100 th anniversary of ww1

[tuco1963]

wow
its been 100 years since the events leading to ww1 occured.
i can remember seeing the ww1 vets along with the spanish american war vets being driven thru town on memorial day parades does anybody have any memories of these heroes?

 

[Renault]

Yes, grandpa Marvin had his "old gang" out for a picnic at his lake house every November 11th. All the local boys that all enlisted the same day after the US entered the war. Marvin was rejected because of missing fingers on right hand. He instead became a civilian marksmanship instructor at Texas National Guard HQ in Austin at Camp Mabry. he passed in 1985.

 

[Big Man]

wow
its been 100 years since the events leading to ww1 occurred.
i can remember seeing the ww1 vets along with the Spanish American war vets being driven thru town on memorial day parades does anybody have any memories of these heroes?

My Grandfather Dobson was a WW-I veteran. He was proud of his service, and talked of it all the time. He always regretted not being able to make it overseas before the war ended. During WW-II he was Captian of the local home guard unit, and in his latter years was the Veterans Service officer for McDowell County, NC. When I was a young boy, he gave me this picture. I remember his uniform hanging in a room in the basement of his house, and I would try it on from time to time. When I was in the Boy Scouts, he gave me his old campaign hat to wear. I still have that old hat today.






My great uncle Briscoe Brown (standing) was also a WW-I veteran. While I never knew him, I heard so many stories about him as I was growing up that I always felt like I knew him. Briscoe saw action in France during the war. I have his old garrison cap and one of his medals. I also have a letter he wrote from France to my great aunt (his sister). It reads like a typical young soldier full of fighting spirit.

 

[Stearmen]

My Great Uncle Oscar Stevens served in the trenches with the American Expeditionary Force. He lied about his age and was even gassed. He again lied about his age to get into WWII. He never married, was the nicest man you would ever meet! I knew a lot of WWI veterans.

 

[Shangas]

Big Man, any chance of us seeing those hats you speak of?

 

[Big Man]

Big Man, any chance of us seeing those hats you speak of?

I'll take some photos and post them.

 

[Big Man]

Till I get a chance to dig out the old hats and take a photo or two, here is something that might be of interest.

The following is a transcription of a letter my great uncle Briscoe Brown wrote his sister, Ada Brown Wilson, from France. The reference to “Jackson” is most assuredly Camp Jackson (now Fort Jackson, SC) where he (presumably) took his basic training. Having myself spent some time at Fort Jackson in the past, I can understand why my great uncle liked being at war in France better than being in basic training at Camp Jackson. The letter is on YMCA stationary and is old and faded, but still very legible in all but one place where only three words cannot be made out. I found this letter in a box that my great aunt Ada had lovingly put away for many, many years. Most of the 50 some letters in the box were correspondence from (at the time her soon-to-be husband) William Wilson, and date from 1912 to 1915. My great aunt and “Mr. Wilson” (as she called him) were married in 1915. Those letters, as well as this letter from World War I provide a very interesting look into the past.

​

June 12, 1918
​

Dear Sister –



I suppose you think I never think of you as I haven’t written since I landed here but far from it I think of you every day and wonder what you are doing. I hope you & Mr. Wilson are both well and happy and I am most sure you are for I think he is the most interesting man I ever talked to.


Everything has been lovely with me since I left the states and I am feeling better now that I have for the last three years. I get plenty of work plenty to eat and plenty of rest and am leading the simple life – go to bed at 9:30 PM and rise at 5:45 feeling like I could whip half the German army. I think this life is great for anyone that wants to get the benefit of it.

Is Robert still in Jackson if he is tell him that I am doing all right here and like it better than I did there.

I get all the tobacco and cigaritts I want here and cheaper than I could back in the States and they issue tobacco now so I dont have to buy very much so you see the high cost of living don’t keep me awake at nights and I dont have to buy postage stamps and don’t have any laundry bill as I do my own washing so you see I have a very good uncle.


How is Miss Crawford? Give her my best when you see her.


I wish you would try and get mother to stop worrying about me for there is no since to it for I am all right and it wont be long until I will be back eating her out of house and home so please dont worry we are over here to trim the [the next three words are illegible] we are going to make a good job of it and to my notion a quick job. We are going to make them look like an accident with no place to happen and if you have to go through hardships back there don’t kick for everything you deny yourself of you are helping to put the dirty Hun back.


When you write send my mail to the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Engineers American EF for I will only be here for a short while.

Your loving brother
​

B.C. Brown
​

 

[Widebrim]

Great memories, all, and a great letter to boot, Big Man! My great-uncle Guiseppe (Joseph) Bartoletti served in the Great War with the U.S. Army, and was gassed. His brother, my grandfather Domenico, somehow got back to Italy (he was living in PA at the time) during the war, and served with the Italian Infantry. As a teen-ager, I remember meeting a few WWI vets, mostly American; one was living in a trailer somewhere in (I believe) Angeles Crest. Tuco1963, you mentioned Spanish-American War vets: I interviewed two who actually served after hostilities with Spain ceased; one served with the U.S. Navy off Cuba, and the other with the U.S. Army Artillery in the Philippines. My greatest pleasure, though, was meeting and interviewing the last American survivor of the Battle of San Juan Hill. He was Ralph Waldo Taylor, 102, who had enlisted in the N.Y. 71st Volunteers at the age of 16. His mind was pretty good, and he told many stories of his time in Cuba (stories which included not only T.R. and the Rough Riders, but the 9th and 10th Cavalries [the Buffalo Soldiers]). Although official records list a cabin boy as the last survivor of the Spanish-American War, he actually only served during the Philippine "Insurrection," so as far as I know, Mr. Taylor was the actual last survivor of the war itself.

 

[Stearmen]

Lafayette Flying Corps

I also knew, Reginald "Reggie, Duke" Sinclaire. He joined the French Air Service , where he was posted to Escadrille Spa68 flying SPAD fighter planes. He was credited with 3 confirmed kills. He did not transfer to the American Air Service, staying with his French Squadron until the Armistice. He was the last president of the Lafayette Flying Corps Association. He was also inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall Of Fame. I did not know until after his death, he was part of the Corning Glass Company family. He was a real nice man, never pretentious! Some where I have a photo of him in his SPAD.

 

[Retro Spectator]

While I never met him, my great grandfather, who was from Slovakia, fought for the Germans in WWI. Unfortunately, I don't know much about what he did in the war besides that he was in the German army.

I wonder why there are so many pointless TV shows on about the 1960's, but none about WWI. WWI is much more important than hippies and murders.

 

[Mojito]

Great letter, Big Man. We're working on a few WW1 projects at the museum where I work, basing as much as we can on objects in the collection that haven't had as much exposure as others. I handle our photographic licensing, and have been organising the use of images for large and small institutions in the lead up to the anniversary - there's a lot going on, with some of the most significant ANZAC and RAN anniversaries occurring in 2015. I'll dig up some of my family history for the Gallipoli commemorations next year and post them here.

 

[Retro Spectator]

Not sure if anyone is interested in this, but there is a brand new game set in WWI called Verdun. You can get it on Steam. It's trench warfare, and it's the first WWI shooter ever.

 

[DNO]

For a dose of reality, The Battle of the Somme (1916), released originally in August 1916, is on YouTube. Some truly exceptional footage, especially considering the difficulties faced by the cameramen, or kinematographers, at the time. Some staged footage but some amazing real footage as well. The narration is a bit tedious but quite informative. One of the two 'kinematographers', Malins, wrote a book about his work in WWI...it's available on Project Gutenberg. ("How I Filmed the War" by Geoffrey Malins)