Thread by @pptsapper

Going over regimental award recommendations from WWI today

And to all those who grumble, "I bet those guys in WWI and WWII didn't have to type up memos with proper spacing, and qualitative/quantifiable comments"

Well

THEY DID

On TYPEWRITERS

So STFU & write better

Also, the French Croix de Guerre citations are just so much better in their wordsmithing

"Showed utter contempt for danger"

"Contributed to the repulse of the enemy"

"Displayed courage and boldness"

There's something about reading names from 100 years ago. In and of itself, reading the scripts and writing brings you through time to live momentarily with that person. You are brought into an intimate connection with that person or persons, that it is hard to express

Even more impactful, however, when you're researching National Guard soldiers from your own state. Many, from the same unit/s you were in or commanded. And though it has been a century, the names remain the same. The wholly familiar towns are the same. Time severs & snaps.

I have spent years researching these men. I've read their diaries, journals, letters, poems, newspaper releases, orders, field messages, memos,& all the other marginalia of their lives. And I remain struck by how intensely alive they still are to me, although they have all passed

5 years ago, I read a brief history of their actions & was roped in. Today, reading the award recommendations written by the lieutenants, captains, & majors of the unit, I am once again struck by the simple acts of daily heroism they performed, to save each other in hell on earth