When I was a little boy my neighbor’s dad told me about life in World War I. He had a fairly easy job and didn’t see any real action, but he said that it was very exciting to see Europe as a young man. Of course, those were the days when older people could talk to children about their life and experiences without being immediately suspected of being a pervert...
There was a hospital nearby to where I grew up where they STILL had WW I veterans in it, mostly victims of gas.
This is a very cool place to go if you visit the Chicago area:
www.cantigny.org (the First Division Museum).
The exhibits and re-creations are awesome....you become a part of the WW1 battlefield and the times.
Cantigny was part of the summer country estate of Col. Robert McCormick. From 1914 to the early fifties he was editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune in its (conservative) glory days.
At the outbreak of war, General Pershing asked McCormick to serve on his staff in France.
Under heavy artillery and small arms fire, the Colonel led his 1st Division unit in the freeing of the German-held village of Cantigny.
He was so taken with this particular battle that when he returned home from the trenches he changed the name of his estate from "Red Oaks" to "Cantigny" and began his Museum on its grounds.
McCormick received the Distinguished Service Medal for his outstanding leadership in WW1 battlefield action.
If you are a history buff and if you ever get to Wheaton, Illinois (30 miles west of Chicago in Du Page county) you owe it to yourself and any children to visit the Cantigny Museum. It has a permanent WW1 outdoors tank exhibit...and the kiddlies can climb and clamber on the tanks.
There's also a dining room, the McCormick mansion to tour (oh, my....is it interesting, you could park a Mack truck in the fireplaces in many of the rooms, photos here and there of visiting notable guests of the day....including the Perons who were frequent visitors).
Also you can see the fascinating McCormick family mausoleum fashioned after a Greek "meeting place for the exchange of news"....and some really gorgeous rose gardens that boggle the mind.
I consider it an honor to extend greetings on this Memorial Day weekend to all freeper vets. Your service is so appreciated not only by my family but by the members of this forum and their families as well. God bless you all.
Leni