November 11, Armistice Day, to be observed in Milwaukee
The event is a reminder that Nov. 11 was established as a day to promote world peace.
John Nichols
Journalist and author John Nichols will be the main speaker at an Armistice Day event on Saturday, Nov.11, at 7 p.m. in the Milwaukee City Hall rotunda. The event is free and open to the public.
The event is a reminder that Nov. 11 – now a day to honor veterans – was established as a day to promote world peace. World War I, the “war to end all wars” ended on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Twenty million soldiers and civilians had been killed.
“On the original Armistice Day, the world came together in realization that war is so horrible we must end it,” Mark Foreman, president of Milwaukee Chapter 102 of Veterans for Peace, said. Foreman is a former Navy medical corpsman who has a Purple Heart for serious wounds he received in combat with the Marines in Vietnam, which permanently disabled him.
John Nichols is national affairs writer for The Nation, contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times, associate editor of the Capital Times in Madison, and a co-founder of the media-reform group Free Press. He is the author of numerous books, including “Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America.”
Nan Kim
Nan Kim, a contemporary historian and expert on divided Korea, author of “Memory, Reconciliation, and Reunions in South Korea: Crossing the Divide,” also will speak. She is a steering committee member of the Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea. The event is the same week as President Trump’s visit to South Korea, amid growing tensions between the US and North Korea.
The program also will include music by Iraq veteran Jesse Frewerd.
After World War I, Congress responded to a hope among Americans for no more wars by passing a resolution calling for “exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding.” Later, Congress added that Nov. 11 was to be “a day dedicated to the cause of world peace.”
“In 1954 Congress changed the name to Veterans Day, and in many cases it has become a celebration of militarism, honoring the war rather than the veterans who served,” VFP President Foreman said. “Veterans for Peace wants to restore the tradition of Armistice Day as a day to promote world peace. “As veterans, we are committed to informing the public of the true causes and enormous costs of war, and working to heal the wounds of wars,” he said.
The event is sponsored by Milwaukee Veterans for Peace, and co-sponsored by United Nations Association-Milwaukee, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, National Lawyers Guild-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump, Peace Action-Wisconsin, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Progressive Democrats of America, Social Actions Council-Unitarian-Universalists, End the Wars Coalition-Milwaukee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, United Methodist Women, and Milwaukee Turners, Inc.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
Recent Press Releases by Veterans for Peace
Armistice Day program features speakers on veterans health care, nuclear disarmament
Nov 6th, 2019 by Veterans for PeaceThe event is free and open to the public.
