Why doesn't the US observe Armistice Day? We're more comfortable with war than peace
Rory Fanning I get angry and frustrated with each Veterans Day because it’s less about celebrating veterans than easing the guilty conscience of warmongers Staff Sgt Camilo Mejia sought to be declared a conscientious objector in 2004 after he saw civilians killed in Iraq. Photograph: Yesikka Vivancos/AP Tuesday 11 November 2014 07.45 EST On Tuesday, the United States should be celebrating its 95th Armistice Day, pausing as a nation to think about the terrible costs of war – including the loss of so many lives. Unfortunately, we replaced it with a very different holiday. On 1 June 1954 , less than a year after America exited the Korean War in defeat , the US congress got rid of Armistice Day , which was established in 1919, and started Veterans Day. In place of what had been a celebration of peace , Congress instituted an annual veneration of those who fought in war. America would ever after celebrate not the beauty of peace, but its purveyors of...