First World War Almost Over

On paper at that. The ordinance will pose problems for who knows how long.

We recently stopped paying a tax for the Spanish American war.

War is horrendous and stupefyingly expensive, it breaks nations and empires.

I do like what Colin Powell said about the Americans fighting and dying overseas and asking for only enough land to bury our dead.

I have my grandfathers bayonet from WWI but never met him. As it worked out we'll never know of his experiences "over there". One of his relatives was visiting Boston from Halifax when they found out that they had no family to return to after the Halifax explosion.

I did meet and was fond of a man who sang with Irving Berlin, who has since passed as well.

It seems beyond my ken what folks experienced in those short time frames. If you were born in 1900 you saw the first world war ravage civilization in your late teens, and it did not end. You were a parent watching your children off to a greater conflagration in your early forties.

I read Steven Ambrose's book about the trans-continental railroad. In it he mentions an individual who was old enough to be a coal tender on the engine at the Utah golden spike ceremony in 1869. He lived to see movie tone news footage of the air war over Europe. Now that is a witness to change.

The same human nature, geared up and intensified almost beyond belief.

It is nice to know WWI is coming to an end, I will buy a poppy and think too much.

I will link info in a short bit, though all the info is easily found out there.