Recently I read an article in the Star Ledger, March 13, 2008, about France’s last veteran of World War I, Lazare Ponticelli. He outlived 8.4 million Frenchmen who fought in “la Grande Guerre” from 1914-1918. He was born in Italy but choose to fight for France. He was 110. It is to him and his generation that we owe in large part the peaceful and pacified Europe of today. Only a handful of veterans who fought in this war are alive in Australia, the United States and Europe. He is being given a state funeral.
Ponteicelli escaped a tough childhood by run away at the age of 9. He traveled 21 miles to the nearest train station and took a train to join his brother in France. There he made a life for himself. When the war broke out he was 16. He lied about his age to enlist and fight for France. During the war, he served first in northeast France where he dug trenches and burial pits. He said initially the soldiers barely knew how to fight and there was very little ammunition. “Every time one soldier died, the others fell silent and waited their turn”, he said in a 2005 interview.
If I was teaching a lesson on World War I, I think this article would make the war a little more personal. It would enrich my lesson because it describes the war from a French perspective. It is hard to believe that after the hard life this man has lead, he was able to give his insight into the war in the interview in 2005. I feel that all veterans are and were very brave men and their lives should be celebrate when we teach our lessons. Their determination has allowed us to live in a better world; we often neglect to think of this. .
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