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German military to get US-style Veterans' Day
Published: 4 Apr 12 10:34 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20120404-41747.html
The German military is to have a US-style Veterans’ Day, despite criticism from opposition parties and general unease about the army’s history.
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“Against the background of our operations and the questions they pose our society, it is time to speak objectively and openly about our veterans’ policy,” de Maizière wrote in his proposal.
He originally suggested using the Volkstrauertag in November, a public day of mourning which takes place in Germany two Sundays before the first Advent Sunday, intended to mourn war victims and the victims of dictatorship around the world. But this idea received widespread opposition across the country.
But the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) has criticized the idea. “I’m sceptical whether there can be a day that really reaches society,” SPD defence spokesman Rainer Arnold told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
The socialist Left party was even less impressed with the plan. “If the defence minister wants to do something for former soldiers, he should get some money and improve their social security, instead of invoking some cheap ‘ideal honour,’ “ commented Left defence spokesman Paul Schäfer.
The Green Party was equally scathing. Their defense expert Omid Nouripour called the Veterans Day nothing but a “fig-leaf” for a minister who is “avoiding his core duties.”
He condemned the Veterans’ Day as “superfluous,” unless it was used to open a national debate on the purpose of military operations abroad, and also honoured the work of development workers and diplomats in foreign countries.
Germany’s first foreign military mission since World War II took place in 1991 when they made a minor contribution in the second Gulf War. Since then 300,000 German soldiers have been in action abroad and over 100 have lost their lives.
The Local/DPA/DAPD/bk
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Your comments about this article:
In the US there is traditionally a question about whether you can support the troops while disagreeing with the war itself. That was true in Vietnam and in Iraq, and remains true today in Afghanistan. I'm sure that attitude was present in earlier wars also, and WWI was seen by many as "Europe's Problem" and not an issue for US participation.
Personally, I have no problem with Germany recognizing the sacrifices that the country's military have made over the years. It takes nothing away from the men who carried the day at Waterloo to, at the same time, acknowledge that other times and other battles were "different." The bulk of the men who died defending Germany were no less men.
Maybe this is a chance to remember their sacrifices, and the events that led the country to embark on the adventures that necessitated them. Those who have participated in war seldom have a desire to do it again. Remembering that is worth it.
wa
Soldiers go to fight and die where they are told. They don't have the option of saying 'Nope. Not today... I am not in the mood.' They don't always agree in the ideology of the government they serve but they do their job.
They deserve to be properly honoured for their sacrifice. The dead are apolitical. They are dead and deserve to be remembered.
Why not honor the soldiers who put their lives on the line for their country, especially the last 10 years, and complete the circle of healing from the past?
ChrisRea - I'll support a Professional Athletes' Day when people start shooting at them from the stands to stop them from scoring. As for a day recognizing those who serve and protect as police or firefighters, they deserve that recognition as well.
We don't have a choice what country we're born into. If I were 20 years old in 1940 and lived in Germany, I would have served in the German Army. Had I been a citizen of North Viet Nam in the late 1960s I would have served in that military.
"when people start shooting at them from the stands to stop them from scoring." - you mean when the athletes are fully armed and use tanks? :)
German athletes achieve things that serve as a source of inspiration. If a Bundeswehr veteran is asked by his children if he defended the country, all he can say is that he was actually always on the aggressive side, in pointless wars like the Second Gulf War and Afghanistan, against countries that did nothing against Germany or the military alliance Germany belonged to. Quite a good reason for a big yearly celebration, isn't it?
For your information, it is more probable to die as a German driver than as a German soldier. But you would not support a Drivers' Day, do you?
the argument that germany should put more money in to improve Social Security instead of a ay of recognition for the military.
Why not do both?
Soldiers of any army who fight honorably deserve such recognition.
Even more prevalent with your mindset is the curious habit of habitually allying with the very country that you choose to vilify in so many of their ill fated excursions of late. What's up with that then Laddie Buck?