What caused World War I Armistice Day (Veterans Day) was the refusal of soldiers to fight!

[Better Believe It]

November 11, 2010

On the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month ...
Laying Down Arms
By PETER LINEBAUGH

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the Great Powers of the World signed the armistice laying down arms after four years of the bloodiest war in history. That was 1918.

Now, we call it Veteran's Day.

What caused the armistice was the refusal of soldiers to fight. They refused 'to go over the top' anymore. In Russia, France, England, Italy they refused to participate in the slaughter which had begun in 1914.

What we learn from Armistice Day is that the soldier is the front line of the peace movement.

Sailors and soldiers mutinied against the war, turning their arms not on so-called "enemies," namely brother soldiers from across the world: instead, they turned their arms upon the officers who otherwise sent them to the butchery of the trenches or ordered them to a freezing death in battles at sea.

So: Honor the soldier who takes direct action for peace. Honor the soldier who thinks. Honor the soldier who brings Empire to its end.

Bring the troops home!


Please read the full article at:

http://www.counterpunch.org/linebaugh11112010.html


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GI'S MARCHED AND LED A MASS "BRING THE GI'S HOME" MOVEMENT IN 1946.

January 4, 1946 (Friday)
The United States Department of War announced a slowdown in demobilization of U.S. Army soldiers in the Pacific theater, cutting army discharges by 60 percent, from 800,000 down to 300,000 per month. In the week that followed, American soldiers around the world protested, in the Philippines, France, Guam, Germany, India and the United States. The War Department reversed the decision as a result of pressure from the "'Bring Em Home' Movement".



BAYONETS DISPERSE GI'S IN FRANKFORT; Armed Guards Break Up March on McNarney's Headquarters to Speed Return Home 20 Reported Arrested Vienna Soldiers Protest 1,800 in London Join Movement
By KATHLEEN McLAUGHLIN By Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
January 10, 1946

FRANKFORT ON THE MAIN, Germany, Jan. 9--Four thousand United States soldiers in a mutinous mood, who tried to rush headquarters of the United States Forces in the European Theatre here tonight, with the objective of forcing Gen. Joseph T. McNarney to confront them on their demand to be sent home, were stopped at bayonet point by a small group of guards.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70F14F73F5E1B7B93C2A8178AD85F428485F9


GI'S YELL TAUNTS AT GENERAL OF EUROPEAN AREA
Threaten to Hold Protest Meetings Nightly
January 10, 1946

Thousands of irate GIs and WACs, protesting the redeployment slowdown, marched on Gen. McNarney's headquarters tonight, challenging the European theater commander to meet them and loudly criticizing "politicians" for delaying their return home.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/462845442.html?dids=462845442:462845442&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+10%2C+1946&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=GIS+YELL+TAUNTS+AT+GENERAL+OF+EUROPEAN+AREA&pqatl=google



MANILA GI'S DRAFT PROTEST TO ARMY
By ROBERT TRUMBULL By Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
January 11, 1946

MANILA, Jan. 10--The Manila soldier sentiment against the reduced demobilization crystalized here tonight in a meeting of 156 soldier delegates elected by as many separate Army outfits in the Manila area. The delegates claim to represent 139,000 men, all interested in getting home.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0B17FE3E5E1B7B93C3A8178AD85F428485F9




1,000 GI'S IN SHANGHAI PETITION PATTERSON
January 15, 1946

SHANGHAI, Jan. 14 (AP)--A thousand United States Army enlisted men met Secretary of War Patterson at the airport today and petitioned an opportunity to discuss demands for a mere clear-cut policy on discharges.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70617FC3E5E1B7B93C7A8178AD85F428485F9




EISENHOWER CITES DANGER IN PROTESTS
January 13, 1946

TORONTO, Ont., Jan. 12 (AP)-- The wave of "bring them home" public opinion in the United States is blinding American occupation troops to the importance of the Allies' "unfinished task" in Germany and Japan, United States Chief of Staff Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said at a news conference today.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1091FF63C5B16738FDDAA0994D9405B8688F1D3


And of course during the Vietnam War we saw the beginning of a mass anti-war movement among U.S. soldiers which helped end the war and saved many thousands of GI's and Vietnamese lives.