Veterans Day VII – Remembering 100 Years Ago

Posted on November 11, 2018 by vanbraman

Today was a special Veterans Day as it was 100 years ago today that WWI came to an end.

WWI Veteran, Veterans Day 2014, 168th Infantry, FranceBecause of the special significance of it being 100 years ago I decided to share this picture of my Great Grandfather’s first cousin Warren Van Duzor.

I really like the uniforms from World War I, especially the hat.

Wikipedia, Western Front, WWI, Veterans DayI do not know much about his service but do know what company he served with.

Warren served as a Private First Class in Company E of the 168th Infantry Regiment during WWI.

The regiment went into service in August 1917 and was sent to the Western Front in France.

meuse-argonne offensive, WWI, Veterans DayThe 168th Infantry Regiment which was also known as the Third Iowa served at Marne, Aisne, St. Mihiel, the Argonne Forest, Lorraine and Champagne.

The regiment was taking part in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive at the time the war ended on November 11th, 1918.

Newspaper Headline, WWI, Marne, Veterans DayWarren was from Coin, Iowa which is in the Southwest corner of the state and where my Great Grandfather also lived. I can imagine the family looking at the papers every day to see what was happening in Europe. Would they have known exactly where Warren was?

I found this picture of an Omaha Daily Bee front page on a site selling old newspapers (Rare Newspapers) and it may have been what my family would have seen since they lived not far from Omaha.

They may have seen the same articles in a Des Moines paper or a rival Omaha paper.

It is more likely that they saw a paper from Omaha as they were about 70 miles away from Coin versus 140 miles for Des Moines.

 

I hope that you took time today to remember the Veterans that have helped preserve our freedom.

Steven

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Thinking of Fires

Posted on November 10, 2018 by vanbraman

The last couple of years have been very bad for fires. They have affected people that I know and also have had a very bad effect on air quality here in California.

Red Sun, Sunsetting, bad air quality, sillouetesSeveral things are making me think of fires.

First is the Poor Air Quality from the smoky air that we have this weekend. I have spent most of the day just sheltering in place as today we have smoke at ground level.

Bay Area Smoke, Heavy Smoke, Bad Air Quality, Wildfires, CaliforniaIn August earlier this year we also had a lot of smoke from fires north of the Bay Area. It was not so good on my allergies, and it is the same now as my eyes are a bit affected.

The Case of the Monster Fire, John R. Erickson, Hank the Cowdog, BooksI am also getting close to the end of my Hank the Cowdog challenge to read all the books in order.

The Case of the Monster Fire, John R. Erickson, Hank the Cowdog, BooksThis means that I will again read The Case of the Monster Fire which is about wildfires that hit Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas last year and burnt much of the county in Kansas where I went to High School.

Kansas Grass Fires, Southwest KansasSeveral of the Hank the Cowdog books talk about fires as this is a major concern of farmers and ranchers in the Great Plains region.

I am also having memories of the prairie fire in The Little House on the Prairie which would have been a similar type fire.

The Firefighter, Tracy, California, SculptureI am just glad that we have great men and women dedicated to putting out fires. We all need to thank our firefighters.

Keep the California firefighters in your prayers as they battle the many fires here. Also, the people whose homes are affected.

Steven

 

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