EXCERPT from book in progress -- “Brief History of James J. Ballentine and the Minneapolis VFW, Post 246”
EXCERPT from book in progress -- “Brief History of James J. Ballentine and the Minneapolis VFW, Post 246” by Nicholas Garbis November 11, 1918. One hundred years ago today a t 11:00 on the 11th day of the 11th month, the Armistice was declared that ended the Great War. This was the final Armistice with Germany, though in the preceding days, newspapers throughout the United States had been printing bold headlines that the Great War was over. It was not yet a fact, but the rapid collapse of the Central Powers was in motion as all of them except Germany had already signed armistice agreements with the Allies in the previous month. The end of the horror was nearing, and the excitement was difficult to contain. On November 11th the guns went silent and the the relief and elation spread around the world. The war that had claimed millions of lives had finally ended. The news arrived almost instantly via transatlantic telegraph c...