VFP eNews: Christmas Truce Special Edition
Via vfp=veteransforpeace.org <vfp=veteransforpeace.org@mail.salsalabs.net>
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Saturday, December 23rd (Orginally sent out 2017)
Remembering the Christmas Truce Veterans For Peace is celebrates the anniversary of the Christmas Truce. We urge our leaders to follow the example set by the Christmas Truce soldiers who rejected militarism and the glorification of war. We call on the nation to honor veterans and all those who have died in war by working for peace and the prevention of war.
Who better than veterans who work for peace to tell the story of these soldiers' celebration of peace in the midst of war? There is no better way to honor the dead than to protect the living from the fear, terror and morale deprivation of war. Our society needs to hear this story that peace is possible.
Here are ways that you can be involved in the efforts to celebrate the Christmas Truce:
Spread the message on social media. Be sure to join in the conversation!
The Christmas Truce by Charlotte Koons At 18, drafted into the Austrian Army After having spent time in London As an apprentice waiter, he would tell a Christmas story That I always thought was just him spinning a charming fairy tale. Only much later, did I learn That he was part of that 1914 Christmas Truce and was telling the truth
VFPUK's Christmas Truce Song
A few years ago, VFP UK and Tom Morello’s new Firebrand Records release “Christmas Truce” a holiday single and video to promote the ideals behind that truce - soldier-led resistance against war and militarism.
Written by Firebrand Records co-founder, folk singer, and longtime anti-war activist Ryan Harvey, “Christmas Truce” is performed by Belgian-born, London-based singer Fenya, an active member of London’s Food Not Bombs. Accompanying the song is a video shot with members of Veterans For Peace UK, featuring former soldiers of conflicts stretching from the Second World War to the present interventions and occupations in Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan.
Back to TopChristmas Eve, 1914 by Jay Wenk
No big shells swooshing over tonight, no
whining snipers’ shots dopplering away, no shameless spluttering flares illumine trenches bordering no-humans’ land with its dreaded corpse collection, draped carelessly here and there on the wire. No gentle mustard billows creep over this frozen field tonight. The men wait, expecting mutilation every moment. Quiet, cold, wet. Dark now, quiet enough now to hear, across the endless mud, a guitar, soft voices; “Stille Nacht, Hieliger Nacht”. Germans noting the calendar. “ay”, Brits call across the field, “we got Good King Wenceslaus Came Out and plum pudding. Want some?” “Nous avon Noel, Noel, chandelles, le vin. A bas la guerre”. Dancing across eons, singing, the oldest art, is embraced in that field of curdled shame.
THE GREAT TRUCE by Margarita M. Asencio López
The desire to live in peace was found in other places in the Western Front, from Switzerland’s frontier to the North Sea. There were no gunshots. No cavalry charging, no tanks advancing, no airplanes bombing the enemy. There were, instead, frequent hugs, games, chocolate candies, smoke from cigarettes and bonfires.
In some places, the truce extended over to the New Year.
But rumors got to the High Commanders. And to Governments. And to weapons’ makers. All of them moved for killingto resume. They sent the officers to tell all those who kept, promoted or accepted the truce, that they could be court martialed, jailed or even shot like traitors. Thus the truce ended and the war moved on; a war that caused the loss of millions of young healthy and strong human beings, more greed, animosity, high debts, and other conditions that ended in the next international insanities: the Spanish Civil War and WW II." The Christmas Truce of 1914--A Poem by Richard Greve
It was early in the war and early in their lives,
but they already knew that their oh-so-brave leaders had sent them to the slaughter, with cheering crowds, no less. Blind and dumb a continent goes mad with lust-for-war disease. In the muddy holes they dug, lice crawling under caps, and coughing from cold, they stopped the madness for a few days respite, to celebrate the prince of peace that their royal leaders gave lipservice to on Sunday morning. They sang some songs. drank a soothing drug they shared to find a little peace. They played some ball (they were so young) and went back to muddy holes to sleep a final silent night. It could not last, their leaders, in their cozy beds, would make sure of that. For four more years the slaughter reigned and holes were dug in rows for them, for their eternal sunless beds, in the lonely fields of France that don't remember or redeem. |
In This Issue:
Significance of the 1914 Christmas Truce by S. Brian Willson "Thus, humans desperately need to re-discover and nourish examples of disobedience to political authority systems which have created 14,600 wars since the advent of civilization some 5,500 years ago. Over the past 3,500 years there have been nearly 8,500 treaties signed in efforts to end warfare, to no avail because the vertical structures of power have remained intact which demand obedience in their efforts to expand territory, power or resource base. The future of the species, and lives of most other species, are at stake, as we wait for humans to come to our right mind, both individually and collectively.
The 1914 Christmas Truce of one hundred years ago was an extraordinary example of how wars can only continue if soldiers agree to fight. It needs to be honored and celebrated, even if it was only a flash of a moment in time. It represents the potential of human disobedience to insane policies. As German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht proclaimed, 'General, your tank is a powerful vehicle. It smashes down forests, and crushes a Hundred men. But it has one defect: it needs a driver."15 If commoners refused en masse to drive the tank of war, the leaders would be left to fight their own battles. They would be brief."
Christmas Truce Speech by Bill Gilson
This speech was delivered by Bill Gilson, President of NYC Chapter 34, to Peace Action of Staten Island and The Humanist Society of New York in 2014.
"The real message of the Christmas Truce is that with human empathy we can reach across trenches of indifference and honor each others humanity.
In the words of Dr. King: “peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of justice.” The bigger question I believe is what would that justice look like ?
In keeping with this question, the Veterans for Peace national board recognizes that the violence of war has been epidemic in this country since its founding. We acknowledge the 500 year war on the indigenous peoples, the ongoing war and racism against black and brown communities, the long history of racist immigration policies, the economic war against the poor of all colors, the war against Muslims right here in the United States since 9/11 and unending violence against women.
We see a connection between violence and police militarization here in the United States and in U.S wars abroad. With this in mind, “Justice at Home, Justice Abroad” is the new slogan of VFP. It is also a reminder to the peace community that the peace and justice we seek has to start with us in our very own communities, involving ourselves in the struggles of the Other. We all share the same address: Planet Earth - there is no “Planet B."
Lessons from the Vietnam War: What it means to be human by Becky Luening
"In our society, indoctrination starts early. Toys, games, school curricula, and recruitment
materials are just the beginning of an endless stream of media messaging designed to inculcate an unquestioning glorification of war and the “brave troops” who “fight for our freedom.” But there are other voices, perhaps very soft, nagging voices at first, inviting us to question these messages and encouraging us to find our own voices—to speak out against the immoral madness of forever war, and to point out the very clear meaning behind all the images and first-person accounts (and there are many) of the horrors of war. It is our right and our duty to share and to celebrate the stories, found in every generation, of soldiers who have discovered their own humanity by recognizing it in others, whether World War I vets who survived to tell of the amazing 1914 Christmas Truce or the hardcore individuals of another generation who survived to form Vietnam Veterans Against the War." The Christmas Truce by Kathryn Louise Sugg Willard
But the nature of War is to fight,
And it did not stay far from that night. The Christmas Truce soon became a memory. 100 years hence, and we all now see They had something special that we must find For the world to share with all mankind. Christmas Truce Poem by VFP Member Gerry Kamke While old-veterans like me are kind of waiting for snow. It didn’t snow in Southeast Asia and I didn’t get cold, A big old snow-storm would have felt as special as gold. We’re into the 100th year of this truce, That’s special and I wish it could be wrapped all up in Spruce. In 1914 British and German soldiers on that special day, Stopped fighting on the western front - just to pray. The concept caught-on and I wish it could last, But today’s wars are continuous and seem never in the past. I pray the tradition continues all over the world, And bullets plus bombs are no longer hurled!
January 10 - Friday, January 18, 2019 Peace with Iran Delegation
Jan 19 - Women's March, Washington D.C.
March 30-April 4 - NO To NATO events in Washington D.C.
May 4 - May 6 - 6th Seminar for Peace & Abolition of Foreign Military Bases, Guantanamo Cuba
August 15-18 - Annual Veterans For Peace Convention in Spokane, Washington
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