Gerald Ford was born before the First World War

[liberalpragmatist]

Regardless of what you think about Gerald Ford politically, with his death, we lose another connection to the past. Such is the inevitability of time.

Perhaps I'm making a banal point. Still, whenever we lose someone old, we lose a link with our heritage. Ford is hardly the only one to go through this. As a person in my young twenties, I have known no World War I veterans growing up. And the "Greatest Generation" is rapidly departing us as well.

When Gerald Ford was born, empires still covered the globe. The Soviet Union had yet to be founded. In Istanbul, the Ottoman Sultan ruled over a crumbling empire. The American president was Woodrow Wilson (who had only been inaugurated four months previous). He would have been conceived during the presidency of William Howard Taft.

The grandparents or great-grandparents of Ford's generation - I don't know the specifics of his family history - would have fought in the Civil War.

Who alive today remembers these days? I believe there are still a handful of World War I veterans alive today in the world - all of them well into their 100s.

I suppose there's no "clear" direction I'm taking this. I think some of you will understand what I mean, however. It's something to think about. What have you witnessed in your life? Will there come a day where you'll be a witness to events long, long back that exist only in history books to everybody else?

[rockymountaindem]

1. I understand exactly what you mean

As a lover of history, the loss of someone with clear memories of things which are, to me, just subjects in history books, is quite sad.

[Lancer]

2. I do understand what you mean

it's part of why I majored in history and am an amateur historian in real life. I think it's so important not to lose connections to the past -- to talk to older relatives about what they remember before those "walking libraries" are gone for good. People love talking about themselves, and you don't have to get too far past age 50 to start reminiscing about the good old days to anyone who will listen.

(I monitor the lists of deaths by the month at Wikipedia. They always note when the decedant is the last known Welsh, or Belgian, (whatever nationality) veteran of WWI and the like. To me that's very interesting, and sobering information.)

None of us has to go back too far to reach into the past. We are all connected in some way. My father is 77, and he vividly remembers his grandfather, who fought in Stuart's Cavalry in the Civil War, who died when my father was 5.

But to answer your question, the only event I vividly remember hearing for myself that is in the history books is the riots across the South the night Dr. King was killed. I was a child safe at home, but could hear gunshots and tear gas canisters being lobbed and windows being shattered.

[liberalpragmatist]

4. When was your great-great-grandfather born?

I would have guessed that for someone of the age of 77, their generation's civil war connection would be through their great-grandparents.

Is your grandfather at the tail end of one filial generation?

[Lancer]

5. People always ask me this. :)

And it's easy to understand why people think I must mean my great-great grandfather.

Dad was born in 1929, the only child of parents who married in their late 30s.

His father, (fourth of nine children born over many years), was born in 1889.

His father was born in 1844, and enlisted in 1862 to fight in the Petersburg Campaign.

(What's weird is that I have a brother born in 1983 who can also claim his great grandfather was a Civil War veteran!)

[liberalpragmatist]

6. That's what I figured

So a couple generations of having children relatively late in life.

I actually did mean to say *GREAT*-grandfather, but got thrown off and added another great.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Thnk of it this way:

When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8. When Wilson died, Gerald Ford was 11.

[donheld]

8. When Jesus was a boy Cher was 12, so what's your point

:evilgrin::hide:

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. My point is that your face is funny looking.

:P

:rofl:

[Sherman A1]

7. Agreed

It is always sad to lose anyone, and I am glad you made this point about what they have seen in their life. Mom is 87 now, born just after WWI and she talks sometimes of the things in the past. She has been very helpful in my family history research something I reccomend to everyone - even if you are not particularly interested at the moment - Get your parents and grandparent stories down as best you can while you still have them around - do an interview and write down your family tree as they give it to you and get the juicy family legends - the black sheep, the honest hard working folks, the bums, the heroes - get it down before you don't have any means to do so. Your family history is a part of the history of this country and the world --- write your chapter!

[Maine-ah]

9. kick

many interesting thoughts here.

[B Calm]

10. Growing up in the 50's I lived across the street from a VA hospital

in Danville, Illinois. I met and talked to many WW1 veterans that were born in the 1800's.