Veterans Day: It Began on November 11, 1918
Veterans Day: It Began on November 11, 1918
By Joe Ragonese
The eleventh day, of the eleventh month, on the eleventh hour – that was when the armistice took effect in 1918 that ended the “War to end all wars.†World War I was a horrific struggle, which included millions of battlefield casualties throughout its four long years due to weapons innovation.
It changed the makeup of warfare forever afterwards. England, Germany, Austria, and France lost an entire generation of young men, due to new battlefield weapons such as the airplane, chemical warfare, the tank, and most importantly the machine gun. Development of new and horrendous weapons occurred, while battlefield commanders refused to properly adapt tactics to counter the new type of warfare quickly enough. The end result was a huge numbers of casualties, caused more than often by out of touch leadership.
On November 11 alone, in the final hours of the war, poor leaders, such as overall commander, French General Foch continued to punish the Germans prior to the 11 a.m. cessation of hostilities. Over 20,000 soldiers, from all the nations involved on that battlefield, were killed, maimed or wounded, as Foch ordered commanders to attack the Boche “until the last minute.â€
http://usdefensewatch.com/2018/11/veterans-day-it-began-on-november-11-1918/
