More Seriously...

Le dernier poilu est mort.

Here's a story in English.

Comments

[Beanie]

It's interesting that you posted this. My husband and I were just having a conversation the other day about the last remaining American WWI vet, also 110 years old, and we were speculating about how many other vets of that "War to end all wars" might be remaining in Europe.

I think WWI was the last of our wars to really be characterized, at least in Europe, by the class distinctions between the commanders and the foot soldiers (like the Poilu) and how that view of the enlisted men as "underclass" led to events like the Christmas truce of 1914 and the French soldier "mutiny" of 1917.

1.4 million dead. Just in France. While we decry the conditions of war in modern day, we forget how truly horrible war can be. Perhaps, if we had more reminders, we might not be so cavalier about sending our troops off...

[Aly]

The bacon made me laugh. Then this made me cry. Both equally important.

This story certainly puts the events of our lives into perspective. It's good to remember how difficult life can REALLY be.

[Margaret]

I wondered why they called them poilu and now I know. Joyeux Noel is one of my favorite movies ever!

[Betty Carlson]

While discussing this event in an email, my Dad told me how he remembers Veterans' Day parades in Spokane in the 30s and 40s, where Civil War veterans got celebrity treatment, parading through town in convertibles. It made me feel strange to think that my father had actually seen Civil War veterans -- I guess I had never really done the math.