World War I was known as “The Great War.” It officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Although fighting had stopped several months earlier when an armistice between the Allied Nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. That’s why President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
In honor of that day, here are stories of our soldiers :
Letters Home
A box of letters written from a young soldier to his love back home has sat on the shelf for years in John and Lorena Shaffer’s storage room. The notes were written from John’s father to his mother before they were married while Don Shaffer was serving during his country during the Great War. The story woven by letters from the war was written by Kathy Hanks for the Hutchinson News can be found here.
Home for Christmas
Leland Flesher enlisted in the Navy in 1943. The Hereford, Texan was 17 years old. After training, his fleet oiler USS Neosho rendezvoused with the rest of the fleet in Pearl Harbor, and didn’t return to U.S. waters for the remainder of the war. He fought in some of the biggest battles of the Pacific. The day the Armistice was signed Leland’s ship was in Tokyo Bay, just 50 miles from where the atomic bombs fell. Leland and his granddaughter tell his story at the Amarillo Globe-News.
A Mother Remembers
“Death leaves a heartache that no one can heal.”
Miles Henderson’s mom lives that. Terry Henderson tells about her son’s determination, and how he didn’t share much about the war in Iraq because he didn’t want to cause any worry. The Canadian mom describes of her son’s humor, as well as his shortcomings when it came to spelling. A mom remembers is available from the Amarillo Globe-News.
A Soldier’s Silence
Forrest Stockdale came back from World War II and enrolled at the University of Iowa. He never spoke of his war experiences. His children learned of his experience through an essay written while he was in college. You can read it by following this link to the Amarillo Globe-News.
