Pasadena Chamber of Commerce

Past on Parade: Wars of the past ended with a `glorious victory’

By Sid Gally, Correspondent

Memorial Day when we remember the sacrifices of those who fought in all our wars is observed Monday.

Young people today may not realize that wars in the past usually came to an end with a clear victory. This Certificate of Appreciation from the Citizens of Pasadena was presented to each soldier or sailor returning from World War I. It speaks of “the glorious victory.”

A cache of such material has surfaced. Along with the certificate were newspapers of the time. November 12, 1918, the headline of the French paper La D p che read “L Allemagne est Vaincue,” which translates as “Germany is Vanquished.”

The American edition of the British Daily Mail headlined, “Armistice Terms Are Signed Amid Universal Rejoicings.” Subheads read, “Enemy’s Defeat is Consummated in 52nd Month of a War Unprecedented in History of the World” and “Conditions Under Which the Huns Are Allowed Cessation of Hostilities Include Immediate Evacuation of Invaded Territory and Handing Over of Submarines and Battleships – Prisoners of War To Be Returned Without Reciprocity.”

Fighting continued on some fronts right up to the hour of 11a.m., French time, on Nov. 11. A reporter wrote, “German prisoners are heard singing the Marseillaise today and they seem as happy as the Americans and the French soldiers.”

The Stars and Stripes, the paper of the American Expeditionary Forces, reported on Nov. 28 that French ports were readying to ship American soldiers home. Stevedores

were in a competition in a “Race to Berlin” to see how fast they could unload arriving supplies.The 5,000 black stevedores at the Port of St. Nazaire handled a record 12,377 tons in one day.

The Jan. 17 Stars and Stripes was describing battles of the war, information not published during hostilities.

It reported that the rate of venereal disease in the A.E.F. was down to 34 cases per 1,000 men per year. Infected men were quarantined for treatment before embarking.

The Daily Mail carried a report from New York that said, “Now that the Huns have been defeated, the United States Government is preparing to wage war to extinction against one of their most disagreeable allies, the cootie. At an expenditure of $1,500,000, 45 anti-cootie plants are being erected.”

The largest plant would “de-cootie” 6,000 men per day.

Sid Gally is a Pasadena Museum of History volunteer.

Elsewhere in our valley, vets were honored in many ways, with small ceremonies, such as the Vietnam Veterans of America remembrance at Pasadena’s Memorial Park, and with one Duarte World War II vet visiting the World War II Memorial in Washington, courtesy of the California Masons.

In the LA Times, via the Associated Press a story on remembrances by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Memorial Day has personal tone in Afghanistan, Iraq as troops remember fallen colleagues

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq remembered friends and colleagues Monday in solemn Memorial Day ceremonies to commemorate all of their nation’s war dead.

As some soldiers paused, violence raged on in both places.

In Afghanistan, U.S.-led NATO forces launched airstrikes against Taliban insurgents who had forced government forces to abandon a district in Nuristan, a remote province on the Pakistan border. NATO also said it killed one of the Taliban’s top two commanders in the insurgent stronghold of Kandahar in a separate airstrike.

At the sprawling Bagram Air Field, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, about 400 soldiers in camouflage uniforms and brown combat boots stood at attention for a moment’s silence as Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of some 94,000 U.S. troops in the country, led the ceremony.

And this about a fallen Marine and his family who are sadden by their loss, but rightfully proud of their son:

On this Memorial Day, a father’s pain and pride

The week has been especially difficult for Steven Xiarhos, whose son died last year in Afghanistan. But he wants to remind others: ‘Never forget that people have died for you and for that flag.’

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m living the dream,” Marine Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos had said during his Afghanistan deployment. Those words now mark his gravestone. (Family photo / April 16, 2010)

A tale of Korean War heroism

U.S. Marine Chew-Een Lee’s bravery at the battle of the Chosin Reservoir is a focus of Smithsonian Channel documentary.

The glossy mailers arrived day after day, tucked into voters’ mailboxes in eastern San Diego County. Each was from Assemblyman Joel Anderson, a San Diego Republican vying to become a state senator.

Each had the words “protecting taxpayers” etched under his name and the seal of the state Assembly. What the nearly 350,000 promotional pieces didn’t say is that they were designed, printed and mailed at taxpayer expense.

The deluge came in the final four days before a blackout period that bars lawmakers from sending mailers on the public dime in the run-up to the June 8 primary election.

Since the beginning of 2009, Anderson has been the single biggest user — some ethics experts say abuser — of the Legislature’s more than $4.6-million direct-mail operation, according to legislative records. A Times review of every mass mail piece sent by state legislators since Jan. 1, 2009, shows Anderson was not alone in finding political advantage in the publicly funded mailers.

May 29, 2010

Falling gasoline prices and cheaper utility bills could make people feel better about spending more over the summer. So could historically low mortgage rates. That would lead more people to refinance and leave them with more disposable income.