Reclaiming Armistice Day

Below is the text of remarks by VFP 104 Vice President John Michael O’Leary given at the Four Freedoms Monument on November 11, 2022.

We gather here on the anniversary of last century’s great hope, the cessation of conflict and the uplifting of peace as the ideal to which all who draw breath aspire.

History saw that great hope soon darkened in the shadow of fascism, and the illusion of peace shattered like shrapnel in the next global war… and in a succession of conflicts to which we can claim complicity. In East and Southeast Asia. In Iraq. Afghanistan. And now, as arms merchants fighting a war by proxy, in Ukraine.

So we mourn our nation’s inability to live up to the ideal articulated this day in 1918. We have failed. And we, who spend more on militarization than the next nine nations combined, must own up to what we are leaving our children and grandchildren: a nightmarish world of camps and enemy camps, gangs and counter gangs, good guys and bad guys, a world in constant conflict.

Those who celebrated this day in 1918 have all gone to their graves. But the intent of their legacy falls to us, we who cling to the belief that war, among the very worst of man’s inventions, can, and must, end. And we resolve to be the agents of war’s undoing.

That’s why we call this day “Armistice Day” and not “Veterans Day.” We mean no disrespect to the men and women who have served. To the contrary, we see that upholding the peace is the best way to honor their service. It is the ultimate show of thankfulness to every daughter and son who has laid aside their personal pursuits in order to stand for an imperfect idea, one we struggle daily to make less imperfect.

And central to that imperfect idea is the realization that all people are connected, that we are one species, one family, with the same common needs. Secure housing. Clean air and water. Wholesome nutrition. Employment. Health. Love. Respect. Ultimately, the fulfillment of our human potential.

Think of these things as the building blocks of peace. Held together by the cement of justice, cured and solidified in the light of truth. These building blocks are all around us. In the face of the man standing on the corner asking for money. In the scream of a siren at 2 AM carrying an overdose victim. In virtually every decision made by the people we elect to public service.

So let us reclaim the Armistice by making peace our aim. In every word, every thought, every action. Let us don the fabric of peace as surely as we would a shirt. Make it our favorite shirt. Wear it every day. And let’s be the proverbial guy who gives the shirt off his back to the rest of the world.

In doing this, we will honor not only our Veterans, but every other person on the planet.

And we will be greatly blessed.