November 11, 1918 – And then it was over

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the Great War ended with an armistice signed between the Allies and the Germany.  The war was finally over.

Company A was in the town of Vieville-sous-les-Cotes working on roads on the tenth and spent the night there.  They knew the armistice was coming in the morning though the sound and fury of the war continued through the night.

Jay, however, wasn’t with the Company on this day  He was actually in Aix-les-Bains in the mountains of the south of France, on leave.   There he witnessed the celebration of the French people so far from the front.  He spent time high on a nearby mountain, Mont Revard.

November 11 stayed very dear in Jay’s heart and mind.  For the rest of his life, he never worked on that day.  On November 11, 1935 another important event happened in his life.  More about that in future posts.

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Jay’s words in a letter written a week after the Armistice:

“Best news came Monday when Germany signed the armistice.  You should have saw how the French people went wild can you blame them 4 ¼ years of war is a long time we haven’t been fighting half that time and we are tired of the war game.

Flags were flying and people parading the streets cheering to beat the band.”