Remembering Armistice Day

"The New Century," linocut on Combat Paper by Walt Nygard

Veterans Day Talk

 

On November 11, 1918, my grandfather

on my father’s side was on a stateside dock

with his Army unit about to ship out

to fight in France,

when word was received

that the war had just ended.

 

Armistice Day, they called it.

Sometimes you’re lucky in war;

sometimes not.

On November 11, 1944, my mother’s

brother was killed in a Navy dive bomber

that crashed into the sea in a battle

near the Philippines.

There was no armistice

that Armistice Day.

 Surviving war is no guarantee it’s over.

Never know when something from the war

may catch you unawares. A flare up,

a flashback, a smell from a bad day long ago. 

With two bitterly contested wars churning out

more wounded, more dead, more veterans,

there’s still no armistice

on Armistice Day.

Veterans Day, they call it now—

as though all those war emotions

can be contained in a holiday.    

In Vietnam, I was a Boy Scout

turned into Army radio specialist.

A communications breakdown

in a war zone can be fatal.

Communications failure among veterans

and our support network

of family and friends

can also have scary consequences.

 That’s what we need to talk about today,

after the parades, the bagpipes,
the drums and trumpets, the bugle calls,

the solemn speeches, the moment

of silence, the hearty drinks at the bar—

when memories of war

still intrude into our dreams, our lives.

--Jan Barry