LETTER TO AN UNKNOWN SOLDIER

Until August 4, 2014, everyone from around the world has an opportunity to write a letter to an unknown soldier.  This project is called 14-18 Now  to commemorate the start of WW1.  You can write to the unknown soldier or you can write to one of your relatives.   All the letters will be published on the website.  As of July 20, 2014, the site has received over 14,000 letters from around the world from all walks of life and age groups.  So please write a letter to say thank you, write a letter to say stop all wars, just say something.  This is the link:  1418now


I chose to write to my grandfather Joseph Henry Down (1889 - 1915).  He was shot in the head and killed at Ypres.  He is memorialized on the Menin Gate with so many other war dead.  He looks like a handsome man in his uniform.  Little did he know that he would be killed 6 months after enlisting.  He left behind 3 children and 2 adopted children and a broken-hearted family.

Here is my letter to Grandpa Joe .  I don't really know if I would call him Grandpa Joe, but that seems right. I called my grandmother Grandma Bert or some times just Bert, short for Bertha, a name she really didn't like.  
My letter to Grandpa Joe