OMNI
ARMISTICE REMEMBRANCE DAY FOR PEACE ANTHOLOGY,
NOVEMBER 11, 2026
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, Ecology, and Democracy
What’s at Stake: The First World War ended in
November 1918 when an armistice between Germany and the Allies was declared at
the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month,” marking a moment
of hope and the promise of peace. For many years, this day served as a powerful
reminder of the horrors of war and a collective vow of “War No More.” This is
still the case in some countries. In 1954, the U.S. Congress redefined this
national holiday as “Veterans Day,” thus shifting its focus to the
glorification of war and those who wage it.
Reclaim Armistice Day! Veterans
For Peace.
CONTENTS
Veterans for Peace
World Beyond
War
About Face
TEXTS
- Armistice
Day: Wednesday, November 11, 2026, marks the
108th anniversary of the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany
at 5:45 a.m. in Compiègne, France, leading to the official cessation of
World War I hostilities on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of
the eleventh month" in 1918.
France
& Belgium: Observed as a national/public holiday (Jour de l'Armistice) with
official ceremonies, wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (such as at the
Arc de Triomphe in Paris), and a moment of silence at 11:00 a.m..
US
changed the name and the purpose to Veterans Day, a federal
public holiday honoring all military veterans.
That is, instead of celebrating a momentous day of peace, ending a
historic slaughter, the US chose to celebrate warriors and war on that day of
peace. AI Overview
Wisconsin
remains the only U.S. state that does not recognize it as an official or paid
state holiday
President Donald Trump proposed to rename
Veterans Day (observed on November 11) to “Victory Day for World War I”,
while also proposing to designate May 8 (Victory in Europe Day) as “Victory
Day for World War II”.
AI
Overview
From
Armistice to Veterans Day: Critics point out that November 11 was
historically established as Armistice Day (marking the 1918 agreement when the
guns fell silent) rather than a day focused strictly on military conquest.
Major
veterans' groups—including VoteVets, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW),
Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
(IAVA)—objected to the proposal, arguing it champions conquest over sacrifice
and leaves the vast majority of living veterans uncommemorated.
Constitutional
and Legal Limits: Legal scholars and analysts note that federal holidays are
formally established by act of Congress, meaning a president cannot
unilaterally alter or rename Veterans Day. Authoritarian Parallels:
Commentators and critics have compared the unilateral holiday rebranding to
methods used by authoritarian regimes focused on state-led messaging of
dominance and "winning" rather than participatory historical
reflection.
- White
House Reversal/Adjustment (May 2025): White House Press Secretary
Karoline Leavitt walked back the proposed name change, stating that
Veterans Day would retain its official name and that the administration
would instead issue additional presidential proclamations honoring World
War I and World War II.
- Arlington
Remarks (November 2025): Despite the earlier retreat and the fact
that federal holiday names cannot be altered unilaterally by executive
order, Trump repeated references to Victory Day during observance events
at Arlington National Cemetery. The federal holiday remains legally designated
as Veterans Day.
“RECLAIM
Armistice – A Day of Peace!”
Veterans For Peace 11-11-26
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NOVEMBER 11 |
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Veterans
For Peace says: Reclaim
Armistice Day— a Day of Peace! Stop
the War on Iran! Stop the War at Home!
The First World War ended in
November 1918 when an armistice between Germany and the Allies was declared
at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month,” marking a
moment of hope and the promise of peace. For many years, this day served as a
powerful reminder of the horrors of war and a collective vow of “War No
More.” This is still the case in some countries. In 1954, the U.S. Congress
redefined this national holiday as “Veterans Day,” thus shifting its focus to
the glorification of war and those who wage it. Veterans For Peace has
for years been working to reclaim November 11 as “Armistice Day,” a day
that is dedicated to ending war once and for all. In 2026, the call to end
war is more urgent than ever. The U.S. government is complicit in Israel’s
ongoing genocide in Palestine, waging an illegal war against Iran, kidnapped
Venezuela’s president, and is starving the Cuban people with an illegal oil
blockade. The U.S. has 850 foreign bases in over 80 countries, and threatens
nuclear war against its perceived “enemies.” In the United States, the
Trump administration is organizing violent ICE attacks on immigrants and
leaving them to die in for-profit prisons, conducting mass deportation, the
mass incarceration of poor, primarily people of color, and state-sponsored
killing using the “death penalty.” The Trump administration is actively
undermining an election it knows it cannot win. The majority of people in the
U.S. are opposed to the wars abroad and the war at home. Veterans For Peace is calling for a permanent end to the
U.S./Israeli war on Iran, Palestine, and throughout the Middle
East. We call for an end to U.S. attacks on Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. We
want peace with Russia and China and the abolition of nuclear weapons. We
continue to work for Peace at Home and Peace Abroad!
Reclaim Armistice Day— a Day of Peace! Say No to U.S. Intervention, War and
Genocide!
Veterans in Crisis Need More Than a Thank You
By Ron Carver, David Cortright, and Barbara Doherty [VFP-all]
Armistice Day, NOT Veterans Day Also see this from the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day [a
collection of excellent articles and photos published in 2018 --D]: https://www.veteransforpeace.org/files/8815/4057/6104/Armistic_paper_second_proof.pdf plus powerful op ed that follows. Mike
Navy Corpsman 1969-73 Former National President, Veterans For Peace General, man is very useful. He can fly and he can kill. But he has one defect: He can think. -- Brecht
Click here to
see the Madmen Arsonists! [VFP film about the war
profiteering corporate-military-presidential-congressional warmakers. --D] From: Crossing Rubicons by Sean Griobhtha <griobhtha1@substack.com> Too long for email? Want audio? Click the title and read
online. If you use the Substack app (or the web queue link),
the pleasant “Oliver” voice provided by Substack will read this to you —
through bluetooth in your car, TV, LR stereo, headphones, etc… “He” has
quirks, but does a nice job and doesn’t get tired. If you’re in the UK or
another state that blocks content, you’ll have to use a VPN to read this. Mozilla
Firefox now contains an integrated VPN you can
switch on when needed. Armistice Day, NOT Veterans
Day “THE
ASSASSINATION OF ARMISTICE DAY: The Laundering of Grief and the Myth of the
Super-Citizen” by Sean Griobhtha (Nov 10, 2026). Crossing
Rubicons / Griobhtha, Rubicon, Idalgo,
Bond, Rose Hemisphere
Of Plunder: Angel in Public, Devil in Secret: An Autopsy of the American
Empire. Volume 1: The Isthmus and the Proxies.
Order now / release 17 November 2026. ePub 979-8-2562-6963-0 · paperback
979-8-2562-1555-2 · hardcover 979-8-8690-4958-2. LCCN 2026920704. Order
Now Bookshop — Barnes & Noble — Amazon Vanguard “THE
ASSASSINATION OF ARMISTICE DAY: The Laundering of Grief and the Myth of the
Super-Citizen” 11
November was originally designed to be a tombstone. People will do anything, no matter how
absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. One does not become
enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness
conscious. —
Carl Jung — Psychology and Alchemy When the guns finally
fell silent on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in
1918, the world stood knee-deep in the pulverized remains of a slaughtered
generation. The original intent of Armistice Day was absolute, unvarnished
mourning. It was a global, somatic recognition of the grotesque horror of
mechanized warfare. It was a promise, written in blood-mud, that humanity
would remember the cost of the slaughter so that it would never, ever be
permitted to happen again. The
American empire looked at that day of mourning and recognized an existential
threat. You cannot sustain a
perpetual, hemispheric machine of corporate extraction and proxy warfare if
your citizens are actively mourning the dead. Mourning implies that a
tragedy occurred; remembering the horror implies that the architects of the
war committed a crime. The national security state — the CIA, the Pentagon,
the defense contractors — required a public that did not weep for the dead,
but cheered for the next deployment. The
Assassination of Armistice (The Paved Grave) So,
the state executed a brilliant, sociopathic psychological operation. They
assassinated Armistice Day. They erased the word Armistice
— a word that literally means the cessation of arms, the stopping of the
war — and replaced it with Veterans Day. A day NOT of Remembrance
that’s co-opted for capital and the celebration of super-citizens. A linguistic
bait-and-switch achieved. The state took a day dedicated to the somatic
reality of death and the vow of peace, and chemically washed it into a
jingoistic celebration of a label. They replaced the horrifying
reality of the blood-mud with the sterile, marketable aesthetic of the
uniform. By declaring every
single person who ever wore a uniform to be a “hero,” a “warrior,” and a
super-citizen, the empire created a psychological shield for itself. This is
the mass dissociation of the American public. You are trained to stand at
parades, wave your flags, and utter the focus group produced, US Government
ApprovedTM, hollow, fawning, ignorant robotic
incantation: “Thank
you for your service.” — TM
© United States of America You do this because it
is easy. It requires zero moral courage. Saying “Thank you for your
service” completely absolves you of having to ask the veteran what they
actually did in your name. It insulates you from the severed heads, the white
phosphorus, and the executed teenagers. You celebrate the label so you do not
have to look at the corpse. . . .MORE Join us to reclaim Armistice Day as a
day of peace (Your Letters) Published: Nov. 05, 2026, 8:30 a.m.
To the Editor: As we have done for the past eight years, the Syracuse
Chapter of Veterans for Peace (VFP) will commemorate
Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 2026. This year, VFP calls upon all to join us at
6:30 p.m. at May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society, 3800 East Genesee
St., to reclaim Armistice Day. Mayor Sharon F. Owens has issued a
proclamation, declaring the 11th day of November 2026 to be Armistice Day for
Peace in the City of Syracuse and she will speak at our event. At the end of World War I, the so-called “War to end All
Wars,” Nov. 11 was recognized as Armistice Day, the day the guns finally fell
silent. Around the world, it became a day to remember and to honor all those
killed and injured in wars: soldiers, civilians, men, women and children. It
was meant to remind future generations of the cost of empire and the
necessity of peace and celebrated with a global resolve to never again allow
such devastation and tragic loss of life. Unfortunately, in 1954, the U.S. Congress changed Nov. 11 to
Veterans Day and the focus became soldiers and veterans of the U.S. military.
Gone was the recognition of the many ways that all people suffer from war and
violence. Gone was the emphasis on “no more wars” and the need to stop humans
from slaughtering each other. Our societal narrative was shifted from the
necessity of peace to to one that we must make war in the futile attempt to
“make ourselves safe.” Making the distinction between Veterans Day and
Armistice Day this year is more critical than ever. Historically, there have been many voices that warned of the
combination of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry.
In his farewell address in 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower, a former
military general, warned us of the corrupting influence of the
“military-industrial complex,” i.e., the network of contracts and flows of
money and resources between defense contractors, the Pentagon and
politicians. Eisenhower warned that the federal government’s collaboration
with an alliance of military and industrial leaders, which now includes “big
tech” as a central piece, created a disastrous rise of misplaced power. We must acknowledge that our present sociopolitical reality
did not magically appear, nor is it the sole result of the Trump
administration. Today, the same weapons manufacturers and security firms
arming Israel’s destruction of Palestine build the surveillance tech used by
ICE and the police to terrorize immigrants and poor communities here at home.
The same billion-dollar prison corporations running detention camps profit
from wars and occupations abroad. Every drone strike has its mirror image in
every ICE raid, no-knock warrant, and act of state violence against Black,
Brown, queer, Indigenous and immigrant lives. Militarism overseas and
militarism at home are but one system. We will come together to remember the millions of civilians
killed, wounded, widowed, imprisoned, orphaned and displaced, as well as the
veterans who were killed or deeply wounded — physically and/or mentally — by
past and current wars. We will collectively reflect and renew our commitment
to work for an end to all wars, to foster justice and peace and uphold the
VFP mission: “Peace at home and peace abroad.” This event is free and open to all. |
“Armistice / Remembrance Day.”
WORLD BEYOND WAR
Actions
You Can Be Part of for Peace
Join in or create an event
anywhere on or about November 11, because it should be a day to end all wars.
November 11, 2026, is
Remembrance /Armistice Day 109 — which is 108 years since World
War I was ended in Europe (while it continued for weeks in Africa) at the
scheduled moment of 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 (with
an extra 11,000 people dead, wounded, or missing after the decision to end the
war had been reached early in the morning — we might add “for no reason,”
except that it would imply the rest of the war was for some reason).
Find
or create an event, find resources, and learn more here.
In many parts of the world,
principally but not exclusively in British Commonwealth nations, this day is
called Remembrance Day and should be a day of mourning the dead and
working to abolish war so as not to create any more war dead. But the day is
being militarized, and a strange alchemy cooked up by the weapons companies is
using the day to tell people that unless they support killing more men, women,
and children in war they will dishonor those already killed.
For decades in the United
States, as elsewhere, this day was called Armistice Day, and was
identified as a holiday of peace, including by the U.S. government. It was a
day of sad remembrance and joyful ending of war, and of a commitment to
preventing war in the future. The holiday’s name was changed in the United
States after the U.S. war on Korea to “Veterans Day,” a largely pro-war holiday
on which some U.S. cities forbid Veterans For Peace groups from marching in
their parades, because the day has become understood as a day to praise war —
in contrast to how it began.
Can
you help make Armistice / Remembrance Day a day to mourn all victims of war and
advocate for the ending of all war. GET INVOLVED
Need help? Have questions? Have suggestions? Let us know! Thanks for all you do for peace!
World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated
organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
Donate to support our
people-powered movement for peace.
World BEYOND War • 513 E Main St #1484 | Charlottesville, VA 22902 | USA
Thom Keppen.
“A Call From Veterans: Fight Fascism This Veterans Day.” About
Face (11-11-26). 
Dear Dick,
My name is
Thom Keppen, I’m an Army veteran, and a proud organizer with About Face:
Veterans Against The War.
This Veterans
Day, supporting me and other veterans means fighting fascism, authoritarianism,
and their endless wars for plunder. It means keeping U.S. boots off of all
grounds, whether it be underserved communities in Memphis, TN, or the
streets of Baghdad and Fallujah. This Veterans Day, About Face is
raising $2000 to do just that. Support
the Veteran Fight Against Fascism!
When I left
the military in 2016, I didn’t know where to turn. I was angry and ashamed by
the atrocities committed by our government and our military across Afghanistan
and the region, but I had no idea how to do anything about it. About Face
changed my life. It didn’t just give me a home of like-minded veterans, it gave
me a real fighting chance to intervene in militarism through grassroots
organizing, campaigning, and more.
Over the
last few years, our membership has swelled, with thousands of members
spread across nearly every state across the country. This number is only
growing as the U.S. continues to bomb Iran, fund war crimes in Gaza &
Lebanon, and mobilize federal agencies to vulnerable neighborhoods. Donating
today lets us build the infrastructure and resources needed to absorb these
people and strengthen the veteran movement against war and fascism.
About Face is a movement funded by people, and every dollar
you donate goes directly to seeing our work come to life. This veterans day, I
humbly ask you to contribute to our $2000 goal, and help build
a world free from militarism and endless war possible.
In
Solidarity, Thom Keppen, Member since 2024
About Face: Veterans Against The War
[The following 2025 text
arrived too late to be included in the 2025 Anthology.]
Re:
[VFP-all] My Annual Armistice Day Rant
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When people say to me "Thank you for your service.", I
respond with "My service started when I began to oppose war."
Patrick McCann
P.S. Proud to be an E-1 when leaving the military with an
undesirable discharge!
On Tuesday, November 11, 2025 at 09:04:22 PM EST, phoenix rainbowpuddle.com <phoenix@rainbowpuddle.com>
wrote:
Armistice Day 2025
I'm thinking right now of The Wall in DC, of long ago trips to
some Brooklyn Armory with my dad, a WWII vet. I’m thinking of dad’s brother, my
Godfather and their cousins, all Anti Fascists! I am thinking of the Vietnamese
people whose United Front defeated U.S. Imperialism at a cost of almost four
million Vietnamese lives. There is still U.S. sanctioned death in Vietnam known
as, “Unexploded Ordinance,” that routinely maims or kills AND Agent Orange,
STILL responsible for birth defects in the current generation of Vietnamese
woman!
I’m thinking of those two hundred plus names on that Wall, and
faces I can't remember, eighteen and nineteen year old kids from my Basic
Training company, KIA (Killed In Action) before their 19th birthday.
I’m feeling the emotion spent at The Wall searching for MY name
amongst the couple hundred from my Basic Training Company who’s end lives are
listed, on The Wall.
I’m thinking of Gaza and Sudan. Places that have been decimated
by U.S. weapons sold directly or indirectly. I would never thank the IDF for
their service, a military whose ethos seems to be, “IDF stands for Ethnic
Cleansing & Genocide. I would never thank U.S. drone operators for their
service in international waters. They are murderous war criminals who need to
refuse orders. I would never thank U.S. Armed Forces for making war on
Venezuela! I do thank the man who shot Charlie Kirk, for HIS service. A good
nazi is a dead nazi.
Every time I hear, "Thank-you for your service!” I want to
reply, “Thank you and Fuck You and Fuck THAT!” then ask "For which of the
following are you thanking me?"
a) Learning how to do field abortions on "pregnant gook
girls" (in bayonet training Ft. Dix Dec 65)
b) Being part of a military that is responsible for millions of
deaths in Vietnam; (& millions more in colonizing this country, The
Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Greece,
Chile, etc & etc).
c) Refusing orders to Vietnam;
d) Participating in the GI Movement that helped to end that
war;
e) Thinking for myself;
f) Not thinking for myself;
g) Following or not following orders?
h) Killing or not killing old people and children?
My generation's military service WAS NOT in defense of America,
our allies, your families or friends. WE ARE NOT HEROES! America was NOT being
attacked by the Vietnamese, much in the same way that America is NOT being
attacked by Iraqis or Venezuelans. The U.S. legislation that authorized
Executive Actions in Viet Nam (Tonkin Gulf) have long proven a fucking
distortion of the truth, at best, and at worst, an outright lie that caused the
subsequent deaths of millions! We were NOT “Heroes” in much the same way
today’s Iraq and Afghan vets are NOT “Heroes” for simply having served.
I for one, do NOT thank current soldiers for their service in
Africa, Iraq or Afghanistan! I do thank medics and those who risk their lives
to pull injured soldiers out of the line of fire. I do commend those who
volunteer to defend The Constitution. Overall, I thank and honor those who
repudiate this nation's militarism. I thank Iraq Veterans Against the War and
About Face for their leadership, thought, action and lives. I salute those
young & women, those newly minted veterans who organized and testified at
the IVAW Winter Soldier Hearings a few years back. ivaw.org/wintersoldier/testimony
Why thank anyone for killing tens of thousands of civilians
cause you can't find the right cave and invaded the wrong nation? Should I
thank today's soldiers for being lied to and believing in that lie? Perhaps
their "good intentions" deserve a salute? I do recognize the
intention of America's youth who in their righteous desire to defend America,
bought into layers of lies from Bush I & II and President Obama.
On Armistice Day, I salute, in addition to IVAW & About
Face, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, The National
Liberation Front of Vietnam, WWII Allied Forces led by General Dwight
Eisenhower and the Soviet Red Army; The Abe Lincoln Brigade and Resistance
fighters and saboteurs against the nazi's throughout Europe; Resistance
movements from South Africa to East Los Angeles to Harlem and from Philadelphia
to Nicaragua where my government spent millions attempting to overthrow a democratic
government who's president had the nerve to be critical of the United
States.
I salute the 600 - 700 U.S. military veterans who choose to take
their own lives EVERY FUCKING MONTH! These veterans are people who were used
then discarded like last week’s newspaper.
On this Armistice Day, I again salute those veterans, from the
armed forces of all nations who use their training, intelligence and compassion
to seek ways in which our governments can find peace without increased
militarization of the planet and our ways of life.
You may thank me, and I'd be honored, for my resistance to
imperial war, for my support of the National Liberation Front of Vietnam, for
my continued activism that nourishes my soul and gives me reason to live and
create. Just don't blindly thank
me for anything you don't know about.
Perhaps that's why I can't seem to find my name on that Wall in a waking
state.
Hal Muskat, VFP SF (69)
“Sir, NO Sir!”
(Cover photo "Win Magazine" September 1969 as I walk
in to my 2nd Ft. Dix, NJ, Courts Martial for distribution of "unauthorized
literature.”)
END
ARMISTICE DAY 2026
