Have we forgotten?

2018-10-31T11:48:41-04:00

Has anyone heard any mention that we are approaching the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I? I haven't

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 31 at 2018 11:58 AM

2018-10-31T11:58:40-04:00

CPT Jack Durish I actually had a blurb regarding this for my Knights of Columbus Assembly's monthly newsletter for November!

Response by CW5 Jack Cardwell made Oct 31 at 2018 12:13 PM

2018-10-31T12:13:14-04:00

Yes. I was reading out it this morning .

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Oct 31 at 2018 12:13 PM

2018-10-31T12:13:48-04:00

Most have forgotten here in the US. The first World War was a far more destructive and costly war in Europe than here.

I was recently (August of this year) in England with my wife and she is from small town England and her relatives pre 1960 were mostly from the London area (Essex mostly) for generations. Almost every able bodied man seems to have served at some point and many did not come back. When you go to these small towns almost all of them have a memorial for the war dead and every one of them you see will have 3-4 times the number of names for those killed in action for WWI vs. WWII. The war ravaged Great Britain and other European powers.

Many of her ancestors fought in both world wars and the locals there in the UK remember. We, not as much. Not that no one does but many do not.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Oct 31 at 2018 12:36 PM

2018-10-31T12:36:21-04:00

A few have mentioned it on here, and I've seen for the last year in my American Legion magazine, next year marks the 100th anniversary of the American Legion.

Response by CW2 Michael Bodnar made Oct 31 at 2018 1:02 PM

2018-10-31T13:02:24-04:00

I think that if it's not taught in history classes today, it will never get the full attention that it truly deserves. Yes, all of the veterans of that war have long since passed on but their legacies still live on. To answer your question, a vast majority of the population have forgotten about it and it's a shame.

Response by MSgt Richard Randall made Oct 31 at 2018 1:03 PM

2018-10-31T13:03:03-04:00

No, I don’t forget. This is my uncle Roy’s WW I shadowbox with the WW I Victory Medal. He’s got five battle stars:

Champagne-Marne
Aisne-Marne
Oise-Aisne
Meuse-Argonne
Defensive-Sector

He was also a member of “La Societe Des 40 Hommes Et 8 Chevaux” or 40 Men and 8 Horses.
He and my aunt didn’t have any kids so they left me a box of his medals and some other stuff. I picked out what I thought was most important and had them put in a shadow box. When I look at it I really wonder what kind of special kind of hell those folks had to go through in order to survive.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Oct 31 at 2018 2:29 PM

2018-10-31T14:29:34-04:00

I don't forget, CPT Jack Durish. Both my grandfathers served in the Army during the Great War, although neither served overseas. Any discussion of WWI (and your photo) brings to mind Lieutenant Colonel John McRae's poem, In Flanders Fields, which is as follows:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Oct 31 at 2018 7:16 PM

2018-10-31T19:16:06-04:00

As in most wars, the official end of war in 1918 did not coincide with the end of the killing my friend CPT Jack Durish. Direct fire killing occurred in western and eastern Europe - especially in Russia as the Communist revolution was still claiming lives.
My paternal grandfather and his brother served as British Army lance corporals from 1915 or so until 1918.
Unexploded ordnance continued to plague farmers, souvenir collectors and school children who happened to pick up debris which exploded.

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown 1stSgt Eugene Harless SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx TSgt Joe C. SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Robert Ruck SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT Robert George CPL Eric Escasio SPC Private RallyPoint Member MSG Andrew White SGT Private RallyPoint Member