The shooting during World War I ended 100 years ago at 11:00 am. November 11, 1918. It was called “The War to End All Wars” because it was so deadly for the 10 millions killed and the tens of millions wounded, blinded, disfigured, and missing limbs. It was the end of the trenches and mass charges in the face of machine guns and massed devastating artillery.

I was born eleven minutes shy of exactly 29 years after the shooting ended. Today we call my birthday Veteran’s Day but it was called Armistice Day and Victory Day when I was born. As a fourth grader, I went to a grade school with a one-armed middle-aged crossing guard. When I asked my Mother about his arm she told a 9-year-old about the horrors of war he had endured.

This was our first real war since the Civil War and our army was totally unprepared. We bought French machine guns that were of poor design and English and French artillery and planes. The entant (allies) and the axis (Germans and Austrians) had bled each other dry. The French and British had lost an entire generation of men. The Germans were sending old men and boys into battle. By the time we got into the war, the axis could see what would happen with us sending a million men a month for at least 10 months. The German and Austrian people were starving so they capitulated. Many soldiers on both sides were killed in the last few minutes before 11:00 a.m.

Unfortunately, World War I and its aftermath created the basis for World War II in Europe and over 40 million deaths. The aftermath of it has spawned more wars so “The War to End All Wars” could be considered the starting point.