American Eagle
MILITARY PROFESSIONAL
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- May 25, 2010
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The old Indian Army in WW I supplied over 1,250,000 soldiers to the Allies during the now 100 years ago start date of the First World War.
My late Father, a Corporal, who joined our state Army National Guard two weeks after he turned age 14, was the Youngest US Veteran of WW I. Wounded twice (Purple Heart created in about 1932, before that "wound stripes" on your uniform blouse sleeve counted the number of times you had been wounded.
My wife and I visited a major 1916 WW I battle site in France in 2007, and in a random walk about found a very large Indian Raj Army grave site containing hundreds of Indian soldiers killed in action there.
A little early but I want to offer my thank you to those families of today's India and Pakistan whose ancestors fought for freedom, including their own freedom with we Allies in WW I.
The magnitude of the role the old Indian Raj Army played in WW I has yet to receive the free world recognition it and they earned the hard way, as Churchill said with "Blood, Sweat, and tears."
The size of the Indian Army contingent in WW I was numerically equal to if not greater than that of the US Army.
My late Father, a Corporal, who joined our state Army National Guard two weeks after he turned age 14, was the Youngest US Veteran of WW I. Wounded twice (Purple Heart created in about 1932, before that "wound stripes" on your uniform blouse sleeve counted the number of times you had been wounded.
My wife and I visited a major 1916 WW I battle site in France in 2007, and in a random walk about found a very large Indian Raj Army grave site containing hundreds of Indian soldiers killed in action there.
A little early but I want to offer my thank you to those families of today's India and Pakistan whose ancestors fought for freedom, including their own freedom with we Allies in WW I.
The magnitude of the role the old Indian Raj Army played in WW I has yet to receive the free world recognition it and they earned the hard way, as Churchill said with "Blood, Sweat, and tears."
The size of the Indian Army contingent in WW I was numerically equal to if not greater than that of the US Army.
