I Ought To Post This One Every November 11th

This is The 4^th Year in a Row That I have Posted This Blog

Someone once said, “You can’t beat a dead horse”. (Actually, you can but you are wasting your time because the horse can’t take notice of what you are doing to him.) Someone else (probably me) said, “If the horse is dead, get off the horse”. I’m going to ignore what that someone (probably me) said and do this Blog Posting at least this one more time because this is the 100^th Anniversary of the End of WW1 and it seems appropriate.

 

This posting refers back to two separate Foolishness...Or Is It? Postings on the same subject. The first reiterates the Ignorance of Mankind and the second asks you to think about a Very Sobering Question.

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First Posting...

The Last Day of World War One

The day humankind proved it is not too smart … again.

When did the First World War end? Many of you just said to yourselves…The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918. It sounds like that was scripted by Hollywood.

The most awful part of the story is that the armistice was signed at 5am on November 11th but was not effective until 11am and the fighting continued for those last six hours between 5am and 11am.

After the war, in a Congressional Hearing, General Pershing blamed Marshal Foch but many said that, at the time, Pershing appeared to be gung ho about the last assaults.

These were full frontal assaults as vicious as any on any other day of the war.

The Germans were shocked when the assaults started but defended against them with all that they had.

During these six hours, thousands of men were wounded or killed fighting for land on which they could have casually strolled smoking a cigarette at 11:01am on the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918.

I wish I were kidding you.
Smartfella

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Second Posting...

No Foolishness, As My Mind Wanders Through This One

After you read below, I will invite you to ask yourself a very sobering question.

I published “The last day of World War One” commentary on April 23, 2008. It was about how WWI continued for six hours after the armistice was signed at 5 A.M. on November 11, 1918.

 

At present I am reading a book by Joseph E. Persico entitled 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour. The quoted excerpt that follows is from page 3 of this book…

"The captain read the message twice. It must be a mistake. True, the night before, the U.S. 26th Division had received Field Order 105 to attack at 9:30 this morning. But at 9:10, just as they had been checking their ammunition and fixing their bayonets, word came that the armistice had been signed. Hostilities were to cease at 11 A.M. The attack had been cancelled. And here was another message telling the captain that the assault had been reinstated. His watch showed 10:30. A half hour remained in the war."

 

Now for the sobering question ... If you were this captain, what would you have done?

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

Lagniappe: The men of the 26^th Division under that Captain’s command went over the top at 10:35. There were 25 minutes left in the war.