Hello, All, Vee, I haven't read your message because I want to read it in the newsletter so maybe what I'm saying here is a repeat of what you have said. We Americans have blended all of the wars into this particular day and we also celebrate Memorial Day (wasn't it to honor those of the civil war?). Yet, originally Armistice Day was to honor the end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11 day of the 11th month. When I was a child, the powers that be, in this country, decided to change the name to Veterans' Day to commenorate the end of both world wars and the men and women who fought and died in them. In Europe, November 11 is called Remembrance Day and is very important to the people, even the youth because they are not allowed to forget what transpired on their soil and in their families. My husband, who fought in the Normandy Landing and the Battle of the Bulge, and I visited the American Flanders Cemetery for a Memorial Day, when we lived in France. (The Europeans do not have Memorial Day.) The local children are released from school every year to parade into the grounds singing The Star Spangled Banner. They carry small Old Glories and, with their accents, bring tears to everyones' eyes. The gardens around the cemeteries are well groomed. The only place a poppy is found is growing wildly is in the hay fields. (My mother was a Canadian born in 1915. She was taught to recite "Flanders Field" in school. I remember her saying it every 11/11 at 11. She had an uncle killed at Ypres. It was the Canadian and British forces that sustained the battle at Flanders.) One more thing, possibly of interest. Whenever my husband met a young person and told them he had been there 50 years ago, in response to the question, "Have you ever been here before?" To a youth, the young person would say, "Oh! You were one of our liberators!" Does anyone, other than I, remember buying pretty button hole poppies on the street corners, when they were shopping? Everyone proudly wore them pinned to shirt, blouse, coat... If you didn't have one on, someone would see to it that you did. One and a half generations in this country have no idea what adversity is. I believe that is why patriotism has faded away. I also believe that we family historians are the ones, who have to teach it. Thanks, all of you vets! Ellen Colangelo Wilson, NY