Pay tribute to World War I veterans

The 'Guns of August” boom again worldwide in August with the centennial observance of the start of World War I. My hope is that our entire nation and Cedar Rapids takes time to pay tribute to those who fought and died on those fields of Europe - the forgotten and lost boys of the Somme.

Woodrow Wilson's valiant but defied attempts to secure his Fourteen Points, a League of Nations and our Allies was wasted by Georges Clemenceau at Versailles, setting up resentment and opportunity for a mad genocidal corporal who would tap the psyche of one of the most educated nations in the world and take the world to the brink of disaster in the second world war. The flying aces of World War I, the Eddie Rickenbackers vs. Germany's Hermann Goring in the skies, mustard gas and first use of chemical warfare - all great history and lessons.

As we approach that mark this summer, we hopefully will see a global effort to pay tribute to the boys of so many countries who died often in horrible conditions and often all alone in the 'War to End All Wars.”

Cort Stapleton

Cedar Rapids