The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month.

[Maurice_King]

I had a memorable experience this morning ! An old chap standing alone at the Cenotaph near Woolworths (Cooma) just before 11 this morning .

The pain and furrows in this old fellows face told of the trials and tribulations of which he had seen and or been involved in when another slightly younger chap joined the old bloke and realising that these 2 were father and son and had likely served in the 2nd World War and maybe the Vietnam conflict.

It was then I made my move, forever having my camera with me I captured the moment and then while reviewing it I thought about keeping the image but deleted it out of respect.. Instead I strode confidently up to the pair of them and stuck out my paw and shook hands and thanked them. After a moment or two we recited the "Ode" together.

"Lest We Forget"

[Rainbow]

Why Delete it?

[TheAviator]

I paused, but everyone around me just kept talking and moving

[Gurdy]

My staff paid tribute with a minutes silence in the office. Proud!

It would have been very hard for some

[Maurice_King]

Dunno just felt like the right thing to do.

[macca22au]

My wife played piano today for a short service of remembrance in a Retirement Village today.  Many of the old men wore their WWII ribbons and Korea, and men and women alike wore their father's medals from that first World War.  For them it was real, and we forget just how much these older people have been through either directly or as children in the homes of men who had fought at Gallipoli and in the trenches of Western Europe.

Remember also the pilots in their stringbags of aircraft.  Whether a man is shot down by another biplane or a rocket in these days, they were just as dead.  Indeed Allied WWI pilots did not have ejection seats of course, but they also weren't allowed to carry parachutes in case it prompted early departures from their planes in combat.  A sad policy indeed, and the mortality rates were high.

It was the first industrial war, when men were killed in great numbers and with a new effciency.  So many men from the colonies as well as from the UK and later the US were lost, and many at home were left with a permanent sadness.  Lest we Forget.

[Matthew Kane]

I had both my grandfathers who fought in the Royal Canadian Air Force. One was a Spitfire Pilot, the other was a Lancaster gunner/navigator. Both survived the war miraculously.

My Grandfather George who was the Spitfire Pilot flew air support on D-Day. He saw the entire operation from above and commented on how grateful he was to be above all that and not on the ground. They still had a tough time, as it wasn’t coordinated very well. They were shot at by both Germans and friendly fire from their own battleships. He was washed out by bullets and his aerial mast was shot off. They mostly targeted German Gun positions and supply trains.

His aircraft (AE-H AB-910) still flies today and was preserved for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. He kept his logbook and the last time I went through it was at his funeral a couple of years ago. He also has in his log an encounter with a couple of ME 262's. He and his wingman where in Spitfire Mark XIV at the time and dove in after the them, but the 262's picked up too much speed and got away. That day he was flying AE-D RM-689, which later flew with Rolls Royce as an air show aircraft.

It is not quite 11 am here yet but usually in Toronto there is a fly-by with a Lancaster and a spitfire so I am going to listen for the rumble of those engines when it gets closer to 11 am…..Lest we forget.

[Alcibiades]

My grandfather was a tank gunner with the US army in France in WWI and my father was a tank commander with the Canadian Army in Italy in WWII. My grandfather was a very cool guy and he got me interested in the history of WWI and my library collection on the subject continues to grow. My wife finds it odd that I can read so much about one subject. I find the whole WWI "affair" intriguing.

We're starting work late today, but we'll shut off the saws at 11.

[realatp]

My brother is in the infantry currently serving in Afganistan, he actually did his last Patrol last night. He'll be home in a few weeks. Lest we forget.

[lthendrix]

Happy veterans day to all the vets on this forum words cannot express my thanks for your actions.

[Iain Emms]

[Sniper31]

I would like to salute my fellow Brother's in Arms....past, present and future....Canadian, Australian, British and U.S.

[skypilot]