February 28, 201115 yr My great-grandfather was a doughboy in WWI. He passed away in 1984. I'm older than you. My great-grandfather served in the Spanish-American War. He died in 1968 at the age of 93.
February 28, 201115 yr I heard on the radio that this gentleman overstated his age so he could serve in WWI. My uncle did the same thing in WWII. I guess it helped that he started shaving at age 11 and could produce a 5 o'clock shadow at age 16.
March 1, 201115 yr I think the focus was never in schools because the U.S. came in so late. The doughboys were only in Europe for a couple years and it was almost to serve as a tipping point for ending the war. Casualties for the U.S. paled in comparison to what nations like Britain, Germany, France, and Russia suffered. And not only that, but I believe there has always been a belief that WWI was simply a preview for what was about to come with WWII. I've always thought the educational system approached it as "WWI happened, Allies fought Central Powers, Germany was defeated then rose from the ashes, then World War II happened." That's not at all fair, but fairly realistic in how it's often taught. I think you hit the nail on the head. American History doesn't spend a lot of time on it because of the limited involvement of the US. People look at me funny when I tell them that WW I was worse than any other human conflict. It destroyed the old notions of war and laid an entire generation to waste in Europe. The manner in which it stalemated into trench warfare was horrific. WW II was fought from lessons learned from WW I. The "new weapons" used were so horrific that all illusions of war as a "noble venture" were forever stripped from the human psyche.
May 6, 201115 yr Claude Choules died yesterday. Reuters cites him as the last living combat veteran from World War I. Died at 110 years old. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us-australia-wwi-veteran-idUSTRE74419V20110505
May 6, 201115 yr Claude Choules died yesterday. Reuters cites him as the last living combat veteran from World War I. Died at 110 years old. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us-australia-wwi-veteran-idUSTRE74419V20110505 Sad to hear his passing but it seemed like he was a great man. My favorite part of one article I read about Choules was that he retired in 1956. He had been retired for 55 years!
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