Sunday, November 11, 2018

The Guns Fall Silent



The big guns on the Western Front were firing right up to the minute of the Armistice. This short recording was taken near American positions close to the river Moselle.




Our Great Great Uncle, Private John Q. Adams of Killeen, Texas, was wounded by machine gun fire after the Armistice had been signed; word of the peace hadn't reached that sector of the front. He died ten days later. Rest in Peace.

I'll leave you with this, At The Cenotaph by Seigried Sasson.

I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff, 
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph: 
Unostentatious and respectful, there 
He stood, and offered up the following prayer. 
'Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial 
Means; their discredited ideas revive; 
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial 
Proof of the pride and power of being alive; 
Men's biologic urge to readjust 
The Map of Europe, Lord of Hosts, increase; 
Lift up their hearts in large destructive lust; 
And crown their heads with blind vindictive Peace.' 
The Prince of Darkness to the Cenotaph 
Bowed. As he walked away I heard him laugh.

LSP

8 comments:

Old NFO said...

The losses were stunning...

LL said...

It led to a crowd there at the Pearly Gates.

Jim said...

And it was just round one.

LindaG said...

Sadly, that prince is still laughing..

Fredd said...

1918 was a God-awful year. The military loss of life during the entire war was minuscule compared to the millions and millions killed by the Spanish flu epidemic.

Not a good year for humans, not even close.

LSP said...

NFO, LL, Jim and Linda -- your comments read like verse!

Well said.

LSP said...

We forget about the killer flu epidemic, Fredd. Terrible and right on top of the war.

RHT447 said...

I recall a story told by someone who had interviewed and old man who had been 8 or 9 years old in 1918. At that time he living with his family on their farm in a rural community. Everyone in his family got the flu. He awoke one morning, and being the first up, went to stoke the fire in the stove. After that, he made his way around the house, only to discover that he was the only survivor. Everyone else was dead.

the young lad made his way some distance to a neighboring farm house, only to find everyone there dead as well. In the interview, he said that at the time he briefly considered ending his own life, as he could not bear the thought of being the last person alive on earth.

He eventually made his way to a third farm house, and found others there who had survived as well.