Veterans' Day, the Armistice

        Nov 11, 1918, the signing of the Armistice, brought to an end World War I. When General John J. (Black Jack)Pershing of the US Army undertook the Meuse-Argonne offensive the objective was to cut the German railroad lines feeding the Western Front. The battle lasted 47 days and engaged 1,200,000 American troops. The heavy fighting in the Argonne Forest resulted in those killed and wounded being 10% of the total, a huge amount. As a result of this endeavor the end of the war was in sight. The Germans and their allies had finally had enough.

            At the time of the peace signing these years of conflict, 1914-1918, were called “the war to end all wars.” For two and a half years the battle was waged  in Europe. On one side were the Central Powers: Germany and Austria-Hungary and later Turkey and Bulgaria. On the other side were the Allied Powers: France, Britain, Russia and later, Italy. America's leaders attempted to stay out of the mammoth squabble. In the spring of 1917 US President Woodrow Wilson, a man known for his desire for peace, declared us in, another ally to the Allied Powers.

           It took months to raise the United States Army. Men across the nation were required to register for the draft. Training, housing, outfitting, transporting across an ocean did not happen overnight.  So far I have only read the draft card of my maternal grandfather, an immigrant from Sweden. I am sure that there were  many more in my family lines since the other ancestral side had been in this country since the 1600's in New England, Virginia, North Carolina.

           I honor this day, Nov 11, because it is the day set aside to think, to consider those possibilities of what my life might be like had not others over the generations chosen to do their part to keep this country free and to offer these freedoms to other countries. WWI was not the end of war in any way, the Armistice just offered a break for our world before another began.

         I admire a dear friend who was part of taking the beach in Anzio, Italy, in WWII. My husband's uncle has a grave site in Manila, the Philippines, losing his life in an air-battle in the Pacific Theater of that war. My genealogical research has informed me of a British cousin who served in the RAF during the time of the Blitz across the ocean. Other Brit relatives share how life was for them during that horrendous time.

           Wars continued, lives lost, with often not many years between hot spots warring throughout the globe. I remember how I felt when the news came that an older cousin had been killed by a sniper's bullet in the Korean Conflict. My husband was trained and served as a medic in between Korea and Vietnam. Friends, neighbors, relatives have been part of the Vietnam War.

          Genealogical research has shown me ancestors who were part of the Civil War in this nation. Some even came from those with the Quaker beliefs, feeling that as citizens of this country there is an obligation. I have records of a great great great great great (5x) grandfather who was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. I am sure there was more than this one ancestor of that time period involved. All of these warriors provided something that helped to make my life what it is today. I am grateful to them, and for others like them, in this country and abroad. Freedom is a priceless commodity.