American remembrance traditions

[KenD500]

I read my oath of enlistment during my SM Minute for Veteran's Day. 

 

Last year, that started some good conversations between some of the Scouts and I after the meeting.

[MattR]

Taps on an instrument is a simple melody but very powerful. I think it only has 21 notes. Don't touch the keys on a trumpet and it's a bugle. Have the bugler back away from the audience, where it can be heard but not too sharply.

 

Another thing to do is walk among the grave stones. Read a few names. Do the math and figure out how old they were when they died. Some of the older scouts may be surprised. I did that when I was 17 at the US cemetery in Normandy and I realized a lot of those guys were only a few years older than I was. That's what brought it all home to me.

[John-in-KC]

What does a British military funeral do at final honors?

 

As stated above, the last thing which happens in a military funeral is we play Taps.

 

I think it would be appropriate to play the British equivalent, even if it's a US Military Cemetery overseas.  I'd say the same things about our major cemeteries in Belguim, Luxembourg, France, and the Netherlands, if we are talking local honors.

[Eagle94-A1]

Taps on an instrument is a simple melody but very powerful. I think it only has 21 notes. Don't touch the keys on a trumpet and it's a bugle. Have the bugler back away from the audience, where it can be heard but not too sharply.

 

 

Agree with you.  One of the most powerful versions of TAPS I ever heard is what was locally called "Echo Taps".  2 buglers, either on opposites sides of the parade ground out of view, or one out of view on the parade ground, and the other out of view on the roof at the opposite end of the field,

[Stosh]

Two issues I would like to share, kinda on topic, kinda not.

 

First one is I observe Veterans' Day because it's important to me.  Besides the 1 minute of standing silence at 11:00 am, in every conversation I have with people that day, I always ask if they are a veteran.  If they say yes, I shake their hand and thank them for their service.

 

On Memorial Day, only about a half dozen units march in the Memorial Day Parade.  My boys do as well.  However, only my unit stays for the cemetery program.  It's really a shame, but we'll be there next year as well.

 

The second issue that literally stunned me was last fall when I was doing the sweep through the Northeast with the fall colors.  Yep, it was early November.  In order to get to the Northeast from the Midwest, we cut across Canada.  They have nice colors, too.  Anyway, we hit Ottawa and did the tourist thingy while there.  In the halls of the Parliament Building they had a veterans' display for those fallen in recent wars.  I went down the line and read names and where they were from.  Just a habit thing I've always done.  I got to one large section and I was surprised the number of Americans from Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, Florida who were listed there, just like everyone else.  I was amazed that so many Yankees would have gone up to Canada to fight with the Canadian forces.  I saw a gentleman standing "guard" near the entrance to the display and walked up to him and asked if he was allowed to answer questions, he smiled and said, "Of course".  I asked him why so many Americans had enlisted in the Canadian forces and if there was a reason for it.  He informed me they didn't enlist in the Canadian forces, but these were soldiers, both men and women who were killed while serving under Canadian NATO commanders.  This makes them Canada's responsibility and therefore they are just as much their veterans as their own countries'. Wow, that was more than we do with our own veterans.....There's a tribute I will never forget.

 

If you wish to wish to honor the men, simply acknowledge that they fought and died for YOUR freedom, that makes them your veterans as well. 

[NJCubScouter]

He informed me they didn't enlist in the Canadian forces, but these were soldiers, both men and women who were killed while serving under Canadian NATO commanders.

That's interesting. So these are casualties from post-WW2 engagements? (Because there was no NATO before that.) Like Kosovo and Afghanistan? As much as I follow the various wars, "operations" etc., I can never keep straight which ones are under the auspices of NATO, which ones are UN and which ones are just us (U.S.) Before I got to the part about NATO in your post I thought you were talking about Americans who volunteered for the Canadian forces before we got involved in the World Wars, i.e. 1914-1917 in WW1 or Sept. 1939-Dec. 1941 in WW2, but evidently not.

[Stosh]

Nope these were US soldiers that were killed.while serving under NATO Canadian commanders.  It was as if because Canada was responsible for them and they were killed, they became recognized as equal to other Canadian veterans.

 

There is a bit of that same mentality here in my area of the world.  The Laotian and Cambodian veterans march in full uniform in our Memorial Day parade.  No one thinks it out of the ordinary and welcomes them appropriately.

[Cambridgeskip]

Two issues I would like to share, kinda on topic, kinda not.

 

First one is I observe Veterans' Day because it's important to me.  Besides the 1 minute of standing silence at 11:00 am, in every conversation I have with people that day, I always ask if they are a veteran.  If they say yes, I shake their hand and thank them for their service.

 

On Memorial Day, only about a half dozen units march in the Memorial Day Parade.  My boys do as well.  However, only my unit stays for the cemetery program.  It's really a shame, but we'll be there next year as well.

 

The second issue that literally stunned me was last fall when I was doing the sweep through the Northeast with the fall colors.  Yep, it was early November.  In order to get to the Northeast from the Midwest, we cut across Canada.  They have nice colors, too.  Anyway, we hit Ottawa and did the tourist thingy while there.  In the halls of the Parliament Building they had a veterans' display for those fallen in recent wars.  I went down the line and read names and where they were from.  Just a habit thing I've always done.  I got to one large section and I was surprised the number of Americans from Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, Florida who were listed there, just like everyone else.  I was amazed that so many Yankees would have gone up to Canada to fight with the Canadian forces.  I saw a gentleman standing "guard" near the entrance to the display and walked up to him and asked if he was allowed to answer questions, he smiled and said, "Of course".  I asked him why so many Americans had enlisted in the Canadian forces and if there was a reason for it.  He informed me they didn't enlist in the Canadian forces, but these were soldiers, both men and women who were killed while serving under Canadian NATO commanders.  This makes them Canada's responsibility and therefore they are just as much their veterans as their own countries'. Wow, that was more than we do with our own veterans.....There's a tribute I will never forget.

 

If you wish to wish to honor the men, simply acknowledge that they fought and died for YOUR freedom, that makes them your veterans as well. 

 

We too have seen the great care that Canadian's take over remembering their war dead.

 

I referred further up to the trip to Amsterdam. The individual involved actually flew with a Canadian squadron, despite being British. We did some research and found that his squadron still existed. We wrote to their commanding officer to tell them what we were planning who wrote back with a lot of information about what had happened back in 1942. We assumed that would be the end of it. However a couple of weeks later we received a parcel containing a poppy wreath from the Chief of the Canadian Air Staff asking us to lay it on his behalf, It is one of the biggest honors that the troop has ever had.

 

With this year marking 75 years since The Battle of Britain, it's a good time to remember those from other countries who fought alongside us. While the USA was not part of the war at that stage there were American volunteers with RAF squadrons. Something like 1 in 5 fighter British fighter pilots were not actually British at all. There were American, Polish, Czech, French, South African, Australian and a whole host of other nations who's pilots flew with the RAF.

 

To fight for your own country's freedom is one thing. To go thousands of miles from home and fight for someone else's is quite something else indeed. We will indeed acknowledge and remember them.

[Stosh]

We too have seen the great care that Canadian's take over remembering their war dead.

 

I referred further up to the trip to Amsterdam. The individual involved actually flew with a Canadian squadron, despite being British. We did some research and found that his squadron still existed. We wrote to their commanding officer to tell them what we were planning who wrote back with a lot of information about what had happened back in 1942. We assumed that would be the end of it. However a couple of weeks later we received a parcel containing a poppy wreath from the Chief of the Canadian Air Staff asking us to lay it on his behalf, It is one of the biggest honors that the troop has ever had.

 

With this year marking 75 years since The Battle of Britain, it's a good time to remember those from other countries who fought alongside us. While the USA was not part of the war at that stage there were American volunteers with RAF squadrons. Something like 1 in 5 fighter British fighter pilots were not actually British at all. There were American, Polish, Czech, French, South African, Australian and a whole host of other nations who's pilots flew with the RAF.

 

To fight for your own country's freedom is one thing. To go thousands of miles from home and fight for someone else's is quite something else indeed. We will indeed acknowledge and remember them.

 

That, in and of itself, will do just fine to memorialize and remember those veterans appropriately.

[Cambridgeskip]

Morning everyone. Good to see this site back up and running!
 
Anyway I thought I'd swing by and report back from our night at the American cemetery.
 
First up we were joined by two American airmen, Frank and Meghan, from RAF Lakenheath, about 30 miles from us. One of my scouts took it on himself to write to the base and invite them to send reps. They were very nice people! They got the scouts to fold the American flag with full military ceremony. Photo attached!

 

We finished the evening with a wreath laying in the chapel. Alas we haven't got a single scout in the troop at the moment who can play the trumpet. We could have found clarinet, flute, guitar, violin, piano even a cello. No trumpet though! Thankfully we found a scout dad who does play the trumpet, so we were able to play taps afterwards. The acoustics in the chapel were incredible. I am no musician but even my tone deaf ears could hear that in that space it sounded pretty special. Very haunting.

 

Frank and Meghan are also going to to try and put us in touch with the BSA troop at Lakenheath so possible more contact in the making......