Thanks to the political cowardice of the Bush administration and 110th Congress, there will be more soldiers to memorialize. Political courage for Bush, not that he'd ever display it, would have been to not invade Iraq in the first place...for Congress, it would be to stand up to the literally insane rantings from the executive branch.
But I guess neither will happen.
Anyway. To change the subject, I'm taking advantage of the holiday to do some chores, and will resume regular posting tomorrow. And, changing the subject again, just as an FYI, I noticed over the weekend that Ancestry.com has posted and opened for free searching a large number of military records through June 6th.
Seeing this story about a World War I veteran at First Draft reminded me: on Friday I did a quick search for any records of my grandfather, who also was a veteran of the Great War. I found his draft card:
If it's accurate, it means he was a year older than we thought, and 101 years old when he died in 1990.
For someone who grew up in a genuine backwater, and who was forced out of school at a very early age (language issues: he didn't speak English, and teachers would not instruct in French), he was actually pretty smart: in recounting his war years, he told me he'd volunteer for kitchen duty, which not only meant more to eat, but also assignment to a back trench. He also drove a truck and functioned as an interpreter (he'd become proficient in English, but always spoke with an accent).
I'd say getting assigned to a back trench wasn't a bad idea.
Well, anyway...back tomorrow.
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