Posted on 11/11/2009 2:56:52 PM PST by NormsRevenge
PARIS (AFP) – Former foes France and Germany held a joint World War I Armistice Day ceremony for the first time as events around the globe Wednesday honoured the millions killed in the conflict.
President Barack Obama, speaking at a ceremony in the United States, hailed "the brave men and women of this young nation, generations of them, who above all else believed in and fought for a set of ideals."
In London, Queen Elizabeth II led tributes to the war dead, including the growing number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. But the last British veteran of the 1914-18 conflict boycotted official events.
President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel rekindled the flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and vowed that their nations would never wage war on each other again.
"We are not commemorating the victory of one people over another but an ordeal that was equally terrible for each side," Sarkozy declared before a military honour guard and crowds of on-lookers.
German leaders have attended World War I memorial events in France before, most notably in 1984 when Chancellor Helmut Kohl took President Francois Mitterrand's hand near Verdun, the scene of one of the war's fiercest battles.
But Merkel's visit was the first time a German leader had attended the Armistice Day ceremony in Paris and was seen as a signal of ever closer ties between the two neighbours.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (L) leave the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, after an Armistice Day ceremony, marking the 91th anniversary of the end of World War I. Former foes France and Germany held a joint World War I Armistice Day ceremony for the first time as events around the globe Wednesday honoured the millions killed in the conflict. (AFP/Pool/Philippe Wojazer)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel attend the Armistice Day World War One commemoration at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris November 11, 2009. Chancellor Merkel is the first German leader to attend the Armistice Day ceremonies in Paris. France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon is seen at rear. REUTERS/Eric Feferberg/Pool (FRANCE ANNIVERSARY POLITICS MILITARY)
A 107-year-old man who was born in Wyre Piddle, near Pershore, is the last surviving veteran in the world to have seen action in both world wars. Claude Choules lied about his age so he could join the Royal Navy as a 14-year-old in 1916. He served aboard HMS Revenge and witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy in 1918. In 1926 he transferred permanently to the Royal Australian Navy after a spell as an instructor at a naval depot. During the Second World War, Mr Choules was an acting torpedo officer and chief demolition officer on the western side of the Australian continent in the event of a Japanese invasion. He was later transferred to the Naval Dockyard Police (NDP) with which he served until his retirement aged 55.
I heard a news report that the son of Alvin York met the daughter of Gary Cooper at the Liberty Memorial today in KC.
Mark
i have a newspaper, the fort wayne indiana news and sentinel, dated nov. 10, 1918. it’s the extra edition with huge screaming headlines “AUTOCRACY FALLS!!! GERMAN THRONE CRUMBLES AND HOHENZOLLERNS MUST GET OUT!!!” the paper itself is crumbling a bit, but it is displayed in the entry hall of my house. it is sooo cool.
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