Armistice Day +100 - November 11th


I spent yesterday looking back across the last century of conflict. 266 wars were fought during just the 20th Century. There were an estimated 109 million people who were killed during those wars. How can we remember them all? Those defending freedom and those caught up in events beyond their control or understanding. It's hard to picture so many dead; a seemingly infinite number of untold stories, shattered dreams and possibilities, lost to time. "We will remember them" seems so inadequate. So today, my thoughts are with just a few of those who survived, bar one. Chosen because I have their pictures and because I know a little of their stories. My granddad, Sgt Joseph O. Carr - Army Service Corps, World War 1. Lynne's granddad, William Hay - Royal Air Force, World War 2. The crew of the B-17 Fortress "Hang The Expense" of the "Bloody Hundredth Bomb Group", a story very close to me from the age of twelve, that became a big part of my life, eventually brought me together with the surviving crew members and their families. Aircrew 2nd Lt Frank E. Valesh ( Pilot ) 2nd Lt John E. Booth ( Co-Pilot ) 2nd Lt John R. Johnson ( Navigator ) 2nd Lt Maurice Zetlan ( Bombardier ) - Killed in take off accident with another crew, January 24th 1944 T/Sgt John Mytko ( Engineer/Gunner ) Cpl Ernest M. Jordon ( Radio Operator ) S/Sgt Louis Black Jr ( Ball Turret Gunner ) S/Sgt Herschel H. Broyles ( Waist Gunner ) S/Sgt Paul J. Carbone ( Waist Gunner ) S/Sgt Roy Urich ( Tail Gunner ) - POW, January 24th 1944 Ground Crew Harold C. Wildrick ( Crew Chief ) Nels O. Davidson Lloyd M. Holland Sherman M. Nelson J.C. Sambrailo		Joseph O. Carr			William Hay
		The Crew of B-17 "Hang The Expense"
I didn't want to be part of the understandably large crowds at the various memorials around the North East today. I felt that so many people would be a distraction to reflecting quietly on the significant anniversary that has now passed. So I had my own simple ceremony, standing alone outside the house, with "For the Fallen" by Robert Laurence Binyon, the Last Post, the silence and then Rouse echoing down the street.
		Giving the crowds time to clear in the village, shortly after noon, I took "Hope" to the memorial at Washington and chatted to some of the veterans who were still there, before coming home. It's hard to imagine the mixed range of emotions 100 years ago, when the soldiers were told that "The War to End All Wars" was finally over.

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