Saturday, November 11 at 11:00 am
Veterans Memorial Park, 700 Cushman Street
Writer Kurt Vonnegut, a WWII Prisoner of war wrote: “…November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy all the people of all nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”
“It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.” (Breakfast of Champions, 1973)
In remembrance of the universal sense of joy felt around the world when World War One ended, and in renewal of the call for world peace, a world-wide tradition of ringing bells on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month was observed for over 35 years.
Congress declared November 11 a holiday in 1938, “ …a day to be dedicated to the
cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”
On June 1, 1954, Congress amended the Act of 1938 by deleting the word “Armistice” and
inserting the word “Veterans”.
With rhetoric and patriotic symbolism have we been distracting ourselves from recognizing the majority of war’s victims?
Can we envision a world without war and still appreciate friends, family, and neighbors who have made great sacrifice?
Maybe the best way we can honor our veterans is to stop making them. In the meantime, can we honor the original meaning of this holiday?
Please consider joining us in ringing bells for peace. You have no bell to ring? Come
anyway or be creative and make your own. This could be a great art project for children.
Download the flyer
Alaska Peace Center 