by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The "Armistice," or the initial agreement to end the Great War (later known as the First World War or World War I) was signed one century ago today in a fancy railroad car in the forests of France. The document was signed at 11:00 a.m. local time - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - a date which was later appropriated by the United States government to serve as its "Veterans' Day."
The "war to end war" actually began gearing up for action in 1914, with many seeing the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary, as the match that finally lit the fumes of nationalist rage which were seeping across Europe. The United States managed to avoid entry into the Great War until the spring of 1917, and although U.S. casualties were nowhere near the levels sustained by the actual European combatants, they were substantial anyway.
All told, somewhere near 20 million people lost their lives in the First World War and even more than that were wounded, many grievously. The United States suffered just over 117 thousand war deaths and had 200,000 troops who returned home bearing physical wounds.
The war was ghastly on a scale the world had never seen before. Poison gases were in widespread use on the battlefields, and airplanes were dropping bombs on the combatants. Airplane pilots were having deadly "dogfights" in the air above the battlefields. Military and commercial ships were being sunk at sea by the new technology of submarine warfare, and soldiers on land were digging trenches from which to fire on the enemy soldiers who were, in turn, firing back from their own trenches.
It was a bloody awful mess, and the war was a breeding ground for death, disease, and despair.
But it finally came to a merciful end one hundred years ago today. The Allied Powers of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States were victorious over the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The Great War had ended - but sadly the concept of "wars" lived on.
Some personal notes:
Neither of my parents were born at the time for the First World War and none of my grandparents served in that world conflict. There were, however, many veterans of World War I still around while I was growing up. One whom I remember quite well was Mr. A. Dean Scott, a retired school teacher in my hometown who had, at one time been principal of the school. Mr. Scott would occasionally show up at school as a substitute teacher when I was in high school. He was a favorite of our class because he could be so easily distracted. As soon as we entered a room where he was teaching, one particular student would raise his hand and ask "Mr. Scott, what do you remember about trench warfare in World War I?" And we would all close our books as Mr. Scott engaged in a topic that took him back to his youth on the battlefields of France. He could talk through the whole hour with ease.
The other veteran whom I remember quite well was M. Waldo Hatler who lived in Neosho, Missouri, and was a Medal of Honor recipient from World War I. Our high school principal, a retired Army lieutenant colonel by the name of Patrick W. Laurie brought Mr. Hatler to our school to address a student assembly. It was memorable just seeing an individual who had exhibited such a high level of bravery in the war, but sadly our guest was too old and frail to engage well with a bunch of rambunctious high school students.
A few years later as a high school history teacher I gave some of my students an assignment to go out and interview people in the community regarding their encounters with history. Several managed to do interviews related to World War II, and a lucky few found World War I veterans who agreed to share their remembrances.
But now all of those veterans of the Great War are gone, and most of those who saw service in the Second World War have also faded from view - and now stand lonely vigils as headstones. Today, Veterans' Day, is a time to remember and honor their service to our nation and indeed to the world.
To all of America's veterans, those still living and those who have gone on, thank you for your service to the cause of freedom. Let us pray for a day when civilization can move beyond the barbarism of war.
Citizen Journalist
The "Armistice," or the initial agreement to end the Great War (later known as the First World War or World War I) was signed one century ago today in a fancy railroad car in the forests of France. The document was signed at 11:00 a.m. local time - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - a date which was later appropriated by the United States government to serve as its "Veterans' Day."
The "war to end war" actually began gearing up for action in 1914, with many seeing the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary, as the match that finally lit the fumes of nationalist rage which were seeping across Europe. The United States managed to avoid entry into the Great War until the spring of 1917, and although U.S. casualties were nowhere near the levels sustained by the actual European combatants, they were substantial anyway.
All told, somewhere near 20 million people lost their lives in the First World War and even more than that were wounded, many grievously. The United States suffered just over 117 thousand war deaths and had 200,000 troops who returned home bearing physical wounds.
The war was ghastly on a scale the world had never seen before. Poison gases were in widespread use on the battlefields, and airplanes were dropping bombs on the combatants. Airplane pilots were having deadly "dogfights" in the air above the battlefields. Military and commercial ships were being sunk at sea by the new technology of submarine warfare, and soldiers on land were digging trenches from which to fire on the enemy soldiers who were, in turn, firing back from their own trenches.
It was a bloody awful mess, and the war was a breeding ground for death, disease, and despair.
But it finally came to a merciful end one hundred years ago today. The Allied Powers of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and the United States were victorious over the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The Great War had ended - but sadly the concept of "wars" lived on.
Some personal notes:
Neither of my parents were born at the time for the First World War and none of my grandparents served in that world conflict. There were, however, many veterans of World War I still around while I was growing up. One whom I remember quite well was Mr. A. Dean Scott, a retired school teacher in my hometown who had, at one time been principal of the school. Mr. Scott would occasionally show up at school as a substitute teacher when I was in high school. He was a favorite of our class because he could be so easily distracted. As soon as we entered a room where he was teaching, one particular student would raise his hand and ask "Mr. Scott, what do you remember about trench warfare in World War I?" And we would all close our books as Mr. Scott engaged in a topic that took him back to his youth on the battlefields of France. He could talk through the whole hour with ease.
The other veteran whom I remember quite well was M. Waldo Hatler who lived in Neosho, Missouri, and was a Medal of Honor recipient from World War I. Our high school principal, a retired Army lieutenant colonel by the name of Patrick W. Laurie brought Mr. Hatler to our school to address a student assembly. It was memorable just seeing an individual who had exhibited such a high level of bravery in the war, but sadly our guest was too old and frail to engage well with a bunch of rambunctious high school students.
A few years later as a high school history teacher I gave some of my students an assignment to go out and interview people in the community regarding their encounters with history. Several managed to do interviews related to World War II, and a lucky few found World War I veterans who agreed to share their remembrances.
But now all of those veterans of the Great War are gone, and most of those who saw service in the Second World War have also faded from view - and now stand lonely vigils as headstones. Today, Veterans' Day, is a time to remember and honor their service to our nation and indeed to the world.
To all of America's veterans, those still living and those who have gone on, thank you for your service to the cause of freedom. Let us pray for a day when civilization can move beyond the barbarism of war.
