World

Photographer races clock to honor last few World War I vets

by tjgrz11 | November 11, 2008 at 03:09 am

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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/11/war.vets.photos/index.html

"In my view, America has missed the boat in documenting this part of history," said DeJonge, a portrait photographer from Zeeland, Michigan. "It was such a pivotal moment in global history."

I couldn't agree more. I think there has been far too little done to remember those from wars past. Every Veterans Day I hear so much in regards to those who served in Vietnam and WWII, but not much about WWI, the ending of which sparked the national holiday of Veterans Day to begin with.

Eight of 12 veterans he has photographed in the last two years are now dead.

"It's a tragic loss - a tragic loss for the project and for global history," he said. "These are the last breaths of the last souls who witnessed one of the most horrific wars this world has ever seen."

The visit comes 90 years to the day after the end of World War I, an occasion that led to Veteran's Day in the United States and Armistice Day in other nations.

For DeJonge, it's a poignant reminder that time is running out in his quest to find and photograph the few surviving veterans of the war, which raged from 1914 to 1918

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tjgrz11

at 03:17 on November 11th, 2008

I tried to put more in to this story, but was having problems with the highlight tool. I don't see the full link to the story on here, but I know I put it in. Hopefully it pops up.

Sanjay Jha

at 03:36 on November 11th, 2008

Hi, Thanks for your post and msg. Could you please let us know what exact is the problem?

tjgrz11

at 04:53 on November 11th, 2008

I actually think the problem was just on my end with my computer. I was having problems with it all night at work. Nothing seemed to want to work right with it. If I experience any more problems I'll be sure to let you know.

tjgrz11

at 04:58 on November 11th, 2008

I thought it was just on my end. My work computer was acting up all night, but I'm now having the same problem with a computer at home. When trying to submit or post anything the site just freezes while processing. It took me 3 tries to get the story to post and so far I've tied twice to send this message to you. I'll wait up to 3 minutes and then end up having to hit the refresh button, but then I have to enter everything again. We'll see if 3rd times a charm again.