Hey Bucky, I knew that you a big history fan, as am I, and I knew that this would peek your interest.


Riffy

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/us/01buckles.html?_r=1&src=mv

Sad news.

What's the story/meaning behind the term 'doughboy' ?

Gazza wrote on Feb 28^th, 2011 at 11:05am:

the term doughboy is a term used to refer to american servicemen during WW1. i always thought it had to do with the fact that the uniforms of the era made our soldiers look like gingerbread men. however, the almighty wikipedia tells me that the term may date as far back as the mexican war, when marching through the desert left a film of dust on the uniform, making it look as though our soldiers had just walked through dough.

Oh, those pix are great, Starbuck.

I am a huge history buff as well.....my history {of the 50's on} and earlier history as well. I read about this today and was greatly saddened, as well. Truly an end of yet another era in U.S. history...

I heard this on the news this morning.Didn't realize he was the last one surviving from WWI. RIP and what a life he had.

Sad news - surely he was the very last surviving Great War veteran from any nation?

which of us will be the last surviving Stones fan?

Gazza wrote on Feb 28^th, 2011 at 2:34pm:

gazza, claude choules never saw active combat. he was a sailor who served on support ships, i believe. he did witness the surrender of the german fleet, but never saw a shot fired in anger.

the last surviving combat vet of the first world war was harry patch, who was wounded at passchendaele in 1917. he died in 2009, a week after henry allingham, who was the last surviving RAF member of the first world war.

speaking of, is WWI still engrained in british national consciousness, even among today's youth, now that the vets are all gone? i spent a year in newcastle working on a masters degree about ten years ago, and my flatmates and i used to go down to the pub and discuss wars and such...my british friends would talk about WWI quite often and how it effected britain...meanwhile, i'd walk past the newcastle memorial to the WWI dead every day on my way to class. seemed like WWI was ubiquitous over thar....

i, naturally, would yap on about the US civil war...

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Feb 28^th, 2011 at 5:24pm:



Oh, sure you will! 

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Feb 28^th, 2011 at 7:00pm:



I will be dropping stones in a toilet holding my balls out of the water...

here in the states, it's exactly the opposite. our KIA in wwI is something around 110,000, whereas our KIA in wwII is about 415,000. everybody my age had a grandpa or great uncle that fought in the war, or at least wore the uniform. my grandpa was in the air corps....great uncle fought in patton's 3rd army during the bulge and, at 92, still tells the stories whenever we see him....another great uncle was KIA a week after the normandy landings, and i visited his grave at st laurent sur mer when i was in france ten years ago.

still to this day, we glorify the "greatest generation" in the USA. the allied victory in WWII was our most glorious hour, so to speak...in US national consciousness, the war was thrust upon us, and we answered the call...while basically fighting the war by ourselves in the pacific, our resources and manpower helped to turn the tide in europe as well. although those of us that know better realize that hitler lost the war in europe because of russia.

still, there is something about WWI and the trenches that captures the imagination and makes one want to scream out a giant WTF!!!! even a century later. what the hell was haig thinking??!?! 20,000 KIA on the first day of the somme??! still boggles the mind, no? and gazza, reading about your pals battalions makes one want to shake one's head vigorously. i forget if it was the accrington pals or the grimsby chums that lost the most, but one of them was nearly wiped out the first day of the somme, no? imagine...an entire city losing all its young men after a single day of combat.

This is Liberty Memorial.  The only WWI Memorial in the United States.  It is in Kansas City, Missouri.  One shot is from down the hill.  The other is so you can see what the top looks like.  I took these two years ago when then Candidate Obama held a rally on the mall.

I knew so many men, uncles, friends, that were in pattons army, and they all had a certain inner toughness, combined with an  understanding nature.  That was a great generation.