The 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11 th month, 1918, the guns went silent !

[rgc7]

. In Flanders Fields
Lieutenant Colonel John Mc Crae

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

We are the dead: shortdays ago,
We lived , fel 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 falling hnds we throw
The torch : be yours to hold it high
If you break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep though poppies grow
in Flanders Fields.

May 3, 1915, Ypres, Belgium

 

[MTIrish98]

God bless our veterans.

 

[greengael]

Thinking of Veteran friends past and present on this day!

 

[perseverare]

RGC
assuming you may have visited Pt Pleasant Beach in Jersey:

When younger I was there most summer days, every day the loud speaker system would announce:
"eleven eleven" @ 11:00 AM.
I wonder if there was a related significance to that.

 

[rgc7]

Pers,
I,ve been to just about all the beachs and beach towns in NJ, but I never realized that Point Pleasant
did that. I hope they still do. I also tip my glass to your brother yesterday.
See my tread on History, our keynote speaker was quite interesting and informative !

 

[hvillebill]

My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and I cannot imagine what he faced. Grandfather came from Germany and my dad was born in NYC. He knew there were relatives fighting for the Wehrmacht.

Once when I was about 13 we were studying WWII at old St. Joseph's School. I went home one day and asked my dad if he killed anyone, almost as if it was nothing. He replied that he did, but it was either kill or be killed.

My father-in-law, who is still alive at 93 years young, fought in both WWII and the Korean Conflict. To this day he will not talk about what he witnessed.

War is a terrible thing. Sometimes necessary, but terrible nonetheless. Thank you to all of our Veterans.

 

[rgc7]

My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and I cannot imagine what he faced. Grandfather came from Germany and my dad was born in NYC. He knew there were relatives fighting for the Wehrmacht.

Once when I was about 13 we were studying WWII at old St. Joseph's School. I went home one day and asked my dad if he killed anyone, almost as if it was nothing. He replied that he did, but it was either kill or be killed.

My father-in-law, who is still alive at 93 years young, fought in both WWII and the Korean Conflict. To this day he will not talk about what he witnessed.

War is a terrible thing. Sometimes necessary, but terrible nonetheless. Thank you to all of our Veterans.

Hvillebill,,
That is very interesting. my great uncle fought on the Western Front in WW I, and an uncle of mine was a paratrooper at the Battle of the Bulge.
my wife is German and her father was in the Wehrmacht, and his younger brother was in the battle of Stalingrad, and nothing was ever heard from him again. After my Discharge from the Marines, I finished college under the GI Bill, then did graduate work in Spain, ran out of money so I went to Germany to
find work. I used to help delivering Hugh sized computers, and most of the truck drivers were German WWIi
vets. It was also very interesting hearing their stories about how they did everything in their power not to get captured by the Russians. Some swam across rivers to get captured by the British or Americans.
I wrote Tread about the keynote speaker at the Marine 241st birthday that I attended yesterday, but I
see that it was deleated ? In any case, he gave quite a keynote presentation.

 

[rgc7]

Hvillebill,
Where was your father born in NYC ? I was also born and raised there!
very interesting City in The 1930's and 1940's growing up there, The City was very ethnically divided.
I could walk a few blocks from my little Italy and be in the Irish Hells Kitchen, The Jewish section,
China town, German town, etc.
People were all poor. and there were certainly prejudices , but not hatred. Hard to explain, but there is a big difference between the two. People respected one another, and got along very well, and
worked ( when jobs where available ) side by side .
One who did not live during that period could not even begin to imagine just how tough life was back then , how much those poor people love America, and just how patriotic the whole country was during
WWII .

 

[deadirishpoet]

. In Flanders Fields
Lieutenant Colonel John Mc Crae

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

We are the dead: shortdays ago,
We lived , fel 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 falling hnds we throw
The torch : be yours to hold it high
If you break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep though poppies grow
in Flanders Fields.

May 3, 1915, Ypres, Belgium

An unbelievable piece of History. I have seen modern warfare up close and the horrors of it, but the fighting in that time to me seemed much more grizzly, and the mental damage to each survivor regardless of which side the person cought on had to of been a tremendous burden to carry for the rest of their lives.

To have the wherewithal to write such a piece of work directly a day after losing his friend in that time is amazing to say the least

Each time I hear of safe spaces I want to know.............I do not want to take away from your topic brother sorry

 

[onlyonenow]

An unbelievable piece of History. I have seen modern warfare up close and the horrors of it, but the fighting in that time to me seemed much more grizzly, and the mental damage to each survivor regardless of which side the person had to of been on carried a tremendous burden to carry for the rest of their lives.

To have the wherewithal to write such a piece of work directly a day after losing his friend in that time is amazing to say the least

Each time I hear of safe spaces I want to know.............I do not want to take away from your topic brother sorry

WWI was horrific in ways WW2 was not. The meat grinder that was trench warfare was endless and so terrible that it effectively paralyzed france and England when they could have slapped down Hitler early on.

Look up the battle Ypres. Incredible casualties for literally yards gained.

 

[deadirishpoet]

WWI was horrific in ways WW2 was not. The meat grinder that was trench warfare was endless and so terrible that it effectively paralyzed france and England when they could have slapped down Hitler early on.

Look up the battle Ypres. Incredible casualties for literally yards gained.

I am familiar with the history. I just couldn't imagine the difficulties of fighting g such s war.

I have seen war. Felt it carried dead brothers, but never in that type of environment. Like you've stated for just yards

The formations they used to advance had to of been frightening day in day out.

"A meat grinder"......I just can't imagine how you muster up the courage other than for your brothers

 

[rgc7]

An unbelievable piece of History. I have seen modern warfare up close and the horrors of it, but the fighting in that time to me seemed much more grizzly, and the mental damage to each survivor regardless of which side the person cought on had to of been a tremendous burden to carry for the rest of their lives.

To have the wherewithal to write such a piece of work directly a day after losing his friend in that time is amazing to say the least

Each time I hear of safe spaces I want to know.............I do not want to take away from your topic brother sorry

Poet,
You did not take away from my post in any way, but you added a great deal as always. When the speaker at our 241 birthday, described the battle of Okinawa, I though about your Uncle and then about all you and your family have given and sacrificed for their love of our great country ! Thank you and all your family !

Semper Fi, Brother !