Hidden Corners of History Memories of the Great War

Memories of the Great War

Jarrod E. Stephens

The Ashland Beacon

Honor is certainly a word that is put on display each year on Veterans Day. For centuries, men and women have sacrificed time and even their lives to create and maintain the freedoms that we enjoy today. There is no disputing the fact that our region is rich in military history and involvement. Considering the sacrifices made, the least we can do is show respect each November 11^th to those who have served.

I was blessed to have grown up in a community where nearly every aged man was a veteran of WWII. Their lives were honorable and many times you’d never know the trauma and devastation that they’d faced during their service. They lived to create a better and safer world for us all. Family history is quite important and whenever you learn that your ancestors were actively involved in major wars and conflicts, it gives you a sense of pride.

As a child I would visit my great-grandparents who lived just up the road from my childhood home and in their dark living room was a haunting picture of three young soldiers. The picture was in a bubble glass frame and each face seemed hauntingly alive although they had been deceased for decades. I learned that the three young soldiers were my great-uncles and they had served in WWI. Their eyes seemed to follow me as I walked through the house.

Each of my great-uncles were from Euclid, Kentucky which was the name of a small post office near our road at Oldtown in rural Greenup County. They were sent to Europe to fight in a land that was foreign to them in an effort to end all wars. The Great War, as it was called, had brutal consequences for many and deadly consequences for others. While two of the brothers returned home safely, George Miller was killed in action.

They look so stoic and sincere all at the same time in that vintage photo, and one of them paid the ultimate price for freedom. I still recall hearing my grandma talk about whenever George’s father found out about his son’s death.

“Grandpa Miller learned about George’s death in a letter. He was killed in France,” mamaw recalled from what she’d been told. “They asked if he wanted to have his body brought home for burial, but grandpa wanted George to be buried in France where he died.”

Long after his death and burial, George’s father received a large picture of his grave in France. The large picture of the cross is 18”x24” and is equally haunting as the portrait of the three soldiers. He also received a small postcard bearing the image of the grave and information about its location. I had never seen the picture of the cross until I was an adult. It was not on display in my grandparents’ home like the picture of the young soldiers in their uniforms.

While I never did ask why they never had the grave picture on display, I can assume that my grandparents would rather remember the boys in their prime rather than be reminded of George’s untimely death. This is only one such tale of many millions that could be recalled and recorded to bear witness to the sacrifices given for our freedom.   

In the early years of the conflict, as George Miller and his brothers were still farm boys in Kentucky, Flanders, Belgium laid in ruins. In 1915, the site of the fields of red poppies inspired John Macrae to write the poem, “In Flanders Field.” A few years removed from its release, the poppy was worn as a symbol of the sacrifices given during WWI. It can still be spotted today as we stop to remember our veterans both past and present.

WWI was a brutal conflict that was supposed to end all wars, and we all know that goal was not achieved. War is still being waged around our globe, and we still have millions of men and women who put on their uniforms each day to preserve our American freedoms. George Miller never got to enjoy the many freedoms that my boys enjoy today.

It is for that very reason that we should all stop to thank a veteran. Let’s not allow it to be a once in a November occasion to let them know how much we appreciate their dedication to our nation. We should all be moved to also tell our kids and every youth about those whom we’ll never get to meet here on earth who answered the call and fought the battles so that we wouldn’t have to. As Macrae’s poem states, “We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.” They may be gone but they should never be forgotten.