Day 315 - Veteran's Day 2023

 Today is the 7th day of the 45th week, the 11th day of the 11th month, the 315th day of 2023 [yup you read that right, there are only 50 days left in this year], and:

• Air Day
• Armistice Day - On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918, fighting in WWI officially stopped after Germany signed an armistice agreement with Allies earlier in the day
• Death/Duty Day
• Independence Day - Angola from Portugal in 1975
• National Metal Day
• National Sundae Day
• Origami Day
• Pocky Day
• Red Lipstick Day 
• Singles' Day
• Saint Martin's Day
• Veterans Day - in 1954, the name was changed from Armistice Day to this, to honor those who serve in peace and in war
• Wine Tourism Day
• and Voyager 1 is 22h 30m 10s of light travel time from Earth

Quote of the day:

"The civilian wants to respect what the veteran has gone through. The veteran wants to protect memories that are painful and sacred to him from outside judgment."

~  Phil Klay, American writer

My maternal grandfather was a doughboy in WWI - I don't know if he volunteered or was drafted.  My father volunteered for WWII -ran away from home in his junior year of high school, lied about his age and joined the Navy.   My uncle served during the Korean War.   Back then you were "for the duration" whatever that might be

When I was growing up, the draft was something every young man had to contend with when planning his life, an obligation to spend two years in military service.   At 18, every male had to go to the post office and fill out a registration card, and were assigned a number.  If your number was called, then you went off to the army boot camp.   Or you went to Canada.  Both of my ex-husbands volunteered to the Army for four years, forestalling the draft, but they never actually fought - one served in Alaska and the other in Germany - and yes, I knew a couple gents who headed north as draft dodgers.  One, at least, came back, after Jimmy Carter declared an amnesty in 1977.

Both my son and my son-in-law went into the Navy as soon as they were out of high school - but that was a career choice as the draft had been discontinued in 1973 after the Vietnam War 

I am proud of my family's military history, and today is a day for thanking all those who have served, in all capacities

On the whole, ignoring that the purpose of the draft was to provide fodder for war, I think being required to leave your home and engage with people from different areas of the country wasn't a bad idea for creating a national identity.  I do think it was rather unfair that only men were subjected to this, and that all women should've been under the same requirement.  And I believe it wouldn't be a bad thing if some form of national service be required today - two years helping conservation projects or working in other capacities wouldn't hurt and might help kids find their legs after school.  But of course, you cannot ignore that young men were sent to fight whether they wanted to or not, and even with issues the six services have with volunteer recruiting, I would not support reinstituting the draft in its old form. 

Today is one of those days that I am allowing to slip quietly away.  There are many things I could be doing on this lovely, cool autumn day, but quite frankly, they all take far more energy than I am able to summon at the moment.  When I got the RSV vaccine shot, I was told that the side effects would be a couple of days feeling like you have the flu, and I feel like I have been running a marathon and need to rest....

Meanwhile, there are books to read, worlds to pop into, shows to watch, people to call, and pictures to take