One of the three known remaining U.S. World War I veterans has died.
World War I was a horrific event, lasting from 1914-1918, killing over 10 million people, started and fought for no good reason, really. The U.S. was lucky, in a way--we did not enter the war until April 1917, and it ended in November 1918. So the American involvement in the war lasted for some year and a half. American battle casualties were somewhat over 100,000--numbers overshadowed by the casualty counts of other wars, such as World War II or the Civil War. Yet those Americans who did their duty in World War I faced grueling, difficult combat in the trench warfare of the First World War, and for the most part did their jobs as best they could. They deserve our remembrance, and our thanks. (My grandfather, John Smant, was one of the doughboys who went "over there.")
