Cool Historical Finds

A guy my dad works with brought in a bunch of stuff today from his great grandmother's brother, who was a field artillery officer in WW1. He wrote Luke, the guy my dad works with, this telegram when he was 93 and Luke was 12.

In it, he tells about his experiences on 11/11/1918, and tells a very interesting story about his horse.

My dad asked to take him home to show my brother and I. I found it so interesting and figured I'd share it with you guys.

SUPER cool read, it's definitely worth it.

https://imgur.com/a/ou6GSdi

Luke brought in some of the things mentioned in the telegram, like the spurs and the original cease-fire orders.

Comments

  • I've always been fascinated by the human side of wars like these. It's one thing to read about battles, troop movements, and casualty numbers, and an entirely different thing to read about how the people who took part in them saw the events unfold. By some miracle, none of my ancestors saw combat in either world wars. My great-grandfather however was taken away by the Soviets during WW2 to the GULAGs, and he only returned in 1953. He kept a journal, but unfortunately it's in his native Ruthene, and no one in my family speaks Ruthene anymore.

  • Yeah, war is not fun!

  • https://dropbox.com/s/rjq6di5jjed706n/IMG-20180923-WA0005.jpeg?dl=0

    My Grandgrandpa in his uniform. Doctor wich served in WW1 as 2 Lt. and in WW2 as Major. Saved people from every nation.

  • edited May 2019

    https://imgur.com/a/U5LekgA

    My father was a volunteer paramedic during the Bosnian War. He doesn't talk much about his time during the war, however I was able to interview him with these questions. I also have his collection of photos he took while he was there.

    1. What organisation were you part of?
      Life Mission Inc. A humanitarian aid organization of paramedics started by NY City paramedic Jim Schrang. He was an Vietnam vet and ex-paratrooper that started the organization to bring medics to Bosnia during the war.

    2. Which area did you work in?
      Mostar and Sarajevo

    3. What were the daily living conditions like?
      In Sarajevo there was no water, no electricity, no gas. There were were a lot of snipers around the city and you had to be careful crossing streets. The only place to get water was the basement of the brewery which had deep wells. We would fill plastic bottles with water and haul them back to where we were staying.
      In Mostar there was usually water and electricity. However there was shelling of the town every couple of days by the Serbs, usually 5-6 rounds from artillery or tanks overlooking the city. There was also a lot of shooting back and forth across the river between the Bosnian side (where I was) and the Croatian side. There were no telephones. To make a phone call I had to cross the river to the Croatian side, and go to a local hotel. The Croats didn't like foreigners helping the Bosnians, and they would threaten me, so I didn't go very often.

    4. The people you helped treat, did they tell you what was going on in other areas?
      No, but they talked about things that had happened to them during the war. I think mostly they just wanted someone from the outside world to listen to them and hear their stories, to have a sense that the things being done to them weren't being ignored by the rest of the world.

    5. Do you know anything about the genocide that occurred in Bosnia?
      I didn't personally talk to anyone who had been a witness, but of course it was something everyone knew about. The worst genocide happened in a UN "safe area", Srebrenica in July of 1995.

    6. What made you want to volunteer?
      Being young and stupid.

    7.How was it like working there?
    A lot of the time we just waited around for something to happen. I didn't think it was doing much good, although we were able to help deliver medical supplies. A british guy told me that just being there helped, because it gave the Bosnians hope and was a reminder that the world cared about what was happening.

    8.Who did you work with?
    In Mostar I was by myself, but I helped out at the war hospital, with Bosnian doctors and nurses. They were quite nice to me. In Sarajevo I was with a group of American paramedics, all from New York, except me.

    9.Is there anything you would like to add?
    Never volunteer.

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