At this time dr. Timothy orr willd rour sessions, a of professor of history at Old Dominion University specializing in American Military history and the hicks of the civil war. Hes written on union mobilization and the lives of union soldiers. His research focuses on partisan conflict in the army of the potomac and also, a diverse set of interests, u. S. Naval dive bombing during the battle of midwayment he teaches American History, virginia history and the history of the civil war and reconstruction. Dr. Timothy orr. [ applause ] on september 13, 1917 a soldier received the iron cross second class. One of 5. 1 medals aacgwt by the german army. He was not pleased. He first said the medal offed him a sense of compensation for services but the more he looked at it the more despicable the medal appeared. The day after he received it he wrote, when i was left alone for a few minutes with the cross i had different thoughts from he focused on the colors and said he began to5pz imagine th nig
All things that were black but crusted in yellow. He wrote, it seemed like the cross were made of shell splinters, black blood congealed on a yellow dead face. Ban daniels crusted with pus, strangled cries of horse voices, gangrene flesh on a leg. The thought unsettled him. He was scheduled to return to the front the next day. He didnt want to see all those black and yellow sights again. Four days later he was killed. His opinion of the hollowness of glory well defined the ex peeshs of the great war. The symbol of the iron cross took on two meanings. One, the symbol of courage and fortitude. The other, the emblem of suffering and death. One was the vision of the strategist and politicians with the medal ought to symbolize. The other was a vision of the soldiers, those who remembered only the wars human cost. High minded ideals, love of country and patriotism were essential to the human character. How could such a transformation happen so quickly . I would contend that the sweeping forc