I am fascinated by military history because my father loved it, and he passed it on to me. I never spend a Veteran's Day ignoring veterans. I always think about the many men in my family who served in the armed forces, and the sacrifices they made to help our country stay free.
I knew very little about World War I until I was a Freshman in college and I took a class called Europe Since 1914. The teacher was not southern. He spoke very fast and I couldn't take notes quickly enough, so I started tape recording his lectures, then playing them back later and transcribing what he said. It was tedious, but I made an A in the class.
One of the most fascinating aspects of World War I is that it was fought simply because of treaties and nationalism.
According to Brittanica:
The war pitted the Central Powers—mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey—against the Allies—mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United States. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. The war was virtually unprecedented in the slaughter, carnage, and destruction it caused.
World War I was one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history. It led to the fall of four great imperial dynasties (in Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey), resulted in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and, in its destabilization of European society, laid the groundwork for World War II.
When I was learning about it I knew, vaguely, that my grandfathers had fought in World War I, but I knew nothing about what they actually did.
My mother's father, Bob Hasty, didn't go overseas. His baseball talent was discovered when he was in training at Camp Gordon and somehow he never had to go overseas -- likely some higher up loved baseball and hated to see a fine pitcher killed on some battlefield in France. However, my grandfather earned the rank of Sergeant. (I never knew that until recently when I found his page on the Find A Grave website.)
Sidenote: Camp Gordon was one of the temporary training camps set up to train soldiers to go overseas in 1917. It was later relocated and became Fort Gordon, near Augusta, where my uncle Bobby Thompson worked for many years as a civilian. Camp Gordon is now the DeKalb Peachtree Airport and it's about 15 minutes from my house.
I have no photos of Pepaw Hasty in his uniform, unfortunately. I think in the family we tend to gloss over his service and focus on the fact that a baseball scout spotted him when he was at Camp Gordon and shortly after the war ended he was drafted by The Atlanta Crackers, and then went up to Philadelphia to play for Connie Mack on the Athletics roster.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Below, my grandfather Algernon Thompson, when he was in the Army either right before or during World War I. (He is on the bottom row, lefthand corner.) Daddy used to tell my brother stories of how Grandaddy fought at Verdun. Dad didn't tell me the stories. I was a girl.
Most of how I feel and what I know about World War I comes from books and movies, and I make no apology for that. You can learn a lot from well-written books and movies. My favorite movie about that war is from 1996, In Love and War. Excellent movie about the real love between writer Ernest Hemingway and his nurse Agnes von Kurowsky. You can see a trailer for it here. I own the DVD of it. A more recent movie and also excellent is Testament of Youth.
World War I was the first "modern" war -- machine guns and airplanes were used. Men dug trenches and lived in them for months, and when they ventured out they were mown down by the enemy. The slaughter was horrifying.
Grandaddy Thompson was a professional soldier, for years. He was born in 1888 in Cordele, Georgia. When he was about 12 years old, his father, Alexander Hamilton Thompson, died. In 1900 there was no life insurance in rural South Georgia. There was no welfare or food stamps. There was farming -- hard to do when you are a mom to 7 children.
Grandaddy was one of the older kids. He dropped out of school and went to work, to support his mother and younger siblings. For years, he worked any job he could find, and sent most of his earnings home. He joined in the Army and fought Pancho Villa on the Mexican border in 1916. As a result, he was never educated and never made much money.
below, a long photo of Grandaddy made during the War
Grandaddy waited until his siblings were grown and his mother was okay before he got married. In those days, it was rare for a man to be past 30 and getting married for the first time. Grandaddy was about 35.
I never knew Grandaddy. He died in 1957, shortly after my parents married. He was too ill to attend the wedding.
He died of emphysema, but he never smoked. I have a notion that he must have been exposed to some of the poisoned gas in World War I, and it finally got him. He was very ill in his final years, and an invalid. My grandmother nursed him. They had an incredible bond, I've heard.
I
left, my grandparents about 1956
above, Grandaddy and his 3 sons, late 1930's (my dad is the littlest one)
top right, Grandaddy in his final years with a fish he caught
A Final Thought...
I think we tend to focus on World War II and ignore World War I, which was essentially the runup to World War II. Germany was economically devastated by World War I and that led to Hitler being able to gain traction and seduce the German people with the notion of a return to economic stability by gearing up for another war.
The soldiers of World War I should be remembered and honored. They served bravely.
There's a wonderful article with photos of how some of the WWI battle sites look today -- spooky and beautiful. Look here.
