In 1918, a troop ship carrying American soldiers to Europe was torpedoed off the coast of Scotland. Though many were saved from the waters by other ships in the troop convoy, the bodies of nearly 200 soldiers washed ashore on the island of Islay. What ensued was a recovery of the bodies by the island’sContinue reading “An American Flag, Sewn in Scotland, Returns Home”
Tag Archives: World War I
Five Years After My Grandmother’s Funeral…
Facebook reminded me this morning that five years ago today was my grandmother’s funeral, just as on Saturday morning it reminded me that she passed away a hemidecade ago. I knew this was coming; a few weeks ago Facebook showed me pictures from Shore Leave 2011 (including John de Lancie and an experiment in makingContinue reading “Five Years After My Grandmother’s Funeral…”
Link Round-Up: December 22
I was stupidly busy today with work, so I have little idea what’s happening in the world. Nonetheless, some things that caught my attention today… The Essay, Religion in the North, Norse Mythology: Karl Seigfried – An interesting personal essay on the continuing emotional pull of Norse mythology, a millennium after Scandinavia was Christianized. BBCContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 22”
Veteran’s Day
As Garrison Keillor might say on The Writer’s Almanac, a poem for today, Veteran’s Day. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago WeContinue reading “Veteran’s Day”
Gallipoli, an Historical Blunder
This afternoon I listened to a BBC World Service podcast, part of their “War that Changed the World” series on World War I, about the Australian experience at Gallipoli. Gallipoli, for those who don’t know a great deal about World War I, was Britain’s attempt to open a second front by capturing the Dardanelles, theContinue reading “Gallipoli, an Historical Blunder”
Above the Dreamless Dead
Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics :01 First Second Books Edited by Chris Duffy This year, the centenary of the start of World War I, has seen the release of a number of projects that celebrate… no, no, that’s the wrong word… reflect on the war, those who fought inContinue reading “Above the Dreamless Dead”
Veteran’s Day
As Garrison Keillor might say on The Writer’s Almanac, a poem for today, Veteran’s Day. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago WeContinue reading “Veteran’s Day”
Passchendaele
I have always been fascinated by World War I. World War II has more things going for it — tank battles, bombing campaigns, the Normandy invasions, the Pacific theater — but World War I interests me more. Perhaps it’s the trenches. Perhaps the poetry. It may even be the futility and the waste. I haveContinue reading “Passchendaele”
On Veteran’s Day
Ninety-two years ago today, from the English Channel through the fields of Flanders, across the French frontier and into the Alps, the guns on the Western Front fell silent. World War I, one of the great follies in human history, came to its bitter end. As Garrison Keillor might say on The Writer’s Almanac, twoContinue reading “On Veteran’s Day”
On Veteran’s Day
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie InContinue reading “On Veteran’s Day”