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.

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:

• Check out our website for some great resources!
• Check out the Christmas Truce Podcast
• Read and share Christmas in the Trenches
• Check out and share VFP-UK's amazing song on the Christmas Truce

Spread the message on social media.  Be sure to join in the conversation!

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The Christmas Truce by Kathryn Louise Sugg Willard

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.

Read Kathryn's Full Poem

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Christmas Truce Poem by VFP Member Gerry Kamke

The Holidays are upon us with consumerism and show,
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!

THE GREAT TRUCE by Margarita M. Asencio López

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."

Read Margarita's Full Article

The Christmas Truce by Kathryn Louise Sugg Willard

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.

Read Kathryn's Full Poem

Back to Top

---

Christmas Truce Poem by VFP Member Gerry Kamke

The Holidays are upon us with consumerism and show,
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!

The Christmas Truce of 1914--A Poem by Richard Greve

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.

Read Richard Greve's Poem

THE GREAT TRUCE by Margarita M. Asencio López

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."

Read Margarita's Full Article