Memorial Day

The last Monday in May is set aside in the US to honor all veterans of all US wars. Do our overseas allies celebrate a day of rememberance or memorial to their veterans?

We start our planning meetings next month to prepare for the 2008 event. Just curious if this is a world wide custom since we have had two world wars.

Some pictures of last year's event here in Georgia.

 

A few more pictures.

 

It might say something about the Australian character that one of our most important days actually commemorates a defeat rather than a victory.
ANZAC Day - the anniversary of the day Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed at Gallipoli, coming ashore in the pre-dawn hours of 25 April,1915.
What is ANZAC Day?

ANZAC Day - 25 April - is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.
Why is this day so special to Australians?

When war broke out in 1914 Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only fourteen years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea for the allied navies. The plan was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.
Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops' actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity of both nations. This shaped the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

This is our Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne Victoria.
360 degree views
The western wall is inscribed with the following words:

LET ALL MEN KNOW THAT THIS IS HOLY GROUND. THIS SHRINE ESTABLISHED IN THE HEARTS OF MEN AS ON THE SOLID EARTH COMMEMORATES A PEOPLES FORTITUDE AND SACRIFICE. YE THEREFORE THAT COME AFTER GIVE REMEMBRANCE.

Historic photo gallery:
Historic Photo Gallery

The Last Post:
Commemoration

Anzac Day rivals Australia Day (the anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet) as the most important national occasion. Why has a day that commemorates death and defeat come to symbolise a national identity to the people of Australia?
By the way, today is Australia Day!

 

i remember our fallen and all serviceman every day.yours,lee.

 

Is that you with the Medal?

 

Your Rememberance Day corresponds to our Veterans Day (11 November with activities around 1100 hours). I have noticed a decline in participation in the US on Veteran's Day and I believe an increase in participation in Memorial Day. When I was a child, Veteran's Day was a big deal as the Army and National Guard would put equipment on display and allow kids to crawl all over it - including helicopters. Martial music blaring, army stuff all over the square, a kid's dream. Now that I am older, I participate in a color gurard for a yearly Veteran's Day parade in Atlanta with few spectators, and in a Memorial service in Marietta's National Cemetery which has increasing participation. We also have (26 April) Confederate Memorial Day which has always been well attended. I would guess that 9/11 and the fighting in the Middle East have caused a rise in attention for Memorial Day.

 

I assume you are pointing to Mike Thornton with the Medal of Honor in one of my pictures. Mike is/was a Navy Seal and has the destinction of rescuing a Medal of Honor receipant (his Senior Officer in the first link below) in Viet Nam. He was our speaker for Memorial Day I think in 2005.
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Petty Officer Michael Edwin Thornton, US Navy
http://mike-thornton.com/

 

By the way, today is Australia Day!

So y'all have a big hodown to celebrate the establishment of a prison?

<Ol's Slip's mumbling to himself "and they think we're half a bubble off of plumb">

 

I assume you are pointing to Mike Thornton with the Medal of Honor in one of my pictures. Mike is/was a Navy Seal and has the destinction of rescuing a Medal of Honor receipant (his Senior Officer in the first link below) in Viet Nam. He was our speaker for Memorial Day I think in 2005.
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Petty Officer Michael Edwin Thornton, US Navy
http://mike-thornton.com/
I've never had the priviledge of meeting and talking to a MoH recipient. One day, maybe.

 

I've never had the priviledge of meeting and talking to a MoH recipient. One day, maybe.

Me either. However I have met Jeremiah Denton, a Navy Cross recipient. His citation is listed below.

"The Navy Cross is presented to Jeremiah A. Denton, Rear Admiral, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from February 1966 to February 1973. Under constant pressure from North Vietnamese interrogators and guards, Rear Admiral Denton (then Commander) endured years of inhumane treatment including torture, starvation, and constant threat of death in an attempt to procure military information or propaganda material. If a POW could be "broken" they could be forced to write letters or make audio recordings "apologizing for their war crimes". During this prolonged period of physical and mental agony, Denton heroically resisted cruelties and continued to promulgate resistance policy and instructions. Forced to attend a press conference for propaganda with a Japanese correspondent, Denton blinked the word "T-O-R-T-U-R-E" in Morse Code at the television camera which was immediately understood by United States Naval Intelligence. Displaying extraordinary skill, fearless dedication to duty, and resourcefulness, he reflected great credit upon himself, and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces."

 

He is a great man.

I remember reading that he was the only admiral ever elected to the US Senate.

 

David,
Where do you live in Alabama? I'm an Andalusia boy living in Georgia.