Remembrance Today: Poppies, Grief and Heroism

by Ted Harrison

Each November, Americans celebrate Veterans Day, a holiday that honors our armed services and that marks the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Veterans Day roughly coincides with Remembrance Day in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, where millions of people wear poppies—a flower that bloomed across the battlefields of Flanders and became emblematic of the war—and observe a period of silence at war memorials. For many countries around the world, this day is meant to thank those who give their lives to defend liberty and freedom, but as Ted Harrison reveals in Remembrance Today , the day and the poppies people wear were originally meant as a dedication to the intention that war must never happen again.

 

Raising questions that are too often ignored, Harrison explores what it means to be heroic and what glory means in the context of military service. Most important, he asks what the purpose of Remembrance is outside honoring the fallen and comforting those who mourn their loss. He contends that if the prime function of holidays like Remembrance Day and Veterans Day is not to serve as a warning against war and a reminder to pursue peaceful solutions, then these days are futile. An examination of how our ideas of heroism, duty, and grief have lost their way, Remembrance Today is a powerful argument to focus again on the meaning behind this poignant holiday.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

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Reviews

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

really interesting and many of the points made resonated with me/how I feel about the treatment of the armed forces in our society, and it made me think a lot about how we conceive of remembrance and the problems this might cause. However, I feel that the impact of the powerful points made was somewhat hampered by the fact that the book repeated itself quite a bit/lacked a strong overall structure (I hate books that say '...as I will refer to later' anywhere but in the introduction!) and not quite sure that the concluding suggestions were explained enough or linked well enough to the points made in the body of the book. Despite this, however, I would recommend!

[Hubert Han · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, enjoyable, and substantial about the controversies and difficulties surrounding contemporary acts and rituals of Remembrance, but belaboured the point a bit too much at times, giving rise to needless repetition. This would have made an excellent long essay than a book in its entirety.