The Past and Future of Armistice / Remembrance Day: A Global Webinar
We’re planning a big online event for November 4, 2021, at 3 p.m. ET. That’s one week before Armistice Day.
REGISTRATION IS FREE. CLICK HERE.
Leading Peace Activists from Around the World to Discuss the Origins of Remembrance / Armistice Day and Plans for This Year’s
A World BEYOND War event, cosponsored by RootsAction.org
Background on Armistice/Remembrance Day here.
This online event will begin with the presentation of the 2021 US Peace Prize[David Swanson and World Beyond War]. The prize will be presented by Michael D. Knox, Founder and Chair of the US Peace Memorial Foundation.
The timing will be November 4 at noon in Berkeley, 3 p.m. in Toronto, 7 p.m. in London, 8 p.m. in Stockholm, and 8 a.m. November 5th in Aukland.
Plan to wear a sky blue scarf and a white poppy. [I found a s-b scarf for less that $10 online.]
The event will include presentations, followed by Q&A, from these presenters:
Leah Bolger, President of World BEYOND War, Former President of Veterans For Peace, based in the United States.
Brad Oliver of Veterans For Peace UK.
Sandy Greenberg, Steering Committee member for Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace, and former National Canadian Voice of Women for Peace Board member.
Margaret Pestorius of Wage Peace, Disrupt Land Forces, and Make West Papua Safe, who was arrested for entering and protesting the U.S. Pine Gap base in Australia.
Peace Activism on November 11th
What the Day Means and Where It Came From
November 11, 2021, is Remembrance /Armistice Day 104 — which is 103 years since World War I was ended at the scheduled moment of 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 (killing an extra 11,000 people after the decision to end the war had been reached early in the morning — we might add “for no reason,” except that it would imply the rest of the war was for some reason).
In many parts of the world, principally but not exclusively in British Commonwealth nations, this day is called Remembrance Day and should be a day of mourning the dead and working to abolish war so as not to create any more war dead. But the day is being militarized, and a strange alchemy cooked up by the weapons companies is using the day to tell people that unless they support killing more men, women, and children in war they will dishonor those already killed.
For decades in the United States, as elsewhere, this day was called Armistice Day, and was identified as a holiday of peace, including by the U.S. government. It was a day of sad remembrance and joyful ending of war, and of a commitment to preventing war in the future. The holiday’s name was changed in the United States after the U.S. war on Korea to “Veterans Day,” a largely pro-war holiday on which some U.S. cities forbid Veterans For Peace groups from marching in their parades, because the day has become understood as a day to praise war — in contrast to how it began.
We seek to make Armistice / Remembrance Day a day to mourn all victims of war and advocate for the ending of all war.
White Poppies and Sky Blue Scarves
White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war (including the vast majority of war victims who are civilians), a commitment to peace, and a challenge to attempts to glamorize or celebrate war. Make your own or get them here in the UK and here in Canada.
Sky blue scarves were first worn by peace activists in Afghanistan. They represent our collective wish as a human family to live without wars, to share our resources, and to take care of our earth under the same blue sky. Make your own or get them here.
Much more about Remembrance Day / Armistice Day here.
World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
Should giant war-profiteering corporations decide what emails you don’t want to read? We don’t think so either. So, please stop our emails from going into “junk” or “spam” by “white listing,” marking as “safe,” or filtering to “never send to spam.”
World BEYOND War | 513 E Main St #1484 | Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA
Read more on the History of Armistice Day: Kellogg Briand Pact (click on photo)
Learn More About Armistice Day and Ways to Take Action from VFP (PLAN FOR 2022)
1. Fly the VFP flag from your yard: The VFP flag comes in two sizes and has grommets, which can be easily attached to any standard pole. Order your VFP flag from the VFP store by October 25th to ensure delivery in time for November 11th.
2. Download & hang the Armistice Day Sign from your window (see image below): Hang the sign from your front window, or anywhere else you feel it would be most visible to others. Click the image below this list to download and print!
3. Host a virtual peace vigil with your local peace groups: Call together your members and supporters by hosting a virtual action on Zoom. If you choose to meet in person this year, please wear masks and practice social distancing at your action. You can read the proclamation at your vigil and ring 11 bells for peace, as we do most years. Be sure to send us any photos of your action!
4. Ring 11 bells for peace: Make it a community effort! Reach out to local churches, community centers, and schools to ring their bells at 11am. Here is a sample outreach letter from Chapter 27.
5. Host a car caravan for peace: Pick a route and drive by your capital building or mayor’s office: Call your members and supporters out together, decorate your cars and bring your VFP flags to organize a drive-by action celebrating Armistice Day as a day of peace.
6. Attend the Stand Down Live – special Armistice Day edition. Check out the flyer here or below the Armistice Day poster!
7. Send letters to the editor: Write from the heart and tell them why you’re a veteran for peace and why you celebrate Armistice Day.
8. Add your name to move from Armistice to Peace in Korea! Sign the worldwide Korea Peace Appeal launched by more than 300 South Korean groups. VFP-Korea Peace Campaign is helping this new initiative as one of its international partners.
9. Share the 2020 Armistice Day video (stay tuned!): We will have a special VFP video ready for distribution as Armistice Day approaches.
10. Submit a proclamation to your city council: Reach out to your mayor, city council member, or county supervisor to create city and county proclamations in support of Armistice Day.
11. Share the Liturgy of the Bells!: The Liturgy of the Bells is a great opportunity to reach out to local houses of worship to commemorate Armistice Day.
Use these sample tweets for Twitter:
· @VFPNational will ring 11 bells this year to remember #ArmisticeDay, a day of #Peace
· #VeteransDay, originally #ArmisticeDay
· Remember #ArmisticeDay as a day of #Peace. #VeteransDay #VeteransForPeace
· #ArmisticeDay: A reminder of the day leaders came together to end WWI – “war to end all wars” #VeteransForPeace
· #ArmisticeDay began in 1918 to celebrate the end of World War I & the idea of ending all war. #VeteransForPeace
Reclaim Armistice Campaign Running Notes
VFP Armistice Day webpage (will be updated soon to take off 2020 Chapter Actions)
DataTracking Spreadsheet https://zoom.us/j/93956223408
July 8th, 2021
- Checkins: Garret, Larry, Sam, Charles Powell, Steve Mckeown, Jules
- Code of Conduct and Mission Statement
- Review Previous work
- 11 by 11/11/21
- We can add Armistice Day or Replace Veterans Day completely depending on chance of success for the local community.
- Also look at local VFP chapters relationships with other veterans groups
- Mayors for Peace
- Proclamations
- City Council/Mayor strategy
- Armistice Day Actual
- 11 by 11/11/21
- Mayor For Peace Updates from Larry
- Contacted Hiroshima and got response from Jackie Kabaso (sp?) Executive Advisory (North American coordinator)
- MfP does not maintain full list of contacts and share it
- Cities are considered members until they withdraw
- Meet the Mayors database
- 8027 cities world wide and want to increase (please reach out using tool kit)
- Back from the Brink campaign
- Could add information on campaign in the tool kit http://www.wslfweb.org/docs/MAYORS-FOR-PEACE-CAMPAIGN-TOOL-KIT-4-6-21.pdf
- United For Peace and Justice connection with Gerry Condon
- UFPJ newsletter article http://www.unitedforpeace.org/about/currents-the-united-for-peace-and-justice-newsletter/
- Garett, Steve and Larry will work on follow up on writing tasks
- One city at a time strategy
§ Press Release for the launch/kickoff
- Lewiston ME – Smaller progressive town with strong champion VFP member
- Help write proclamation
- Write to article for Sun Journal and more.. Local Maine papers
- Larry will speak to Mayor
- Look to national press when we have success
- Garett and Charles will work on proclamation
- Create lessons learn doc for other members to troubleshoot obstacles
- Keep support for one city at a time until we develop a strong understanding to broaden support to other members/towns
- Armistice Day in DC? (next meeting)
- Set next meeting (22nd July Noon ET)
May 13, 2021
- Discontinue meetings until July 8th
- Tasks to do before July 8
- Call Mayor
- Contact City Council Members
- Draft a Proclamation
- Invite friends to July 8 meeting
- Prepare workshop proposal
- Garett will set up an email thread with some of the participating members to submit
- Members who have attended before: Bill Homans, Charles Powell, Gary May, Larry Gilbert, Malcolm Chaddock, William Thomas, Willie Hager, Steve Mckeown, Ed Flahrety
- Armistice Day actual ideas
- Use churches (they have bells and are not war memorials)
- Identify what chapters do Armistice events
- Get out message to plan and report if your chapter is doing something in 2021
- Jules will look at previous chapters
- Encourage chapters to use “Armistice Day” and not Veterans Day (or both)
- Let folks know about July 8 Colleen (website) Garett (Slack) and (Email) Jules (Chapter Calls)
April 15 2021
Attending: Larry, William, Gary, Chris, Charles, Garett, Jules, Bill (by phone)
- Checkins (Bummer and Highlight)
- Reclaim Armistice Song (Bill)
- Spreadsheet
- Outreach – William reached out to New England Chapters w Santa Cruz example and VT Richard letter
replied to a thread:
Let’s correct a long-standing egregious error!! For too long Armistice Day has been hijacked by militarism and renamed as “Veterans Day”. This arbitrary renaming changed the whole meaning and the way November 11 gets observed in communities.
Reclaim Armistice Day is VFP’s initiative to correct this hijacking. The campaign is targeting 11 communities to rename & reclaim Armistice Day by the next Armistice Day.
We need ALL chapters to participate in this campaign. We’ve established a group of VFPers to work on this and to help chapters make the change in their community. Please join the group’s virtual meetings to share your thoughts about making this campaign successful.
- Fundraising (2k travel budget? 1k sending out materials?)
- Larry considering contacting Mayors for Peace to get email addresses?
- Comms, press statement on campaign launch with X cities to get 11 by 11/11/21
- Why is it news, targeting mayor for peace cities and cities with VFP members
- TASKS
- Everyone pick two towns town you are in and town nearby w/ Mayor for Peace
- Garett gets Garys, Wills write ups for outreach and creates a message for all of VFP
- Work with Larry on outreach to Mayors For Peace for emails and a message in their enews
- Jules and Bill make hit song
April 1st 2021
Attending:
- Checkins
- Chapter 27 and 11 lessons learned if attending
- Tasks and Roles
- Comms – Gary
- Research – Larry
- Action – Bill
- Outreach – Will
- Tactical might merge Veterans Day and Armistice Day in some communities
- Comms Armistice is for service members, Veterans leading
- Look over Mayor For Peace cities
- Outside US Adrienne “In the UK and Canada, November 11th is Remembrance Day, and it is different than here for sure… VFP UK does their main event that weekend every year marching in the ceremony under the banner “Never Again” and wearing the white poppy (which honors all those killed by war) as opposed to the red poppy which only recognizes British soldiers killed in war”
- Top 100 cities w/ D/R designations https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_current_mayors_of_the_top_100_cities_in_the_United_States
- Recruit more VFP chapters and members
- Some National endorsement call to chapters and members
- Gary will draft a call to members
- Will will help bottomline
- Adrienne will create a google form on VFP office
- We should all sign up on the form
- Next meeting April 14th? Every two weeks? Next meeting April 15 12 ET
- Brainstorm –
- create a toolbox for members and chapters to see how to move this through local governments
- Creating relationships with mayor, being persistent, syracuse mayor resigns every year, meeting staff and aids in the local government, read proclamation,
- Look at website and past comms and see how to convert it to a year round campaign
- EXAMPLE of pushing hometown resolution https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GpultZKspCVlOUL3Q0h3u8j2WTeXdHnL/edit?usp=drive_web&ouid=109798612084038397548&rtpof=true
- David Cooley and Dave Logsdon 27 helped pass in MN
- Create a solutions list for possible obstacles and arguments against the effort
March 4th 2021
Attending: Bill Homans, Garett Reppenhagen, Samantha Ferguson, Charles Powell, Gary May, Larry Gilbert, Malcolm Chaddock, William Thomas, Willie Hager
Agenda
– Intros and checkin
– Approve Agenda
– talk about history of VFP reclaim armistice
- VFP chapters have been ringing bells on NOV 11 for years
- Trump’s military parade was a big push
- 2008 Chapter 27 had an official resolution adopted by VFP
- Armistice proclamations in various towns by VFP (Would be good to create a list ?)
- Santa Cruz has done so
- 11 new cities each year to have proclamations
– discuss building a campaign to have communities change the official name of “veterans day” to “Armistice Day”
– Targeting communities with chapters and members who are active
- We have past Armistice Recaps from 2018 forwards so we can also see which chapters are most active within Armistice Day organizing (also probably still have notes from all the Armistice Day organizing calls in 2018 and 2019 in VFP Google Drive)
– Targeting cities with Mayors For Peace (MFP website and there are 218 member cities in U.S.)
–
Table of Contents OMNI Armistice Day Newsletter #14, November 11, 2020, 102nd ANNIVERSARY
Vonnegut on Armistice Day
Veterans for Peace
Reclaim Armistice Day
2018-19
World Beyond War: Remembrance Day to Mourn the Dead
and Abolish War
Media
Abel Tomlinson
Janine Jackson
Newsletter #13 Contents
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2020/11/armistice-day-novemer-11-2020.html
END ARMISTICE DAY/ WORLD UNITY DAY NEWSLETTER, NOVEMBER 11, 2021–
OMNI Peace Newsletter | OMNI Facebook | OMNI WebsiteDick Bennett
(479) 442-4600
2582 Jimmie Ave.
Fayetteville, AR 72703