All it takes for me to tear up about The Great War is “The Green Fields of France” by the Dropkick Murphy’s.
Fifty three out of sixteen thousand. And I understand that of those 53, 13 are called Double Thankful because they didn't lose anyone in World War II either.
In France there is a single village in the entire country which did not lose a son during World War I.
The great National Theater production of War Horse is currently traveling the world. No one can forget THAT war after seeing it.
Does this guy realize this is Veterans Day and even though it honors past and present servicemen and women, Memorial Day is set aside specifically for remembrance of the dead servicemen and women of the past.
My mother’s American family lost men in both wars.
My grandfather served in WWI in France, my father and father-in-law were WWII vets with combat purple hearts.
None of them wanted to talk about war. My faather, a young Marine who spent 45 days in combat on Okinawa before being injured, was discharged before turning 20 yrs. old, at war’s end.
I wish his editor had caught this gaffe:
“It’s not simply that there are almost no First World War veterans left...”
There are no First World War veterans left, combatants or non-combatants.
The last living veteran of World War I was Florence Green, a British citizen who served in the Allied armed forces, and who died 4 February 2012, aged 110.
The last combat veteran was Claude Choules who served in the British Royal Navy (and later the Royal Australian Navy) and died 5 May 2011, aged 110.
The last veteran who served in the trenches was Harry Patch who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111.
The last Central Powers veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died on 27 May 2008 at the age of 107.
I still think of a Jewish guy that I served with in Germany. He died in an auto accident in California but some of the things we talked about will remain forever.
My grandmother’s only brother died, at age 19, at the Battle of the Bulge. I find it extraordinarily humbling to read about the casualities of WWI and WWII - just the sheer numbers. It puts into perspective when we hear, for example, “100 dead in 2011” in Afghanistan. Please realize, I mean no disrespect towards or belittling of the even a single loss of an American soldier or sailor. It just reminds me how nearly impossible it is for us now, collectively, to understand the kind of sacrifice that was given by prior generations. To lose 100 men a day - or ten times that - was the norm not so long ago.
In the US, the vets organization used to sell plastc poppies for people to wear on Veterans Day. I haven’t seen that happening for a generation now. Always thought it was a nice way to honor our veterans. Guess it’s more a custom of Canada and the Commonwealth nations.
In the US, the vets organization used to sell plastc poppies for people to wear on Veterans Day. I haven’t seen that happening for a generation now. Always thought it was a nice way to honor our veterans. Guess it’s more a custom of Canada and the Commonwealth nations.