Remembering “The war to end all wars”
El Dorado — Among the many family photos that decorate Jannis Echols’ hallway is an old black-and-white photo of a young man clad in his World War I Army fatigues in a tiny French town preparing to go to the front lines.
Echols was cleaning this frame recently, and while reflecting on what Memorial Day means to her, she was inspired to tell the story of her father, John Young.
“He always told us that they called [WWI] ‘The war to end all wars,’” Echols said.
“This war was the biggest thing that our country had ever seen. Men lined up to go, and I just want people to remember how important it was.”
Although military propaganda painted the war in a romantic light and told the men signing up that they would be the defenders of the free, it did not prepare the men for all of the horrors that would come along with it, including possibly making the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
The United States lost over 50,000 lives during the war and over 230,000 came home wounded.
Nevertheless, Young, like so many others, heard the call of his nation and he, along with his peers in Winn Parish, Louisiana, signed up to defend it in 1917. He was 29.
After attending basic training, Young was sent to New Jersey to be shipped out to Brest, France.
“He would always tell us kids about how the night before, Mae West entertained the troops and she called him up on stage and sang ‘If you give me a chance, I will
follow you to France,’” said Echols.
“He told us that the trip over was terrible. The sea was rough, everybody was so sick on the deck,” Echols said. It was eight days before they arrived at their destination.
Once in France, the men were given two days to rest before the unit would advance to the front line. While heading toward the western front, armistice was declared on Nov. 11, 1918, ending the war.
“He was discharged and sent home within a month of that date,” she said with a smile.
Young was one of the lucky ones to have made it home.
After he returned stateside, Young met and married the love of his life and had four children, the youngest of which was Echols. Despite his surprisingly short French tour, the experience had an impact that overflowed to his family. Echols said he was often sharing stories with his children and teaching them how to count in French.
After his passing in 1982, each of Young’s children had a copy of this photo made because of its true representation of the kind of man their father was. The pride that Echols has for her father is evident with every memory of her father that she recounts to those willing to listen.
One antique photo of a brave man in military fatigues takes her on a trip to the past each time she passes it in the hall. Sharing her father’s story is her way of honoring those who were lost during WWI, as well as those veterans whom we have lost to time.