Sunday is a milestone day if you're a
history geek, like Europe, or just want to honor people who gave
their lives for a just cause.
Sunday is Veterans Day here in the US,
but in Europe it's a little more. Sunday morning will mark the 100th
anniversary of the end of World War I, “The Great War” and “The
War to End All Wars”, names given by people who obviously didn't
realize that history DOES repeat itself, and often in more gruesome
forms. I think the end of the war is a bigger deal over there than
it is here, but it really shouldn't be. Hundreds of thousands of
Americans died in the conflict, and memories of them are now few and
far between.
As an example of how those memories can
slowly disappear, I’d like to introduce you to a young man from
Marquette named Morgan Mowick--
A couple of years ago Loraine and I walked through Park Cemetery and came across Morgan’s grave. It
simply says that he died on March 27th, 1918 while serving
with the 174th Aero Squadron of the U.S. Allied
Expeditionary Force during World War I. That’s it. So I decided
to see if I could find out anything about him. And that’s when I
realized that memories can recede over time.
Thanks to Loraine, I know how to look
up things on soldiers who died while in service. I know where to
look in newspapers, I know which websites have the best information.
It’s just one of the many benefits to being married to a very
remarkable woman. But when I looked into those newspapers and
searched those websites, I realized that information from a war, even
a World War, from 100 years ago is sketchy at best.
All I could find out about Morgan is
that he grew up at 421 East Hewitt Avenue in Marquette, was a member
of what’s now the First United Methodist Church, and that his
father, Mons Mowick,was a Norwegian immigrant who had developed a
reputation as one of Marquette's best house painters. Like many men
who died during World War I Morgan didn't die in combat; instead, he
contracted pneumonia while on the way over to Europe, was left at a
hospital when his ship docked, and died soon afterward. His body was
then sent back to Marquette for burial, where he still lies next to
his parents.
That’s all I could find out. All I
found were two newspaper articles from just after he died, one with a
letter sent to his father by his commander right after his death, and
the other a reprint of a sermon given by his church’s minister for
several members of the church who had died in the conflict. Those
two articles seem to represent the entire legacy of a young man who
left his home to fight for a better world and died while doing it.
I’d like to think that people like
Morgan deserve better.
So if you happen to have a veteran in
your life, be it a dad or a mom, or a brother or sister, or a
grandfather, or an aunt or uncle, or even a favorite neighbor, do two
things today. First, thank them for their service. These people
have put themselves in harms way over and over again, often in
hostile areas, to make sure that you stay safe. And if you have the
chance, make sure that their stories are recorded and saved
somewhere. Make sure that in a hundred years, if someone wants to
know what they did and why they did, that the information is
available.
Make sure time treats them better than
it treated someone like Morgan Mowick.
On that note, have yourself a great
weekend. Stay warm, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment