Armistice Day came too late for Ben Brown

As today is Veteran's Day, a trip to nearby Greenwod Cemetery was in order to pay my respects to my dad and the many other service men and women who rest there.

While Dad is buried in an old private family plot, the American Legion maintains an entire section for military personnel whose graves are marked by simple government-issued stones.

I'd like to introduce ye socks to one of those servicemen: Private Ben B. Brown (1896-1918), who gave his life for this country in the Aisne-Marne offensive in France during the First World War.

Brown's file tells us that he was a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina. He enlisted 8 August 1917 in Orlando to serve in Company C of the 2nd Infantry, Florida National Guard. That unit was sent for training at Camp Wheeler, then shipped to France on 20 June 1918.

Poor Ben was killed in action just one month, one week, and one day later.

More tragically, he fell less than four months before Armistice Day.

While I hope everyone out there in the blogosphere will take a moment today to honor all veterans of all our nation's wars, please remember the holiday was originally declared to commemorate the end of the First World War--the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918--an important moment that far too many young men like Ben Brown did not live to see.

And, find a veteran to thank.