Last Ever WW I Veteran Dies

[Clyde]

110 years old.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/world/europe/florence-green-last-world-war-i-veteran-dies-at-110.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

[gchs_uk9]

Sad day. It was only a matter of time before the last Tommies, Fritzes, and Doughboys were gone. Sort of closes the book on the War to End all Wars.

[gchs_uk9]

A quick primer on the carnage of World War I, per Wikipedia:

 

Allies (France, Britain, Russia, Italy, USA, and others)

-5.7 million military deaths

-3.6 million civilian deaths

-12.8 million wounded

-1.19% of population killed

 

Axis (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire)

-4.0 million military deaths

-3.1 million civilian deaths

-8.4 million wounded

-5% of population killed

 

 

Those numbers are staggering. We can't even begin to comprehend them today.

[hoops5]

A salute to all of them.

[sportsfan41]

A quick primer on the carnage of World War I, per Wikipedia:

 

Allies (France, Britain, Russia, Italy, USA, and others)

-5.7 million military deaths

-3.6 million civilian deaths

-12.8 million wounded

-1.19% of population killed

 

Axis (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire)

-4.0 million military deaths

-3.1 million civilian deaths

-8.4 million wounded

-5% of population killed

 

 

Those numbers are staggering. We can't even begin to comprehend them today.

 

NO WAY, if that running list in USA Today of soldiers lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars(2 wars) was any where near even 100,000 of allied forces then all of our troops would have been out of there half a decade ago. Those numbers really are hard to comprehend. Also A LOT more close quarters combat and in some cases even hand to hand combat, hard to imagine how much that must have impacted a lot of those men.

[Hatz]

NO WAY, if that running list in USA Today of soldiers lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars(2 wars) was any where near even 100,000 of allied forces then all of our troops would have been out of there half a decade ago. Those numbers really are hard to comprehend. Also A LOT more close quarters combat and in some cases even hand to hand combat, hard to imagine how much that must have impacted a lot of those men.

 

WW 1 was even more brutal on the psyche of the world than WW II. Outdated tactics met modern weaponry and it was a blood bath.

 

As to your last wonder, watch an HBO special on Post Traumatic syndrome in just the American soldier. They traced letters and stories back to the Civil War from vets and the horrors they experienced and impact on their mental states.

[5wide]

WW 1 was even more brutal on the psyche of the world than WW II. Outdated tactics met modern weaponry and it was a blood bath.

 

As to your last wonder, watch an HBO special on Post Traumatic syndrome in just the American soldier. They traced letters and stories back to the Civil War from vets and the horrors they experienced and impact on their mental states.

 

I saw that HBO program. Very interesting, and sad as well.

 

The Civil War was similar to WWI as well with regards to outdated tactics and modern weaponry. The rifles were becoming more accurate, ammunition more deadly in both rifles and artillery, and of course, new inventions such as the Gatling Gun (although it wasn't used as extensively as some movies would suggest from what I've read). We can imagine what another 5 decades had resulted in with regards to technological breakthroughs. Even better infantry weapons, more powerful artillery, chemical weapons, fighter planes, bombers, the first tanks...all while using virtually the same old tactics of warfare.

[PepRock01]

I saw that HBO program. Very interesting, and sad as well.

 

The Civil War was similar to WWI as well with regards to outdated tactics and modern weaponry. The rifles were becoming more accurate, ammunition more deadly in both rifles and artillery, and of course, new inventions such as the Gatling Gun (although it wasn't used as extensively as some movies would suggest from what I've read). We can imagine what another 5 decades had resulted in with regards to technological breakthroughs. Even better infantry weapons, more powerful artillery, chemical weapons, fighter planes, bombers, the first tanks...all while using virtually the same old tactics of warfare.

 

To be fair the first tanks were developed because of the impasse, not prior to. Even then it wasn't until late in the war that they were used properly.

[bballfamily]

The last few years that i tauhgt this is something I mentioned in class each year. When I first started there were several hundred left in the US alone, but by the last year rolled around there were only about 14 left (2008). With the WWII vets being in their 80's - 90's we will be seeing the numbers dwindle very quickly.

 

As far as losses go, one must remember that there were many battles in the Civil war and WWI were tens of thousands died. In WWII D-Day, The Battle of The Bugle, Iwo Jima and Okinawa saw US losses from 5,000 to 10,000 plus.

[Voice of Reason]

If I am not mistaken, the Civil War is still the war in which the most American lives were lost. Being insulated almost completey by two oceans sure helps.

[75center]

On the history channel last week they talked about the WWII losses. They were staggering and left my wife and I wondering what the population of the world might be if WWI and II had not occurred.

 

Sad to note the passing of this last vet.

[gchs_uk9]

If I am not mistaken, the Civil War is still the war in which the most American lives were lost. Being insulated almost completey by two oceans sure helps.

 

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 620,000 died in the Civil War. Of course unlike most wars, all who fell in the Civil War were Americans. It accounted for roughly 2% of the nation's entire population.

[gchs_uk9]

With the WWII vets being in their 80's - 90's we will be seeing the numbers dwindle very quickly.

 

Very true. I'm in my 8th year teaching - I'm curious how many WWII veterans will be alive when I retire. The number of WWII veterans who come to our annual Veterans Day program has sadly dwindled to almost none.

[MJAlltheWay24]

On the history channel last week they talked about the WWII losses. They were staggering and left my wife and I wondering what the population of the world might be if WWI and II had not occurred.

 

Especially if you are considering the Holocaust as part of the losses in WWII.

[Hatz]

The last few years that i tauhgt this is something I mentioned in class each year. When I first started there were several hundred left in the US alone, but by the last year rolled around there were only about 14 left (2008). With the WWII vets being in their 80's - 90's we will be seeing the numbers dwindle very quickly.

 

As far as losses go, one must remember that there were many battles in the Civil war and WWI were tens of thousands died. In WWII D-Day, The Battle of The Bugle, Iwo Jima and Okinawa saw US losses from 5,000 to 10,000 plus.

 

First Battle of the Marne: Allies had 263,000 casualties of which nearly 82,000 died. Germans lost 220,000 casualties.

 

Verdun: French lost 362,000 killed and the Germans lost 336,000 in the 10 month battle.

 

Somme: 624,000 Allied casualties with 146,431 dead. German casualties were 465,000 with 164,000 killed.

 

Tannenberg: Russians suffered 170,000 casualties with 78,000 killed. Germans suffered 12,000 casualties with 5,000 killed. (Guess who won? )

 

 

Also, don't forget the use of Gas for the first time in warfare. Ypres if I remember correctly.