On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns fell silent on the Western Front.

Tomorrow marks the day that Great War ended, the War to end all War.

This is a day sadly forgotten by many Americans . It's a day off from school, a chance to sleep in, a sale day for stores.

My own grandpa, John Joseph Harding, was one of the men who went with Black Jack Pershing overseas to France. The youngest kid of a large farm family, he was bored on the farm and at age 12, ran off to join the circus. His pa caught him and whipped his butt. When he was 18, he ran away again and joined the Army. His pa couldn't do anything about that.

Grandpa served several months in the trenches and battlefields. He caught both pneumonia and scarlet fever and after spending some time in the hospital, he was sent home.

Grandpa won no medals and wasn't written about in the paper. He never talked about his experiences in the War. But he once said that he couldn't live with himself if he had done nothing when others needed help.

Though his health was ruined, he worked hard to support his family and was even later on in life, able to tromp around the Civil War battlefields and historic sights where he was happiest. He was the greatest, most fair and balanced historian I have ever known, and self-taught.

Tomorrow my kids and I will stand in the cold and rain to pay homage to the veterans of this war--all wars, but especially those of this forgotten war. There will be a ceremony later on at the cemetery, among the graves, attended by very few. It's the least we can do to pay honor to Grandpa and the other regular guys and farm boys like him.

Well said.

To absent friends.

May we never forget the sacrifices made by so many.

No matter what we think about the cause, or the outcome, of a war, the soldiers are deserving of our thoughts. They did and saw things most of us only see in our nightmares. Even those terrors are only a shadow of the truth.
As George Orwell wrote "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

To all those that sacrificed a part or all of their lives "Thank You"

To all those that sacrificed a part or all of their lives "Thank You"
Yes thank you.

I posted this twice before here on allforums, but we have some new members, and I'd like to share it again if I may...

Today is Veterans Day, and despite whatever feelings you may have about the military, or war, this is a day when we should take a moment to remember the sacrifices made by ordinary citizens to defend this country.

With this in mind I'm going to repost something I posted back in May and November 2004. It is a diary kept by my great-uncle when he served in WWI. It contains an entry made 88 years ago today.

When my grandmother passed away several years ago, I was the executor of her estate and in going through her possessions I came across a notebook kept by her brother who served in France during WWI. I also found his army discharge papers. His name was Hannibal Davis, he served in the artillery, and his civilian occupation was listed as "egg candler". The notebook is very short, and it appears to have some pages missing, but it is intact from the time he sailed for England to his arrival back in this country. He was a relatively uneducated man, but his journal does not lack poignancy or eloquence.

It begins on May 20, 1918

May 20- Sailed for England.

May 23- Halifax. Big fog.

May 24- On our way again. Convoy of 17 ships & 7 Destroyers arrived 5 P.M.

June 2- Subs arrived. 3 sank, some fight. Boys stole all the grub.

June 3/4- Sailing up the river Thames.

June 5- Landed at Tillsbury Dock, London, left on train for Winchester, arrived at 6 P.M.

June 6- Took bath but no eats.

June 7- Passed through town where Ma lived, arrived at Southhampton, took boat for France.

June 8- Landed at La Havre, took long hike to camp.

June 9- Loaded in boxcars, 50 men to a car.

June 10- Arrived at (Jenue?), living in a church. Got our guns, having lots of drill.

July 5- Received gas masks and helmets.

July 10- Left France (presumably for Belgium)

July 11- Unloaded at (Gare?)

July 12- Camp (Coetuquidan?) Napoleons Camp, meaning Camp of Death (?)

July 15- Battery fired at practice and drew horses, drilled with them until 8/15.

August 15- Left for front. Passed through Paris on our way, arrived at Epinal on 17th. Billeted in Hotel De Villa.

August 18- First sight of Hun, fired on us from air.

August 22- After long hike, arrived at front, got into position at 8 A.M.

August 24- Fired our first shot at Fritz and had some fight until the 29th. Fired and received lots of gas, put our masks on for first time.

Sept. 1- Left our position hiked for 14 days passing through Nancy, and other large towns. Sure tired. In reserve at St. Mihiel, saw the whole fight. Rested one night and on the hike again, until the 24th. 24 nights of hiking, all our feet sore, and not much to eat.

Sept. 24- At the front again. Was gassed the first night, shells falling all around us.

Sept. 26- Big drive on the Argonne started at 2:30 A.M. never heard such a noise in all my life. The ground is shaking all around us. Drove them back, are advancing about 8 kilos, the Germans down two of our balloons.

Sept. 27- Fighting just ahead of us, on the go again, driving them back, nothing to eat yet. Passed the Huns first-line trenches, inspected all of their dugouts. Still on the go, Huns shelling hell out of us, about all our horses dead, some men. Into (Cheppy?) at 2:30 A.M. Dead doughboys and Huns all around. So tired we went to sleep on the ground. One man killed while we were sleeping.

Sept. 28- Fired awhile and moved forward again, dead Dutch all over, some Americans crossed an open place, got shelled, lost some horses, pulled into position at 5 P.M. Rained all night, in mud up to our waists, firing like hell, gun red hot and full of mud.

Sept. 29- The Huns are giving us hell. Trying to counter-attack, firing from all sides. We are in a wedge, Captain told us to give them hell if we wanted to get out of here, we sure are doing our best. We drove them back 1,000 yards, some relief, was sure of a hand-to-hand fight. Nothing to eat yet but a piece of raw bacon.

Sept. 30- Fight still on. Gave us mustard gas all night, and H.E. killed a lot of men and horses. Call it death valley. Our gun blew up, two men killed and my sergeant, Max Fournier, poor old Max. Don't know if I'm going to get out of it or not, but am going to fight like hell to.

Oct. 1- Still alive, about all our horses killed last night, lots of men gassed. Threw up in my mask, but kept it on. Got a meal of corn willies and hardtack. Tasted like chicken and angel-food cake. They say we are to be relieved, still fighting.

Oct. 3- We leave tonight. Still shelling us.

Oct. 4- Left Death Valley, on the road back. A hard looking bunch. I lost everything I had, hat and coat included, but it feels good to be alive. On the road for 3 days, met Willie Weber and Harris on the way back. They gave me bread, jam, and beer. I will sure remember them.

Oct. 7- Arrived at Arize-La-Brulee. Sleeping in hayloft, am sure dirty.

Oct. 8- Took a much-needed bath.

Oct. 12- Pulled out and are on our way again.

Oct. 20- On the front again.

Oct. 26- Change positions. Lots of rats and cooties, shells going over but fighting is tame.

Oct. 27- Ditto.

Nov. 7- Our doughboys relieved by wildcats.

Nov. 9- Fired barrage from 6 to 9. Went over the top with the doughboys as a liason man. Dodged machine-gun bullets all day, sure is exciting.

Nov. 10- Went back to our battery.

Nov. 11 1918- Fired all morning until 11 A.M. They told us the war was over, we sure went wild. And on my birthday, just think of it.

Nov. 12- Everything is quiet, it seems so funny we can't realize the war is over.

Dec. 2- Left dugouts, living in barracks in woods. Stayed in wood for a month, full of cooties. I would rather fight than stay here.

1919

Jan. 21- Left for Dagonville.

Feb. 4- Turned our guns in. Damn glad. Living conditions rotten.

Mar. 6- Left for Le Mans.

Mar. 11- Arrived at Savigne Laveque, swell town. Stayed here 1 month. Got a shot in the arm.

Mar. 31- Left for Brest.

Apr. 1- Landed at Brest.

Apr. 2- Deloused

Apr. 3- Worked as stevedores for 3 days.

Apr. 11- Boarded ship, 12 noon, sailed at 5 P.M.

Apr. 14- Very sea-sick. Have been all the time, but am Boston bound on the steamship S.S. Vedic.

Apr. 18- Big storm at sea, waves coming over the ship, still sick.

July 22- Arrived at Boston, rousing reception.

I would like to take a moment to thank all the veterans on this board, past and present, for their service, and to express my hope that our soldiers currently serving around the world come home safe.

Vilepagan,
That is an incredible historical document.

Have you thought about donating it to your local library's archives?

I know it means much to your family, but I think it's important to keep and maintain first-hand documents of this kind for future students and historians to read and study, and the archivists would be most grateful to have it and care for it.

Vilepagan,
That is an incredible historical document.

Have you thought about donating it to your local library's archives?

I know it means much to your family, but I think it's important to keep and maintain first-hand documents of this kind for future students and historians to read and study, and the archivists would be most grateful to have it and care for it.

Thanks Ren, and yes it's a pretty cool little book. I intend that it will end up in a museum or archives someday. I was thinking of contacting the National WWI museum.

http://www.libertymemorialmuseum.org/

Thanks for sharing that, Vile. :thumbs:

Thanks for sharing that, Vile. :thumbs:
*gasps*

sedan used a smiley.

That was a very interesting read. Fortunate that you found this document!

Thanks for sharing that Vile. My one grandfather died in WWI. The other made it home. It is quite the read. Even though some days are just one line they manage to transport us into a very different world. The older I get the more graphic the images are in my mind and the deeper the emotion associated with it.