Opinion : Letter to the Editor: The Guns Went Silent

Throughout my life the first half of this phrase is what folks have always associated with Armistice Day. That day when WWI - the "war to end all wars" - ended.

In 1926 the date became recognized as "Armistice Day". In 1938 it became a national holiday. And it 1954 it gained its current name - "Veterans Day". A day set aside to honor all veterans. It was so proclaimed in the "Veterans Day Proclamation"

Rather than the date/time of the end of hostilities, rather than "the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month", I would like to focus on the phrase - "The Guns Went Silent" for a moment. The guns had raged in Europe for 4 years. 30 Million dead. An estimated 35 THOUSAND MILES of trenches scared the landscape. New methods of death had been developed and used - from mustard and phosgene gases to aircraft dropping bombs . . . machine guns, tanks, long range artillery . . . not to mention nature's toll from the trenches - flu, infection, dysentery, pneumonia.

And suddenly . . . in an instant . . . "the guns went silent". After 4 years you could hear the wind, the birds, a clock . . . and not the guns. What would that have sounded like? Thanks to the technology of 1918 and the technology of 2018 . . . we have some idea.

Here is a link to the project "Making a New World: Armistice Soundwave" that describes how the data for the recording was gathered. Note that it was technology to gather data to kill the guns . . .

And THIS, THIS RIGHT HERE is what it actually sounded like . . . amazing.

I can't imagine the relief given the horror those on the front experienced on a daily basis.

That said, this is but a moment in time of a nearly 250-year history of Americans defending American ideals and allies. Where the American Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine stood, took their oath of service and faced an enemy. Many of them have had their moment when the "guns went silent" be it an ambush, rocket attack, perimeter attack, when the immediate danger ended, and they were relative safe . . . or when they boarded the "freedom bird" for rotation back to friends and family. They were finally out of range of small arms fire, artillery fire, rockets and mortar fire . . . and the guns were truly silent.

Veterans Day has evolved over the years and today represents a day set aside to thank all who serve - and have served - America. They deserve it. Days, weeks, months, years of separation . . . of time spent "in the sandbox", "in Injun country", "in the boonies", "on the beaches", "in the trenches". . . . words that are clichés in our language . . . but which are phrases that represent sounds, tastes, smells, emotions to those who have served.

They have survived.

That said, I'd like to return to the beginning of this date - 11/11/1918 - for a few moments.

July 28,1914 proved to be the day that would show the folly of human treaties. A single domino in the form of an assassination in Serbia lead to a cataclysm that lasted 1,586 days, consumed the treasures of every single developed nation on the face of the earth as well as over 30 million of their sons, daughters and citizens.

Death came in new - never before seen - forms. From bullets spewed at unbelievable rates of fire, from newly developed automatic weapons to bombs dropped from planes. Old, familiar forms of battle on the field - mounted Calvary, large scale troop movements - gave way to primitive tanks, artillery mounted on rail and trench warfare.

And, perhaps the most iconic weapon of the period - gas. Mustard. Chlorine. Phosgene. Aerosols that blistered lung and skin alike.

New phrases that appeared for that period of time - GAS!! OVER THE TOP!! Dog Fight! Go West.

Men . . . American, British, French, German - and virtually every other American and European soldier experienced these moments in a profoundly intimate way. They went "over there" - filled with thoughts of glory on the battlefield. They were met by the giant maw that was "The Great War", the "War to End All Wars", World War I.

And, during the honors given to all Veterans that have served . . . these men deserve their moment. They rose above the trench, the machine gun, the gas to right the world's course.

And, at the Eleventh Hour . . . of the Eleventh Day . . . of the Eleventh month . . . the Guns Went Silent . . . and their duty was complete . . .

To these men, to their memory . . . Thank You!

"To Absent Comrades"

Respectfully,

Bill Keller