How many of you knew a WWI Vet?

[Jack Lambert]

I knew several personally but I was really young. You even saw some on 1970's TV shows.

[Bully13]

I would love to see some historians add some WWI history. I believe Europe was a powder keg and was about to blow up with or without the assassination. Monarchy vs democracy along with trade deals were going to come to blows eventually. Germany got 17d over, then the great depression gave us Hitler.

[Mjoelner34]

I'm not sure but I probably met some. In my family, one grandpa was too young for WWI and too old for WWII. My other grandpa, who died before I was born, was drafted for WWI and sent off but my mother said that he and his brother had some weird skin condition where every winter their skin would peel off. Not flake off like after a sunburn but peel off more like a snake shedding its skin. One look at that and the army sent them both straight back home.

[BrunswickDawg]

Met a couple, but didn't know any - not like WWII vets at least.

I've got a few things of my great-grandfathers from The Great War though. Some letters home from France; a great photo of him in uniform with his wife and new born daughter (my grandmothers oldest sister who just passed last year); and his Doughboy helmet. His gas mask was around when my Dad was a kid, but apparently after being a scary toy for 2 generations of boys in the family it pretty much disintegrated.

[Tbonewannabe]

My Dad's great uncle is the only one I know for a fact. I actually have his pocket watch from his railroad days. He passed away before I was born so I never met him.

[parabrave]

I knew 2 both fighter pilots. One even had his wooden prop hanging his his woodworking shed.

[redstickdawg]

I remember meeting one at a barber shop when I was young, about 6-7. I asked "What happened to your ear?" and he answered as best that I can remember that he had gotten into mustard gas in WW1. Half of his ear was missing and I noticed other scars. I really didn't understand at the time but my father and some of the other men explained. For some reason I remember that over 50 years later.

[Liverpooldawg]

I knew several personally but I was really young. You even saw some on 1970's TV shows.

I met at least one, but I didn't know it at the time.

[Liverpooldawg]

I would love to see some historians add some WWI history. I believe Europe was a powder keg and was about to blow up with or without the assassination. Monarchy vs democracy along with trade deals were going to come to blows eventually. Germany got 17d over, then the great depression gave us Hitler.

It really wasn't monarchy vs democracy. The worst autocratic monarchy of than all, Russia, was part of the Allies. Imperial Germany, while not a constitutional monarchy like the U.K., had some democratic elements. It was more one alliance against another along the lines of the Napoleonic World. Many of the statesmen, diplomats, and even the militaries still thought like that prior to the war. If War came it would be quick and would settle the issues if the day. A few provinces and colonies would change hands at the peace settlement and all would go back to the way it was before. They hadn't come to terms with what war between mass armies and industrialized war would mean. Three books for if you are interested in the run up to the war: the Classic is Barbara Tuchman's The Guns Of August. It deals with the events just on either side of the start of the war. It's companion volume The Proud Tower deals with the culture of the world prior to the war and how it was changing. Those are both outstanding books. My favorite is Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the coming of the Great War by Robert Massie. As the title says it concentrates on Britian and Germany, but it touches on the other participants as well. It's a really good and readable narrative and portrait of the world before the war. If I was only going to read one book on the subject that would be the one. I can recommend some others. The Belle Epoque/Pax Britannica is one of the most fascinating times in Western History. They thought that it was only a matter of time before they had an answer for everything and had solved it all. How wrong they were. It all came crashing down around them. The Great War and the Russian Revolution ended that world of optimism, perhaps forever.

[99jc]

I knew several personally but I was really young. You even saw some on 1970's TV shows.

My ex wife's grandfather and I were good friends. He served in WWI and was 93 when he passed. One day he took me to a barn and pulled down a box from the rafters. Inside the box was WWI memorabilia with several pictures of him sitting in a plane with the machine gun mounted like the movies. there were patches and a few other items coins and such. He gave me the box before he died I have it still. Not WWI related but he showed me pictures of him digging Bluff lake on the Noxubee Refuge and cutting trees in Oktibbeha county that it took 2 men all day to cut with a saw. His family were some of the original settlers near Craig Road and Morgantown.

[State82]

My grandfather. He was from Neshoba County. Served in France and came back in 1918. I have a group photograph taken in New York I believe when they returned to the U.S. It hangs proudly in my office.

[parabrave]

If you are ever around Camp Shelby they have a nice museum near the parade ground with some WW1 pictures. Most people don't know but CS was founded as a training center for units deploying to France for WW1 and then restarted for ww2 and Vietnam besides its NG duties.

[HereComesTheSpiral]

If you are ever around Camp Shelby they have a nice museum near the parade ground with some WW1 pictures. Most people don't know but CS was founded as a training center for units deploying to France for WW1 and then restarted for ww2 and Vietnam besides its NG duties.

This M-2A2 was found out in the woods on one my relatives property and was donated to the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum to be restored. This is the last one in existence.

[parabrave]

This M-2A2 was found out in the woods on one my relatives property and was donated to the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum to be restored. This is the last one in existence.

In a pond. There were 2 of them that used to be infont of the old Patton Bldg, Camp HQ. There were left in place after some of the big Pre War army maneuvers.

[mcain31]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUc...PEDf69RRVhRh4A The Great War Channel on Youtube may give you guys some insights on WWI

[iPat09]

Figured some of you guys would like to know about this. Pretty incredible what we can do with technology these days.

[parabrave]

Figured some of you guys would like to know about this. Pretty incredible what we can do with technology these days.

Checkout the Officer standing with his swagger stick. Nothing like going over the top waving that facing 100 machine guns.

[Pit Bull]

I knew several personally but I was really young. You even saw some on 1970's TV shows.

My grandfather was a WWI vet. He's buried at Fort Bliss in El Paso. He lived in Mississippi early on but after the war he remarried and moved to El Paso to work for Southern Pacific RR.

[Duckdog]

I would love to see some historians add some WWI history. I believe Europe was a powder keg and was about to blow up with or without the assassination. Monarchy vs democracy along with trade deals were going to come to blows eventually. Germany got 17d over, then the great depression gave us Hitler.

That's it! Just remember M.A.N.I.A and you'll have it covered. Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism and Assassination. Would WWII have happened if there was no WWI????

[Bully13]

That's it! Just remember M.A.N.I.A and you'll have it covered. Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism and Assassination. Would WWII have happened if there was no WWI????

WWI Laid the groundwork for WWII. That trailer kicks ass. I'm jealous of those who knew a WWI Vet. That must be awesome to talk to one. A PA representative told Woodrow Wilson the treaty of Versailles would set up another world war.

Has anyone ever seen The Lost Batallion?