Chicago city center on Vets' Day

No animals were harmed during this event - see NOTE below.

The name is in fact a contraction of Veterans' Day, and the official designation is Memorial Day. In Chicago it involved a very long procession, here at about midday the numerous participants are still assembling and the main streets are closed to traffic.


"America's Forgotten Victory"

The Korean War Veterans' Association had hired a bus for some of its members, with an atttached banner referring to "America's Forgotten Victory". As the Korean War was a United Nations operation in which numerous member countries were involved, including a total of 17 which provided fighting troops, this expression was perhaps a little "economical with the verité". (A friend of mine fought in the war, and he was in the British Army.)

How could the USA's citizens ever forget the war with the delightful M.A.S.H. repeats to remind them of it?

To talk of a victory implies a winner and a loser, plus an end to a war. The Korean War resulted in a stalemate, with the combatants back (more or less) at their starting line. There has been no peace treaty, 28,000 American troops are stationed in the South, and both combatants remain effectively on a war footing. "Une drôle de victoire", as the French might say. (But, in fairness, I am sure that the North Koreans have also claimed it as a victory.)


NOTE: In English parlance, a vet is a veterinary surgeon.