Armistice Day 1918 is Veterans Day 2018
11th November 1918 – Armistice ending World War I is signed.
General John Pershing continued the attacks on the Germans, because he did not know when/if the peace treaty (Armistice) would be signed. The HistoryNet article is well worth the time it takes to read it. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the Armistice ending World War I went into effect. Signed by all parties at 05:00 hours that morning, it meant that hostilities should have ended quickly. But troops were still sent into the field to fight and artillery was still fired to get rid of unspent munitions. GEN Pershing is quoted in the article below.
http://www.historynet.com/world-war-i-wasted-lives-on-armistice-day.htm
From the New York Times files below are archival photos taken on Armistice Day and after. You bubbleheads will note the crew of the USS Calumet, a submarine patrol, returning to the Brooklyn Marine Base from sea duty, taken on Nov. 17, 1918.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/world/europe/armistice-day-100th-anniversary-photos.html
These photos cover an expanded period of time and are from various source, including London and Paris. Note the US troops in the parade through London’s Great Arch.
Armistice Day became an official holiday in the US in 1938, and in 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, President Eisenhower changed the name of the Armistice Day holiday to Veterans Day. The date was moved around several times but finally resettled on November 11, where it belongs. Note the differences in the VA health care system between 1930 and now.
World War I was supposed to b e the war to end all wars.
It was not.
There is no such thing.
Category: Support the troops, Veterans in the news, We Remember
Some thought provoking pictures.
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/05/the-fading-battlefields-of-world-war-i/561353/?utm_source=fbb&fbclid=IwAR2w7um28a-LGX7XqahTnQVJZkZrEV0Pae5ZxMTRak0sEKhGqhe3rL3bN6Q
Wow.
The tree overtaking the burial crosses of two graves. A stunning photo to ponder.
“from dust to dust”
Thanks
Some of the most haunting images I have seen. I am particularly moved by the image of the tree overtaking the crosses where soldiers are buried.
Thank you for the link.
Reminds me of Civil War fortifications in the US that are overgrown and barely recognizable to all but those looking for them. In 50 years these also will be.
Azygos, thank you so very much for this link and the photos. I saved each photo with its description to my “Veterans” picture folder. Sometimes, things I see give me pause like non-others. These photos gave we quite a pause for a time of reflection. I cannot imagine the horrors of trench warfare. God rest well, all our brave who died there.
“There is no such thing.”
I believe there will be. Perhaps the next Battle of Megiddo? Until that time we muddle through as best we can.
I hope bad weather does not prevent people from commentating the end of WWI….
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-skips-ww-i-cemetery-visit-due-to-wet-weather-kicking-up-a-storm-of-its-own-2018-11-10
He skips a WWI commemoration event due to rain… while other world leaders attend.
Refuses to visit the DMZ due to fog when ground transportation was easily accomplished.
Refuses to visit troops in Iraq or Afghanistan (because he claims he does not need to).
America first? The only thing Trump ever puts first is himself.
Make excuses for your guy all you want you know damn well those excuses would be bullshit if people were making them for a dem.
Cthulhu: Thank you for your thoughtful and respectful contribution on this day of days. I should like to take a switch to you, one made of hickory.
Choke yourself, Private.
In scanning the headlines this morning, it appeared to me that the ones mainly looking for an excuse were the news media who wanted to cast President Trump in a bad light. If he had actually gone to the ceremony, they would have probably reported that he didn’t have sense enough to come in out of the rain.
They were also bitching about Melania Trump walking on gravel in high heels which shows the general level of petty vindictiveness in play.
The same ones who called her out on wearing comfortable, yet appropriate, shoes when boarding Marine One some time back?
Should tell you that they will bitch if she wore high heels, flats, or went barefoot. I can only conclude that your logical abilities are on par with your writing. Or should I say subpar?
The media do those things, Perry, because they have nothing important to say. Period. They’d complain if Trump put sugar in his coffee instead of taking it black, or if he took his coffee black instead of using sugar.
So, I prefer to ignore their ignorance and focus on what this day is about: remembering the fallen and what might have happened without their sacrifices.
“Refuses to visit the DMZ due to fog when ground transportation was easily accomplished.”
Since you’re obviously an expert, please tell the class the logistics involved in changing from helo transportation due to weather, and forming up a Presidential caravan.
You may begin.
Presidential transportation plans and visits always have a plan B for weather.
Cancellation is not plan B.
Make excuses for your guy all you want we both know they are bullshit.
Blah, blah, blah…
Cthulhu: Can’t you try to be decent, to at least give to those who preceded you on this earth, those who fought, suffered and died, the benefit of some respect and remembrance? Can’t you do that?
A word of advice, Cthulhu. Trolls don’t last very long here. Please refer to the THA FNG FAQ tab at the top right of the screen. Consider this a friendly warning.
Gee whiz, the braindead amoebafart chthugglesnorpe has only NEGATIVE things to say.
This is a day of remembrance, you tiresome, dimwitted slab of dried yak crap, squishblobfish. If you have nothing positive to say, then zip your mouth shut and go away.
You’re going to be very upset when you realize that the sun does not shine from your ass, nor does the world await your golden nuggets of wisdom with breathless anticipation. Asshat.
You are going to be really upset when you finally realize Trump
NO, YOU MORON, YOU ARE GOING TO BE REALLY UPSET. THIS IS MY POST, A MEMORIAL TO THE FALLEN. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY THAT IS WORTHWHILE. – FROM Ex-PH2
I was telling liberals Bill Clinton – AND NOBODY GIVES A DAMN. Ex-PH2
It took a while but two decades later they are finally coming to understand what a piece of crap he is as a person and how his policies where a betrayal of American workers and the middle class.
Hopefully you a smarter than the average –
WE’RE ALL SMARTER THAN AVERAGE AND CERTAINLY SMARTER THAN YOU ARE, YOU SELF-CENTERED JACKASS. THIS IS NOT YOUR PERSONAL PLAYGROUND. IT IS A MEMORIAL POST TO THE FALLEN, PEOPLE WHO GAVE EVERYTHING SO THAT YOU COULD RUN YOUR OBNOXIOUS, INAPPROPIRATE YAP. FROM Ex-PH2
THIS IS A WARNING. SHUT UP, CHTHULHU. FROM Ex-PH2
I don’t care if he is a dirtbag or not. All politicians pretty much are that these days. So long as he keeps doing things I like, like holding the line against socialism, keeping the economy humming and appointing good justices I’m in.
Old Billy the perv really wasn’t that bad either. He lacked a spine which was helpful. When it came down to polls vs his beliefs he picked polls every time. He did give us RBG but that might be gift in the end.
So you’re basically the latest iteration of the Oracle of Delphi? Why don’t we all just line up and kiss your ass. Fuckstick.
This pretentious moron operating under the Lovecraft character’s name is nothing more than an attention whore. IT does not have a decent bone in its worthless body, not an ounce of common decency, period. Nothing.
This is a memorial post, not an opportunity to quarrel over the President.
chthulhu, you slimy crapweasel, shut up now.
What the fuck is wrong with you soldier?
If I may use that term of endearment.
There are most certainly appropriate places to discuss politics, to take politicians to task for what they do and what they don’t. A post dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting in World War I is not one of those places. I resent and am angered by Cthulhu’s using such a post to play politics. I don’t know whether he/she/it served in the US military but greater is the shame if he/she/it did. What we honor this day is both the sacrifice made by those who served in our nation’s military and, this year, the century mark since the bloodshed, but not the pain, of the Great War ended. I will never understand creatures such as Cthulhu. I never want to understand them.
Don’t try. I am about to do the “MODS” thing on this A–HOLE.
I 2nd the motion.
If this numbnut doesn’t have the courtesy to respect the Veteran’s Day meaning and solemnity without casting aspersions (Look it up in your Funk & Wagnel’s) touching off a Claymore in front of him is a reasonable response.
Have at it Ex-PH2, I’ll miss him as much as I do that insufferable poodle dick from UC Berzerkely.
AS you can see, I took engaged in some editorial activity on the squigglethorpe’s comments, becuase they are grossly inappropriate and do not belong here.
I will not apologize nor will I reverse what I did. This is a memorial post, not an open thread for some jackass’s political crapweasel carping. Please stick to the subject, or say nothing.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Shack!
Thanks, Ex-PH2. Well said above.
Thank you, Mick. Sr. Mary Grace didn’t edit her copy very well. – took engaged – eeewww! Oh, well.
The squiushblobfish simply went too far. If this were a general post, I would do nothing. Any more like that from him will get reviewed and treated accordingly. It isn’t about “control”. It’s about what is and is not appropriate to a subject. That’s all.
Roger all; concur.
Please see my comment to Cthulhu below that supports your intent (posted at 1:32 pm).
Still hiding behind that white-supremacist screen name, I see. Remember, Cuntholio, when you accused me of hiding behind anonymity?
Cthulhu:
Today is Veterans Day/Remembrance Day.
That may not matter much to you, but for many of us here at TAH, this day has a very deep and personal meaning.
As such, you’d be well-advised to stop your rude, antagonistic commentary here in this thread. It’s disrespectful and grossly inappropriate on this day of reflection and remembrance.
Knock it off.
Thanks, Mick!
Right in the ten ring, Mick.
I would have assumed you would at least respect a Veterans day / WW1 remembrance post.
Note that I gave that much credit without even considering.
I was appalled to see that I had rather badly misjudged just how low you stoop.
All about you and your opinion huh? Even right here and righ now, huh?Projecting big-time too.
We certainly have our differences. But I would not have believed of you -this- level of shitbaggery.
Congratulations. You have exceeded the lowest of expectations. Go fuck a squirrel you pretentious disrespectful disreputable dingleberry collection of a diarrheitic buzzard.
Oh, BTW:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-says-trump-motorcade-to-wwi-cemetery-would-have-disrupted-traffic
When was the last time we had a President who -avoided- inflicting unplanned lengthy traffic jams on folks?
Before the invention of the wheel?
What a great ceremony just aired from France. So sad that among the best parts was President Trump carrying his own umbrella. Great speech.
So proud of my country and my president. Must add that I am so proud to be a part of this country where those who wish to abuse the privilege are still allowed to speak freely. Very sad, small minded, self-centered bigots like the occasional visitor here who spews nothing but hate. Some day they might learn to express a little gratitude for the gift they are given from the rest of us.
Is there a link to that? If it was live, I missed it – no TV. If no link, that’s okay. Thanks!
Thank you. I enjoyed that.
My maternal grandfather made it home from WW I and spent some time in a North Carolina hospital, recovering from poison gas inhalation. It eventually killed him, at the age of 28. He was a member of the Rainbow Division’s 165th Infantry, the famed New York 69th. He was in Company B and was, according to his scant records, wounded slightly, returned to battle, and then felled by gas. Two distant cousins of mine, Australians, were killed within 24 hours of one another after several years of war. They nearly made it. One was a school teacher before the war and a captain during it. They were their mother’s only sons. I have letters. They are very sad.
My Uncle Harry belonged to a Brooklyn, NYC based Horse Cav unit and was sent down to help out Gen. pershing go after Pancho Villa. Later on, his unit was sent over to France and they just missed the Halifax explosion by one day. During WW2, He owned a shop that made goggles for the Military and like some dishonest companies, he got caught over charging the product and his whole family disowned him. Around 1970, my parents forgave him and had him out to our house and I listened to his Mexican and overseas stories. A couple of years later, he shot himself in the leg hitting the femur artery and bled to death outside his apartment door in Flatbush Brooklyn. This was an accident. He was mugged 12 times in the area where he lived due to the neighborhood racialy changing over. Nice article in the old daily news before it became a socialist rag. I should have saved the article. I wonder what happened to his Officers hand guns he kept in a vault bank deposit box.
John Kelly and GEN Dunford visited that WWI cemetery.
The war was fought literally until the last second. American Henry Gunther was killed one minute before the Armistace was to take effect, and almost six hours after it was signed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Gunther
The Imperial War Museum (UK) used artillery sounding records (used to range and triangulate the source of artillery barrages) to recreate what the last few seconds of the war sounded like for the troops there.
It’s more than a little eerie to see it recorded. Shelling continues right up to the second of the strike of 1100 hours. Then dead silence.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/listen-moment-guns-fell-silent-ending-world-war-i-180970772/
Not found, “fought”.
Just imagine what we as a species could accomplish if we put all that money and ingenuity into something beside warfighting…
Yes, David, we’re primates and primates pick fights with each other all the time. Read up on Jane Goodall’s discovery that her “peaceful” tribe of chimps made war on their neighbors – lethal warfare.
We’ve accomplished quite a bit as a species. Your comment was built on your own ignorance and is grossly inappropriate.
No, you are reading it wrong. Perhaps I phrased it poorly? but mourn the loss of all those kids and all that energy throughout history. Was in no way a condemnation of anything anyone we mourn or remember has done…I realize you and shitforbrains are tangling but don’t lash out at folks who are essentially on your side.
I heartily concur that war is an abominable waste of lives. Sadly, it is often the lesser abomination at hand.
As long as some men deem themselves better suited to run the lives of others, by force if refused, war will remain an inevitable abomination.
I despise and piss on the grave of every U.S. Army officer who needlessly sent his men into harm’s way on the morning of 11NOV, 1918, knowing that the treaty had been signed that morning at 0500, and that the war would end only hours later. I don’t give much of a shit what their reasoning was, I despise them for their actions. Men were needlessly killed on both sides and there is no rational explanation that would satisfy me. Fuck them. Fuck them for eternity.
And Cthulhu, do you have any message other than Trump is a sociopath? I don’t care if he is or not. If he is flawed in some manner, he is in the company of EVERY person alive and who has ever lived, as well as every President before him, including your beloved odipshit. My only concern is if his actions benefit this country and I am satisfied that, yes, his actions so far are beneficial to this country. So if you have a message other than ‘Trump Sucks’, I would love to hear it.
Much love and respect for those needlessly killed on that morning in November, 1918.
I would be SO fuckin pissed if I were laying down in No Man’s Land bleeding out through a 7.92mm hole or two…..Only for the Armistice to announced 10 min later.
Off to the parade….
I thought that Pershing’s response to being asked why he didn’t stand down (wasn’t sure the Armistice was/had been signed) as thoughtless as one could get.
That was the reason I included that link.
I remember reading that Pershing was extremely emotionally distressed during his time in command of the American Expeditionary Force, feeling more personal responsibility for casualties than his French counterparts ever did, and that he asked to be relieved. I wonder if that affected his judgement.
The Great War’s end: a grandmother remembers
FILE PHOTO: A crowd in Times Square hold up copies of newspapers with a headline about the signing of the Armistice to end World War One, in New York, U.S., November 11, 1918. U.S. National Archives/via REUTERS
Toni Reinhold
The rest of the article is available at Reuters
Thank you, AW1Ed!
My pleasure. Aside from the timely content, this is sort of a test for the FGS format I’m ironing out. Not as simple as Jonn made it look!
I really miss Jonn.
So do we all. This site is his legacy to us, and you and the rest of the usual suspects keep it alive. Thank you all.
I saw a documentary about some excavations done in Flanders Fields. The researchers noted a band of red soil in the strata about a foot or so thick. They determined it was rust from all the Shell fragments.
Think about it: Artillery dueling so intense that it now forms part of the geologic record.
Hell on Earth for the men. Suffering and heroism worthy of remembrance
I did not know that. Thanks for the info, Tom! I will try to find references to that.
I’ve read that some parts of Europe are still completely uninhabitable due to damage from WWI from UXO to chemical contamination.
Yup, it’s called ‘The Iron Harvest’ It will eventually slow down in another 700 years or so.
I gotta admit, I’d be right puckered if I dug up a gas shell, especially Mustard! Old HE….blah…just use common sense and call EOD.
Even more worrisome, thousands of WW2 Glasmine 43’s still contaminate Europe. I wouldn’t even want to think off the damage high speed glass splinters would cause!
There is a great series on YouTube called “The Great War” which discusses in individual vidoes what happened in World War I.
The videos were released weekly and related what happened in that same week 100 years ago. Most of the videos are about 10 minutes in length so it requires either binge watching or keeping track of where you stopped.
Very well done and very educational.
http://www.thegreatwar.tv/
Also, director Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) has released a film (only in the UK for now) called “They Shall Not Grow Old.” It is a documentary on the “Great War,” using only archival film.
What is very cool about this is that the film manages to convert black and white film taken with a hand cranked movie camera and convert it into colorized but smoothed footage. (No more images of people walking fast or herky-jerky.) Technically, it is an amazing achievement. Hope when the film crosses the pond it will be accurate and well done.
https://www.theyshallnotgrowold.film/
A good book on World War I is To The Last Man. For those not familiar with it, the author is Jeff Shaara, son of the late Michael Shaara who wrote The Killer Angels about the Civil War.
Great documentary on CSPA3 right now on the making of the 1919 “Lost Battalion” Most of the players are the actual participants themselves.
“There is a great series on YouTube called “The Great War” which discusses in individual vidoes what happened in World War I.”
The one minute I saw on the link lets me know I really want to see the entire thing. Oh, how I hope it makes it across the pond, to The Colonies.
The Great War is available on YouTube now.
The movie “They Shall Not Grow Old,” is only available in the UK now.
Jonn Lilyea always had a special place in his big heart for Vietnam Veterans. He explained it many times. In 2015, Commenter VOV posted a short video in Jonn’s Veterans Day post that year. Here it is:
Thanks.
There is a lot in that video. It’s not only about righting a wrong or expressing gratitude, it’s about the fraternity that exists among Veterans, whatever our service dates and service experiences. Never Forget is not a bumper sticker slogan to us. So, before I take leave of this thread, I would like to wish all of my fellow Veterans a smile or two on this day.
Just two words for cthlcuntapatooie. Go Away
Just four words for this excellent thread, the links, the pictures, and the comments; Thank you; Never Forget!
Thanks, 5th/77thFA.
Second time I’ve seen that.
We are all older now and the younger guard has taken our place.
I’m good with that.
I’m grateful for that, brother. I hope we left them a better world to serve in.
Thank you, Vietnam Vets; you will always be my role model…
Combat Historian
Enlisted 1979
Retired 2012
My Boy Jack, written by Rudyard Kipling upon learning of the death of his son, in the Battle of Loos 1915. I Read it every year as part of a Remembrance Day Memorial.
HAVE you news of my boy Jack? ”
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind—
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.
Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide.
Just saw a paid message on Fox News.
Various veterans of Poland NATO forces, thanking America, complete with a group of their vets saluting us. They referenced our efforts from WW1 to secure an independent Poland.
Na Zdrowie!
I remember my grandfather’s house in NC. He served in WW1 and had a picture or two of him in uniform. I glanced at them and went on with my life, which, at the time, pretty much was consumed by thoughts of cars, women and booze … lots of booze. I know now that I wasted an opportunity to pick his mind and learn of the war. I wish I had a do over. I’ve got hundreds of questions now, but it is too late. Wasted time.
Many thanks to all of those here & elsewhere for your service to our great country. I did not and am in continual awe of those who chose to do so. I exercise the freedoms you have ensured every day in my career as a visual artist, and to give back have volunteered time to work with veterans who are also artists at a local community outreach center in the Utica NY area. I read this blog every day, have had many a laugh and learned some dandy colorful metaphors from the jargon in the comments sections. Truly inspired use of creative profanity, done with purpose and style.
Wish I could wheel a big keg into a room to buy you all a few beers + hear more. Take care and keep up the great work.
Steve N. aka grubby_mittz
Thanks for giving back and volunteering, Steve…
And thank you for your kind words…
Thank you, Steve N., and please continue to show up here.
When I enlisted, and was sent off to exotic and far away Fort Stewart Georgia, mom put aside her intense dislike of all things military, and put up a little photo shrine to me in her living room.
There was only the one picture of me in uniform from the reception station, so she found somewhere a faded picture of WW1 Doughboy to put up. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, in full kit, eating from a plate of food.
Dead ringer for me. Spooky.
Not kin, just a picture she found at a yard sale.
Hope he made it through.