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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Back From the Front: 1918

1918. Washington, D.C. "Walter Reed Hospital scenes." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

1918. Washington, D.C. "Walter Reed Hospital scenes." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Buddies

My G-Grandfather would have welcomed his son without arms or legs. His son lies in a cemetery in France. I have seen photos and it is well taken care of.

Steely eyed stare

I would not have wanted to be a German soldier and see this man's icy gaze looking at me. His obvious toughness (perhaps bitterness) is juxtaposed by his obvious caring for his battle buddy. How could a government or anyone else truly thank them for their sacrifice and service? God bless them. Our soldiers today know that they reach higher because they stand on the shoulders of great men.

Memories lost

The last American WWI vet is gone, and Walter Reed Hospital is to close in September 2011. Now we have no living memories of a major world event. An institution created to care for wounded vets will soon be gone, after recent years of neglect. Gone will be the name of Walter Reed and the memory of his accomplishments, which the hospital honored.

Imagine the daily hassles these two young men would face for the rest of their lives - in an attempt to save Europe from itself - an attempt that would have to be repeated in the next generation. With an all-volunteer military, gone is the bond of universal military service.

I hope we will see more photos of WWI, to remind us of what we once had.

Veteran's reaction

Thanks, Shorpy. And thanks to all the people who made comments.

Thanks to all who served

My grandfather fought in France during WWI - although not as visibly wounded as these two veterans, he died in the early nineteen-thirties due to complications from wounds and exposure to mustard gas during combat, leaving my grandmother to raise five children (including my father). I am sorry that I never got to meet him.

Yes, Real Heroes

And look how young they were! The doughboy on the left does not look like he will take any guff from anyone.

From "When Johnny Came Marchin' Home"

"Ye han't an arm, ye han't a leg
Y'er a boneless, spineless, penniless egg,
y'll ha to be put w' a bowl to beg,
Johnny I hardly knew ya!"

And a veterans day THANK YOU to all veterans!

Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you!

No word, or combination of words, in any language, can or will be ever to truly express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you veterans who have given so much, of yourself, your bodies, your blood, for the safety, the freedom and the benefit, of all. So, I am left, with unashamedly, tears in my eyes, to use what I have. A single word, that seems so little, so inadequate.

Thank-you!

And thank-you Dave for this picture, on this most special day of remembrance.

Shoelaces

The soldier with hands' shoes are laced correctly: "no bridged laces." The handless soldier's are bridged at the bottom, done by someone who hadn't been through boot camp. If the puttees & leggings didn't cover up their knots, you might even be able to see the difference between shoelaces tied by the wearer or by someone facing the other direction.

The price of freedom

Our veterans have paid it for us with heart and guts, limbs and emotions, unspeakable memories and entire bodies and some with damaged psyches that can never be restored. Profound gratitude is extended to all of our brave and selfless veterans. No greater love has any man than he who would lay down his life for another.

Touching and Haunting

This portrait says it all. Thanks so much to the Veterans who gave us all so much.

Thanks to all Veterans

What can you say? Incedibly powerful and emotive picture, we owe so much to these men.

Last Men Standing

As of this morning, there are three WWI vets still living – two in England, one in the US.

My grandfather (1892-1971) was on the docks in New York City, light years from the tiny South Dakota village where he enlisted, when word of the WWI Armistice came through.

To all who served or are serving, Bravo Zulu.

And to the lost as well.

Once More Into The Breach...

From the Washington Post:

"Marine Cpl. Todd Nicely lost both hands and both lower legs while serving in Afghanistan. His wife, Crystal, helps him with his physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center."

Disabled vets

When my father was a child during the Great Depression, his family sent him to spend the summer with his uncle Gus, a WW1 vet permanently disabled by mustard gas. For that he got government payments to live on. He had a place to live. He had money to put food on the table. And Gus had time to spend with a little boy because he didn't work.

In a time before there was Social Security and its unemployment payments, these disabled vets were the envy of many who were unemployed between October 1929 and WW2.

As a child my father thought he was sent to live with Uncle Gus because Gus was rich. Of course Gus was not. These vets may have never had their full opportunities because of their service injuries, but our government did take care of them after the war, and especially throughout the Depression. They may even have had nephews and nieces sent to live with them "because they were rich."

Veterans Day The Most Important Day In U.S.A.

For all and my dad who came up through the ranks of the U.S. Navy, as a "Mustang" was the only job Dad could find after the bank in Chicago took away his dad's family farm in Reddick, Illinois. Granddad and my dad drove their Model T to Chicago for a personal sit-down with the banker, who apparently did not listen.

From Swabbie to Commander, 1933 to 1966, retired U.S. Navy. In WWII and Korea, Dad left the Navy after a normal uneventful career, and untalked-about battles. He died quietly in an old folks home, buried next to Mom and their first son. Parents should never outlive their offspring.

Memories

What a great photo! Our deepest thanks and gratitude to all who have served, are serving, and will serve. This would make a wonderful model for a statue to all of them.

Heroes

Spare a thought today for those yesterdays heroes

The Real Thing

These are the real heroes, as opposed to those in Hollywood, on the ballfield and in Washington!

November 11

Thank you to all of our veterans.

Armistice Day...

In their day, with no ADA, I wondered how they fared?

Thank you to all vets.

Wow.

Quite a sight. I wonder how life went for these amazing men.

Happy Veterans' Day, all!

Some things never change

Very poignant photo.

Veterans Day

Enough said. Thanks Dave.

Veterans Day Thanks

wow... one of the most powerful pics I have ever seen on Shorpy...Thank you to all Veterans over the ages making the countless sacrifices for our freedom... It comes with a price paid for by them.

WW1 commemorative day in France...

Yes you're right. American soldiers were there too (In France) for the First World War conflict.
.... Thanks to them .....

Phil from France.

Happy Veterans Day

Thank you for your sacrifice men. Your courage is your legacy. God bless.

What can you say?

Heartbreaking.

To the guys in the picture

Thank you.

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