Take Back Armistice Day

Sunday, November 11, Armistice Day (aka Veterans Day), 11:00 am – 2:00 pm, CELEBRATE PEACE!  Event sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 46, Monterey. This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War at the 11^th hour of the 11^th day on the 11^th Month of 1918.  Veterans For Peace invites the public to stand up for peace this Armistice Day by gathering on the Colton Hall Lawn in Monterey for a service to honor the fallen of World War I. The service will be followed by a presentation in the Monterey Museum of Art.  VFP members will provide escorts safely across the street and to the museum.
The multimedia presentation at the museum, “Art of the Great War”, will include readings of poems and excerpts from novels and histories presented by combat veterans with the local VFP Chapter 46.  Music and refreshments will be provided.  This is a free event.
Colton Hall:  570 Pacific Street, Monterey
Monterey Museum of Art:  559 Pacific Street, Monterey

PROGRAM:
11:00 am – Opening remarks followed by two minutes of silence
11:10 am – Reading of the names of the Monterey Fallen from World War I
12:00 pm – Presentation of “The Art of the Great War” Monterey Museum of Art
1:45 pm – Closing remarks

Background on Armistice Day:  One hundred years ago the world celebrated peace as a universal principle.  In 1918, the First World War had just ended.  Nations that were collectively mourning their dead and comprehending the magnitude of the lives lost called for an end to all wars.  Armistice Day was born and November 11th was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.”  The date marks the armistice signed between the warring coalitions of nations calling for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I.  It took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning—the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918.  After World War II in 1954, the U.S. Congress decided to rebrand November 11 as Veterans Day, effectively shifting the focus of the national holiday away from peace to war.
Veterans For Peace has taken the lead in upholding the original intention of November 11 — committed to the belief that a day that celebrates peace, not war, is the best way to honor the sacrifices of veterans.  In 2008, an official Veterans For Peace resolution called for a national movement to Reclaim Armistice Day as a celebration and a rededication to the cause of world peace.  Since then, VFP chapters across the country have been “Reclaiming Armistice Day”, pushing the celebration of peace into the national conversation on Veterans Day.
INFO:  jackerickson@me.com    justinloza@vfp56.com   https://vfp46.com/