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mary_j_59Recently, my Mom cut out an obituary from the NY Times; it was of the death of the oldest living WWI vet in France. I think we all read it and were very impressed by this man's decency and common sense. The obituary follows - under a cut, because it's long:
Lazare Ponticelli, 110, Dies; France's Last Veteran of World War I:[Obituary (Obit); Biography]
Douglas Martin. New York Times. (Late Edition (east Coast)). New York, N.Y.:Mar 13, 2008. p. A.23
Abstract (Summary)
Lazare Ponticelli, who outlived more than 8.4 million other soldiers who fought under the French flag in World War I to become France's last living veteran of the war intended to end all wars, died Wednesday at his home in Kremlin-Bicetre, a Paris suburb.
Full Text (535 words)
Copyright New York Times Company Mar 13, 2008
Lazare Ponticelli, who outlived more than 8.4 million other soldiers who fought under the French flag in World War I to become France's last living veteran of the war intended to end all wars, died Wednesday at his home in Kremlin-Bicetre, a Paris suburb. He was 110.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced the death, expressing "infinite sadness."
Fewer than two dozen World War I veterans are thought to be alive. Six have died this year, including the last German veteran and the next-to-last French one.
Survival in itself is not necessarily an achievement, and Mr. Ponticelli said in an interview with Reuters last year that he "never knew how I got to this point."
He was always emphatic that the glory belonged to the more than 1.3 million French soldiers who were killed. Last week Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates honored the war's survivors, including the last American veteran to serve overseas, Frank Buckles, 107.
By contrast, the German government paid no attention to the death on Jan. 1 of its last veteran, Erich Kastner.
When Jacques Chirac was president of France, he vowed to honor the last veteran with a state funeral, but Mr. Ponticelli fought the idea, saying it would be an insult to all the men who died without commemoration.
But after the death in January of the only other French veteran of the war, Louis de Cazenave, also 110, Mr. Ponticelli agreed to a smaller ceremony to honor all veterans. "No racket, no procession," he specified.
Lazare Ponticelli was born on Dec. 7, 1897, near the northern Italian village of Bettola. Poverty drove him to leave the village alone to go to France, which he considered "paradise," according to Agence France-Presse.
He worked in Paris as a chimney sweep and paper boy, and in 1914 he lied about his age to join the French Foreign Legion. He was the last veteran of the legion to have fought in World War I.
He was soon at the front line in the forest of Argonne, where the French were hampered by not having trenches. The Germans did. He also fought at Verdun. Reuters reported that he once rescued a wounded German and a wounded French soldier caught between the front lines.
At an Armistice Day ceremony last year, he said he had only one thought during combat: "We're all going to die."
When Italy entered the war in 1915, Mr. Ponticelli was drafted into the Italian Army and fought against the Austrians in Tyrol, where he was wounded in the face.
He returned to France after the war and started a piping company with two of his brothers, which now employs 4,000 people, Agence France-Presse reported. He became a French citizen in 1939.
Mr. Ponticelli is survived by a daughter, Janine Desbaucheron, but information on other survivors was incomplete.
A Mass will be celebrated Monday at Les Invalides. The government said "the highest state authorities" would attend.
Mr. Ponticelli's view of war was dispirited. "You shoot at men who are fathers," he once said, according to an obituary by Reuters. "War is completely stupid." He kept his many war medals in a shoe box.
[Photograph]
Lazare Ponticelli (Photograph by Francois Mori/Associated Press, 2007)
Indexing (document details)
Subjects: Deaths
People: Ponticelli, Lazare
Author(s): Douglas Martin
Document types: Obituary
Section: A
Publication title: New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Mar 13, 2008. pg. A.23
Source type: Newspaper
ISSN: 03624331
ProQuest document ID: 1444724381
Text Word Count 535
Document URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1444724381&Fmt=3&clientId=56233&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Now, the minor rant. When I think about Harry Potter and how my feelings about it have changed, it seems to me there were some warning signs, very early on, of where the books were heading. I always hated how Muggles were treated and spoken of in the books - and even in interviews. Some samples: Vernon Dursley works for a firm that makes drills, which is, I suppose, meant to be especially tedious. Hermione's parents are not given a single word to say or even first names in seven books. And when a fan asked if we would be hearing more from them, Rowling apparently said , "They're dentists. They're boring." Then there is the Squib cousin of Ron's who becomes an accountant - he gets that one mention, and is never heard from again.
Yes, I know, these are children's books. Most children undoubtedly find dentists and accountants and drill manufacturers boring. But are they?
Consider Mr. Ponticelli, who started a piping company which now employs 4,000 people. Pipes are also boring. But, like drills and dentists, they improve our lives in very concrete ways. What would life be like without clean water delivered to our houses? We would not have it without pipes and drills. Just a thought. Mr. Ponticelli also created jobs for thousands of families; he put roofs over their heads and bread on their tables. This, to me, is not boring.
Getting back to the Potterverse for a minute, as far as I can see, thw Wizarding World is completely parasitic. Wizards do not build or produce anything; they rely on the Muggles they scorn for the necessities of life (and there are pipes in Hogwarts!) Then why the scorn for Muggles? What are Muggles, anyway?
I think Muggles are meant to represent materialists, while Wizards are people with a spiritual life. That's just the way it strikes me. Of course, in the real world, there is no such division as exists in Rowling's universe. In the real world, plumbers and dentists and accountants may have a very active spiritual life, while artistic types and even famous writers and artists may deny the spirit. So why does Rowling come up with this division?
It seems to me she's promoting that false and cliched dichotomy between faith and reason, science and religion. Science is the enemy. And this may be one reason why the wizard who comes closest to being a scientist is treated especially harshly in the story. What do you think?
End of rant. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys reading about Mr. Ponticelli. He sounds like a great guy to me!
Lazare Ponticelli, 110, Dies; France's Last Veteran of World War I:[Obituary (Obit); Biography]
Douglas Martin. New York Times. (Late Edition (east Coast)). New York, N.Y.:Mar 13, 2008. p. A.23
Abstract (Summary)
Lazare Ponticelli, who outlived more than 8.4 million other soldiers who fought under the French flag in World War I to become France's last living veteran of the war intended to end all wars, died Wednesday at his home in Kremlin-Bicetre, a Paris suburb.
Full Text (535 words)
Copyright New York Times Company Mar 13, 2008
Lazare Ponticelli, who outlived more than 8.4 million other soldiers who fought under the French flag in World War I to become France's last living veteran of the war intended to end all wars, died Wednesday at his home in Kremlin-Bicetre, a Paris suburb. He was 110.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced the death, expressing "infinite sadness."
Fewer than two dozen World War I veterans are thought to be alive. Six have died this year, including the last German veteran and the next-to-last French one.
Survival in itself is not necessarily an achievement, and Mr. Ponticelli said in an interview with Reuters last year that he "never knew how I got to this point."
He was always emphatic that the glory belonged to the more than 1.3 million French soldiers who were killed. Last week Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates honored the war's survivors, including the last American veteran to serve overseas, Frank Buckles, 107.
By contrast, the German government paid no attention to the death on Jan. 1 of its last veteran, Erich Kastner.
When Jacques Chirac was president of France, he vowed to honor the last veteran with a state funeral, but Mr. Ponticelli fought the idea, saying it would be an insult to all the men who died without commemoration.
But after the death in January of the only other French veteran of the war, Louis de Cazenave, also 110, Mr. Ponticelli agreed to a smaller ceremony to honor all veterans. "No racket, no procession," he specified.
Lazare Ponticelli was born on Dec. 7, 1897, near the northern Italian village of Bettola. Poverty drove him to leave the village alone to go to France, which he considered "paradise," according to Agence France-Presse.
He worked in Paris as a chimney sweep and paper boy, and in 1914 he lied about his age to join the French Foreign Legion. He was the last veteran of the legion to have fought in World War I.
He was soon at the front line in the forest of Argonne, where the French were hampered by not having trenches. The Germans did. He also fought at Verdun. Reuters reported that he once rescued a wounded German and a wounded French soldier caught between the front lines.
At an Armistice Day ceremony last year, he said he had only one thought during combat: "We're all going to die."
When Italy entered the war in 1915, Mr. Ponticelli was drafted into the Italian Army and fought against the Austrians in Tyrol, where he was wounded in the face.
He returned to France after the war and started a piping company with two of his brothers, which now employs 4,000 people, Agence France-Presse reported. He became a French citizen in 1939.
Mr. Ponticelli is survived by a daughter, Janine Desbaucheron, but information on other survivors was incomplete.
A Mass will be celebrated Monday at Les Invalides. The government said "the highest state authorities" would attend.
Mr. Ponticelli's view of war was dispirited. "You shoot at men who are fathers," he once said, according to an obituary by Reuters. "War is completely stupid." He kept his many war medals in a shoe box.
[Photograph]
Lazare Ponticelli (Photograph by Francois Mori/Associated Press, 2007)
Indexing (document details)
Subjects: Deaths
People: Ponticelli, Lazare
Author(s): Douglas Martin
Document types: Obituary
Section: A
Publication title: New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Mar 13, 2008. pg. A.23
Source type: Newspaper
ISSN: 03624331
ProQuest document ID: 1444724381
Text Word Count 535
Document URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1444724381&Fmt=3&clientId=56233&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Now, the minor rant. When I think about Harry Potter and how my feelings about it have changed, it seems to me there were some warning signs, very early on, of where the books were heading. I always hated how Muggles were treated and spoken of in the books - and even in interviews. Some samples: Vernon Dursley works for a firm that makes drills, which is, I suppose, meant to be especially tedious. Hermione's parents are not given a single word to say or even first names in seven books. And when a fan asked if we would be hearing more from them, Rowling apparently said , "They're dentists. They're boring." Then there is the Squib cousin of Ron's who becomes an accountant - he gets that one mention, and is never heard from again.
Yes, I know, these are children's books. Most children undoubtedly find dentists and accountants and drill manufacturers boring. But are they?
Consider Mr. Ponticelli, who started a piping company which now employs 4,000 people. Pipes are also boring. But, like drills and dentists, they improve our lives in very concrete ways. What would life be like without clean water delivered to our houses? We would not have it without pipes and drills. Just a thought. Mr. Ponticelli also created jobs for thousands of families; he put roofs over their heads and bread on their tables. This, to me, is not boring.
Getting back to the Potterverse for a minute, as far as I can see, thw Wizarding World is completely parasitic. Wizards do not build or produce anything; they rely on the Muggles they scorn for the necessities of life (and there are pipes in Hogwarts!) Then why the scorn for Muggles? What are Muggles, anyway?
I think Muggles are meant to represent materialists, while Wizards are people with a spiritual life. That's just the way it strikes me. Of course, in the real world, there is no such division as exists in Rowling's universe. In the real world, plumbers and dentists and accountants may have a very active spiritual life, while artistic types and even famous writers and artists may deny the spirit. So why does Rowling come up with this division?
It seems to me she's promoting that false and cliched dichotomy between faith and reason, science and religion. Science is the enemy. And this may be one reason why the wizard who comes closest to being a scientist is treated especially harshly in the story. What do you think?
End of rant. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys reading about Mr. Ponticelli. He sounds like a great guy to me!
