11.11.2010

We Really Need to Bring Veterans Day Back

I do specifically mean Veterans Day, as Europeans are on top of "Remembrance Day."

Anyway, my sister is an 8th grader in the advanced program, who's definitely studied WWII and even the Korean and Vietnam Wars (a tiny bit, with no mention of atrocities or even all that much about communism...what they actually learned I don't know). Yesterday, I asked her if she knew what the 11th of November was about.

"Veterans Day?"
"Yep." (That's me, I am too cool for 'yes'.) "Do you know why it's the 11th of November?"
"Uh...9/11?"
"[name], you do know that's September and this is November, right?"
"O yeah." (Seriously, she makes the most amazing 'O' face ever.) "I don't know!"
"1917? November 11, 1917?"
"Uhhh...."

So yeah. They don't teach World War I at all in this country--in Military History in high school, we had some dumbass loudly ask why we were spending any time on it at all (those of us also in AP Euro at the time gave each other significant looks).

WTF, America. Granted, this isn't the only issue--for Europeans, they claim the American Civil War (1861-1865) was the first modern war; the Crimean doesn't come up at all--but, really?

World War I, people. Let's make sure it doesn't happen again-again, huh?

2 comments:

The Urban Mystic said...

It was 11 November 1918, not 1917. At 11 AM, although the war officially didn't end until the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after it began.

PD said...

I'm starting to forget dates.

Worst. day. Ever. :'( ...though I do feel like it proves my point about Americans not learning squat about WWI.