Remembrance Day

shoegal715 · November 2010

I'm Canadian and too ignorant / embarrassed to ask anyone these questions in real life:

Do Americans get Nov 11 off? Is it a stat holiday? Do Americans wear poppies?

AdeleDazeem · November 2010

No. No. No.

What about poppies?

Nebb · November 2010

Not all canadians get rememberance day off, I think only a few provinces do. I have no poppy right now because I havnt seen anyone anywhere selling them. I feel like an ass but im not going to go hunting for a freeking poppy.

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:f69572ba-e8a3-4b4f-a464-7b2ebee06896">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]No. No. No. What about poppies?
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]

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AdeleDazeem · November 2010

Okay.. perhaps it's my turn to be dumb, but... what is Remembrance Day? Why do you wear poppies?

EDITed for my poor spelling. :-)

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:4323ed9d-6210-4be2-899b-926bf07e3c24">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]Okay.. perhaps it's my turn to be dumb, but... what is Remembrance Day? Why do you wear poppies? EDITed for my poor spelling. :-)
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]
I have a feeling rememberance day is the same as your veterans day?? We wear them and have a moment of silence (etc) on november 11th at 11am to remember the soldiers who lost their lives (in all of the wars, I suppose). Have you ever heard the flanders field poem?

AdeleDazeem · November 2010

No, sadly. I googled Remembrance Day and saw the reference, but I can't get on the Wikipedia page.

It does seem similar to our Veterans Day, but a little more involved (as far as the general population goes.)

doctabroccoli · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:3b43ab32-fdad-486b-9f73-5e051e9959d8">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Remembrance Day : I have a feeling rememberance day is the same as your veterans day?? We wear them and have a moment of silence (etc) on november 11th at 11am to remember the soldiers who lost their lives (in all of the wars, I suppose). Have you ever heard the flanders field poem?
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

We sang that song in high school choir!

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:f491e56e-0a57-457b-8b1b-3093d952ec4d">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]No, sadly. I googled Remembrance Day and saw the reference, but I can't get on the Wikipedia page. It does seem similar to our Veterans Day, but a little more involved (as far as the general population goes.)
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields! Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
The soldier who wrote it mentions the poppies because they grew profusely from no mans land in the battle fields, maybe because of the bodies, im not sure. I think he was a surgeon, im not 100%

[Deleted User] · November 2010

I'm in Saskatchewan..it's a holiday here, and there is poppies everywhere you turn! It's actually pretty hard to find a store that doesn't have them set out.

Edit: that statement was not directed at OP..lol..I realize I didn't answer any of her questions. I'm actually surprised to hear what you said, Nebb, I had no idea it wasn't a holiday in the entire country.

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:57d172e5-8e52-4e10-9527-e5afc16edcaf">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm in Saskatchewan..it's a holiday here, and there is poppies everywhere you turn! It's actually pretty hard to find a store that doesn't have them set out.
Posted by tiffbot1985[/QUOTE]
Maybe its just my city (in ontario), but I have a few friends who have commented that they havnt seen them anywhere :( I feel so bad.

Norms Angel Forever · November 2010

its a big day for me and many of my friends and family as ive lost a great friend and cousin in the war in afghanistan. my grandfather also served in WWII so remembrance day has always been a day to be cherished, its just taken on a deeper meaning in the last two years

i took tomorrow off to be able to attend the memorial ceremonies

RIP Cpl Nick Bulger & Cpl Mark McLaren you are remembered everyday and missed with every breath

jemmini6 · November 2010

It's a Federal holiday here, so government agencies, including the post office, schools, banks etc are all closed, but for the rest of the general population, no...we don't get the day off

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · November 2010

The answer is sometimes and sometimes.

Schools and government offices get it off. I used to, then they took away a bunch of our holidays. Boo.

We used to buy paper poppies to support the VFW when I was in school.

The only holidays in the US we're required to have off are: Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day. There are over half a dozen more state and federal holidays that don't "require" time off. However, some jobs are exempt from that requirement, like retail.

laurenclaire1386 · November 2010

Yeah it's definitely a state holiday here. And the banks are closed, I'm pretty sure. I've always seen yellow ribbons associated with Veterans Day.

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:86e4c4a1-7cc5-44b4-a5a3-58328078cec9">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]its a big day for me and many of my friends and family as ive lost a great friend and cousin in the war in afghanistan. my grandfather also served in WWII so remembrance day has always been a day to be cherished, its just taken on a deeper meaning in the last two years :( i took tomorrow off to be able to attend the memorial ceremonies RIP Cpl Nick Bulger & Cpl Mark McLaren you are remembered everyday and missed with every breath
Posted by Norms Angel Forever[/QUOTE]
Im so sorry for your loss. I know this is way creepy but are you from the Peterborough area?

aMrsin09 · November 2010

We have Remembrance Day in OZ too. With a moment of silence at 11 on the 11th day of the 11th months. It's also known as Armistice Day, as that's when the Armistice the ended WWI was signed.

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:a88d6cf7-4869-4349-86a4-d764142e6625">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]Yeah it's definitely a state holiday here. And the banks are closed, I'm pretty sure. I've always seen yellow ribbons associated with Veterans Day.
Posted by laurenclaire1386[/QUOTE]
I think yellow ribbons are a new (last 10 years?) thing, we have them here too. Poppies have just always been a national (canadian, though I have seen them on british folk too) symbol on this day.

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:7e2ab425-f36f-43ab-8bbf-29f9e8660973">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]We have Remeberance Day in OZ too. With a moment of silence at 11 on the 11th day of the 11th months. It's also known as Armatice Day, as that's when the Armatice the ended WWI was signd.
Posted by aMrsin09[/QUOTE]
Hmmm that makes me think it might just be a commonwealth thing?

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:4323ed9d-6210-4be2-899b-926bf07e3c24">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]Okay.. perhaps it's my turn to be dumb, but... what is Remembrance Day? Why do you wear poppies? EDITed for my poor spelling. :-)
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]

We're the only ones who call it Veterans Day and other countries call it Remembrance Day. Not sure why. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, which was when a cease-fire was declared in WWI. Poppies were one of the most vivid memories the soldiers in Europe had from the war.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · November 2010

Huh. If other Americans didn't do the poppies, maybe we did it because I grew up on the border? Some other Americans chime in?

aMrsin09 · November 2010

We also bought the tissue paper poppies from the VFW guys on the street corners. I grew up just outside of Detroit.

laurenclaire1386 · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:129ff257-5026-49ca-ba0f-ca8b97adef88">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]Huh. If other Americans didn't do the poppies, maybe we did it because I grew up on the border? Some other Americans chime in?
Posted by msmerymac[/QUOTE]
I've never heard of the poppy thing.

Nebb · November 2010

Sounds like just border cities did it, bled over. As long as I can remember we had plastic/felt poppies.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:bc3e84fb-838d-4718-91a9-ae6306e8b5a6">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]We also bought the tissue paper poppies from the VFW guys on the street corners. I grew up just outside of Detroit.
Posted by aMrsin09[/QUOTE]

That's on the border too! I don't see poppies around here, but maybe it's just a school kid thing.

The yellow ribbon/veteran thing is a Vietnam song. I'ts a song by Tony Orlando and Dawn and it inspired people to wear yellow ribbons to symbolize they were wishing for the safe return of soldiers. So it's much more recent than the poppies thing.

[Deleted User] · November 2010

Yup, we've always just had the plastic/felt poppies too

And I will always have "In Flander's Field" memorized. We would relearn it in school every year.

redheadfsu · November 2010

Veterans day is to celebrate the living veterans. Memorial day is the day for the fallen & poppies.

shortee426 · November 2010

I remember getting poppies in school. I grew up in NJ, which isn't a border state.

aMrsin09 · November 2010

Poppies are for Vetrans day

I think the yellow ribbon deal is even older than Vietnam. I'm pretty sure it started during the Civil War, when the women would wear pieces of the gold braid off their loved ones uniforms.

Nebb · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:af967c57-c959-4fb8-b42b-02c24767d022">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]Poppies are for Vetrans day I think the yellow ribbon deal is even older than Vietnam. I'm pretty sure it started during the Civil War, when the women would wear pieces of the gold braid off their loved ones uniforms.
Posted by aMrsin09[/QUOTE]
Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree?

aMrsin09 · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_remembrance-day-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:2a934e91-b672-4239-aed3-59d0d853cd21Post:74384cdb-29b7-4408-8c75-0be0055e0a7e">Re: Remembrance Day</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Remembrance Day : Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree?
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

Well yes, the song came out in the 70's, but I think the tradition itself is much older than that.

There was even an old John Wayne movie (I think it's called the Yellow Ribbon) that was about the Civil War in the West.
ETA: The movie was called "She wore a Yellow Ribbon"

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