Armistice Day

It's a bit late to mention it, but today was Armistice Day - the day that the Great War was ended in 1918. It is traditional in Europe to wear red poppies this day in remembrance of the fallen, and here in the States we call it Veteran's Day, which has an awkward competition with Memorial Day (effectively the same holiday.)

10 veterans of that war survive to this day, including one American, and it's amazing to think of the changes they have experienced in the 90 years since then. The embedded link is to one of my favorite episodes of the fantastic BBC4 miniseries The First World War. If you are interested in this kind of thing, I'd definitely suggest watching it.

On a side note, yesterday was the Marine Corps birthday, celebrating the birth of the Marine Corps in the Tun Tavern 233 years ago. The affair is traditionally a jarhead affair all the way around, which resulted in a few Brits getting miffed that 'those damn Yanks' were cutting cakes with swords while generals were doing shots with privates on what was supposed to be a solemn occasion. But it was just a timezone difference.

Apparently this year it also resulted in the acronym USMC getting spray painted across half a US Army base in California.