Hello Marie, I must thank you for making this video. I am an American, but my Grandfather on my mother's side was German, Frederich Kitz, and he came to the U.S. with his brother and parents when he was in his early teen years. By the time the U.S. entered WWI in 1917, my Grandfather was in his late teens and he enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight his family members in the battles in France. When I was a teenager (in the 1970's), I spoke with my Pop-Pop about his remembrance of the war. He never spoke about it up to that point, but he was in his 70's and he thought it was nice that someone as young as I was wanted to know what it was like to be in the worst war ever. My Pop-Pop teared up and said that he still has dreams of the sounds of the bombs. Since he was born in Germany he was fluent in Deutch, so he Colonel asked him to shout out instructions in German to fool the Germans in the opposing trenches. He said it worked sometimes, and he felt heartsick to betray the people of his home country, but he felt that he must do it to save the innocent people in France who were witnessing these horrible battles on their own property. My Pop-Pop ended his stint in several battles and returned to New York City by the Navy ship who brought his troop home, but my Pop-Pop joined the U.S. Navy to help protect the shores of France and England from the U-Boats and Destroyers who were killing thousands every day. The fact that it has been over 100 years since these horrific battles took place, I find it amazing and saddening to think that unexploded bombs are still being found today, and that the Red Zone is still extremely hazardous. My Pop-Pop passed away at the age of 92, but he held the grief of what he witnessed inside his mind and heart throughout his life. He also told me that the people of France are some of the bravest people who have ever lived. His eldest son, my Uncle Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941, and he was one of the soldiers who arrived on Normandy Beach during D-Day. My Uncle Bob survived WWII, but his service within France was amazing, yet he never spoke about it.
My uncle Bud was the same way. He was in the Navy during WW2, had 6 battle stars but never spoke a word about the war. Was one of the kindest people I ever knew. Anyway, thanks for sharing!
France is a beautiful nation with lots of history. There has been a lot of warfare in that long history. Let's do our best to keep the peace. Thank you to the French people for your kindness. Signed, your American friend.
Austria-Hungary suffered tremendous losses thanks to the incompetence of high ranking officers in the Army. Russia lost a lot and suffered more after the war ended. Italy took plenty losses and people of the Middle East suffered when the Ottoman Empire lost their territories. WW1 was a tremendous catastrophe and tragedy to a lot of people and we still feel the stings to this day.
@@douglascampbell9809 ofc it's significant, but not even on the same scale as many other countries, the Brtis lost over 57,000 men in a single day at the Somme.
My grandfather fought in the battle of Verdun. He received a medal and his name is in the Livre D’Or of those who fought. He had two paralyzed fingers from being gassed with mustard gas. Sadly he died in 1981.
I really appreciate this video, one cannot really understand the tragedy of the Battle of Verdun. The utter destruction and carnage is just insane. This battle’s purpose was to bleed France to death. The story of Fort Vaux, is incredible, those men defended the fort at all cost, only surrendering due to dehydration! Thank you, Marie for this video, I will plan a visit when I to France!
Oh Marie, what a phenomenal video story you gave us this time about unbelievable bravery and sacrifice given by so many soldiers, represented by the thousands of men buried at the battlefield of Verdun 😥😥❤❤! Your introduction was beautiful and told the story of that battle “Designed to ‘bleed the French white,’” and the foggy drive and wet day supported the somber scene of these thousands of graves. Your narration was perfect, sharing your deepest feelings that were even more intense because of the element of hearing added to this memorial. The Memorial itself is stunning, with fantastic exhibits of the soldiers, weapons, pictures of the dead, artifacts, uniforms, equipment, gas masks . . . . Your music was so fitting and well chosen, and you showed the perfect exhibits so we could feel what you were feeling and thinking (“Can’t imagine what we saw when we got there (to the front).” The map you showed really helped to orient viewers to what they were watching😮☺ . The actual notes from soldiers was moving, knowing they wrote 2 million letters each day😥💕 ! The shells exploding really helped you realize the atmosphere and danger of real battle, as the shrapnel scattered up to 4 km away (my uncle was hit in that way in Vietnam). The War of the Skies was an eye opener with videos, weapon artifacts, planes, balloons (you experienced looking down at the battle from a balloon!), wow! That hole in the helmet was sobering! The U.S.A.’s entrance into the war was interesting to see. I loved the Douaumont Fort, with stone walk way and tunnel, passageways underground, machinery, and your steps down deep echoed in the darkness, almost frightening 😲😲❗As you said, it was quiet and you could hear water dropping down. The top with rolling hills and mounds was fascinating and pretty. The Ossuary had to be an unbelievable experience, and the two photos of the 2-tonne bell and all those crosses below were stunning. It is hard to realize the 16,142 graves in that French cemetery! So many sacrifices 😥😥🙏🙏! I loved the quote “When these Grand Dead shall have returned to earth, this will be their living monument their memorial for the ages” ❤❤. Fort de Vaux was also amazing, with those same rolling mounds on top, and the passageways below. Those animals of the war were fascinating too, and the horses invaluable. “Men on the verge of madness” brings home the horror of that war, where 41 million died 😥!!! That fort became so important for the remainder of WWI. Thank you Marie for your brave tour sharing with us these amazing places. I know the next video will also be so moving. You are so thoughtful, Marie, to go through these emotions and help us all remember how fragile our freedom is and how many have sacrificed their lives for us 🙏🙏❤😇❣
Such a beautiful and touching tribute. You did a wonderful job. It's impossible to imagine what those men went through and to comprehend the number of deaths that happened there. Thank you so much for doing this video and sharing. Take care and stay safe 🙏🥰
Hello Marie from Fargo North Dakota. Thoroughly enjoy your site. You did an excellent job of documenting war scenes and sites. I am going to recommend this episode to The History Traveler another great site. He is in Germany and on W.W. 2.
She said 17 euros... I thought she was saying only for 17 year olds!! Loved the video.. the 2 world wars hold a dear place in my heart. I'm so glad to see the younger generation get involved.
Thank you. My grandpa was in WWI, and was stationed in France. I have a picture of his company in France prior to fighting and I was allowed to keep is flag from burial. If I ever make it to your country I want to see all the war sites from WWI and WWII
As a history buff, I enjoyed this so much. Thank you Marie. It's so important to know history. Hopefully, we'll learn lessons from it. Those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.---George Santayana
Wonderful video. thank you for showing respect to the Ossuary. Thank you for the tour. I may never go but I appreciate your efforts to bring this experience to us.
My great-uncle served in WWI in the U.S. Army. He was killed in action on Nov 4, 1918 - one week shy of the armistice. He's buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery near Romagne, France. It was a tragic war. I'm glad these places exist to keep the memory alive. Thanks for taking us to one.
I went there last weekend! I finished editing the video. It will be out later this week. It's a beautiful place. Their center is well-made and full of information 🙂
And again ,I'm always so struck in humility when you address the sacrifice of the veterans and the importance of always remembering there sacrifices If no one else you have gained so much respect from me as you the person to include the importance of remembering. Tears well up a lump in my throat . In something I have to share . From the families who lost on both sides from these so tragic events in the world's history . It's people like you that give thought that make me believe in the world .the tragic events in Ukraine are on my mind and I'm sure on yours .will the world ever truly appreciate the cost of freedom . Knowing you try to convey the things that matter sometimes out weigh your gift. never stop being an amazing person and content provider it's why I watch your other videos and trust your sincerity . You truly in small and big ways make the world a little better sharing yourself thouts and life . The world needs that ,never forget you have more purpose than and you try . That's all any of us can do .again thank you Marie the Verdun video came to me at a time I was thinking about that time to myself . The lord works in mysterious ways ,and there you are . God bless my darling friend someday I'd like to give you a hug without a word. Never give up never surrender . Lonnie
WW1, aka The Great War. Wholesale slaughter on an industrial scale. The French in charge of the cemetery and museum have done an exemplary job of caring for and exhibiting what happened in a respectful manner. What an experience to view. Very interesting the use of projected reality by computer generated experience of history. This is sometimes criticized as Disney History but it may be an important tool in explaining the experiences of the past. I am so glad we viewed with Marie an experience and historical sight with not only great historical significance but particular National importance to France. The silence inside the fort , decay, and drip were eerily ghost-like. A monument and tomb at the same time.
You’re becoming an expert in military history. I bet you never imagined that would happen! Very interesting and informative. I especially liked the underground part. Thank you, Marie.
My dad's father was in WWI with the Marines. He was at Bellou Woods. He did survive the war, mustered out as they called it in day, in 1932. He passed away in 1977. This is a VERY interesting channel. Continuez votre bon travail. Bonne chance et merci
This video was very stirring. The stillness of the area gave it a somber feeling. Thank you for showing us an important battlefield during the First World War.
War is always terrible, but WW1 was brutal. Thank you for the video, I’m planning on visiting France, so this place is now on my list. Hope you’re feeling better!
Oh Marie thank you so much for sharing your video on Verdun. I can't imagine how hard it must be to film the war memorials for your followers. I myself, appreciate you taking me along for the adventure. One day I wish to experience it myself.
Ms. Marie, this was truly amazing and a place that I now would be honored to travel to and see firsthand. Thank you very much for sharing. I do hope that you have fully recovered and are feeling better.
Thank you so much for making this video. When I saw the title, I had to google it to find out more. Almost 380,000 French soldiers lost their lives at this battle. A great loss to mankind. Thanks again Marie and it was nice hearing you speak French even though I didn't understand a word. Just a beautiful language. Stay well and be safe.
Marie... this video was great ! Although I was born 70 years after WW I, my Grandfather and his brother went over with the USA troops in 1918. Both survived, but were very different men when they came home. My Grandfather was injured in a German poison gas attack but recovered, and spent the rest of the war helping with wounded allied troops at an Army Hospital in Limoges. His brother returned worse. He had lost an eye and couldn't walk due to an injury. The brother was still alive during my childhood. But as children, we were scared of him( Children do not understand what he had experienced). He never spoke, and spent all day in his Wheel-Chair staring into "space". He was in his 90's when he passed away during the late 1980's. But that War changed him forever. (Sorry to ramble).
Marie, Thank you for taking the time to go to such incredible places to share them with us! World War One was supposed to be the War To End All Wars. It was brutal on a level previously unseen. The use of chemical weapons and gas really changed the dynamic for the soldiers. I have read stories of lines of chlorine tanks being opened so the green gas could float over the battlefield blinding the troops and destroying their lungs if they even managed to survive. It was interesting seeing everything being damp or wet. The term "Trench Foot" comes from that war and was a big problem for the soldiers whose feet were always wet and caused severe pain to put any pressure on them. That's why in so many of the pictures of the battlefield you see people laying down, or otherwise off their feet. It hurt to stand. Lastly, you standing there underground in complete silence must have been an eerie thing, even though during the war, it was never silent. The explosions could always be heard and felt. Now here's the real question, if you could be given permission, do you think you could handle staying in a fort like that all alone overnight? What do you think you'd experience? Fantastic video Marie, thanks for taking us all along!
What a shocking loss of human life. Thank you for taking the time to visit and to take us along with you to a place most of us have only seen in our history books, but never in person.
Thank you for sharing all of this, I spent a few years in the Marines and I did visit France on a couple of occasions but I wasn't able to see this location. I do plan on coming back when I have more time to explore. I think you would make a wonderful documentary filmmaker.
When I was in the US Air Force, I travelled to a lot of historic locations, many on the 50th Anniversary of WWII (1994 I went to Normandy and Bastogne, etc.) My family and I took in the Maginot Line, the forts and other Verdun locations on one trip over from Spangdahlem, Germany. We were shocked by the Ossuary, a building basically built on top of bones. It was a sad, but informative. Most Americans do not have a clue about European Geography and History, so hopefully this video gave some of them an insight.
That's a fantastic museum. I guess Verdun to the French is like Passchendaele to the Brits. When the whistle blows, you just know that there's very little chance that you're coming back.
I went to Verdun in 2018 to walk in the footsteps of my great grandfather. He was a pioneer in the German army although he was Danish in heart and mind. He was wounded at Cote 304 on July 17th 1916 while working on the wire. He was shot through his cheek and a part of his jaw was torn off. After rehabilitation he was back in the trenches in the battle for Cambrai. He survived the war but hated the Germans for the rest of his life
You do an excellent job giving tours of battlegrounds. They are always so respectful and informative. I would really like if you made a video of the Somme.
Thank you Marie for remembering the Americans that died fighting world war I. My great uncle was wounded at Verdon and sent home to Minnesota. He was the first person in Minnesota to receive a colostomy. Because of this highly unusual surgery at the time and infections his life was cut short in his forties. My grandfather also fought in world war I in France. He returned unharmed. My dad fought in world war II in France and he also returned home unharmed. My dad always used to talk about how much he enjoyed the French countryside in that he felt at peace there.
Thanks for the tour, Marie. I had planned to visit but now my days of international travel are over. But I got a piece of what it feels like from your video. I'm a bit of a history nerd. Part of the reason for WW1 was the results of the Franco-German War 40 years before. In the same region (up to Luxemborg) you should be able to find war memorial to it also.
This was an excellent video, Marie. So respectful of you not filming in the Mausoleum. It's seeing the tangible that really puts into perspective that freedom is never free. It comes with a huge price to be paid. 40 Million military and civilian lives lost in WW1. Here is something to think about. That number exceeded France's total population during WW1 and almost 2/3rds of France's current population(as of 2022). Thank you, Marie.
Marie, thank you for your efforts in making this video. I've had two family members serving in France. One was my uncle who is buried there. The other is my older brother who was a NATO Troup.
Merci Marie! Ce musee me fait penser au National World War One Museum a Kansas City, Missouri aux Etats-Unis. Je te le recommande fortement si tu as jamais l'occasion de le visiter. Bonne continuation! A plus!
Wow… Recently, Sabaton released a song about Albert Roche, a French soldier who was wounded nine times, captured 1180 Germans total, and single-handedly held off a German offensive at Alsace
Marie, it's absolutely amazing how respectfully and reverently you showed the things that went on at Verdin in this video. You're amazing and I've enjoyed watching your channel, you're just a lovely wonderful young lady. Keep on doing what you're doing because you're excellent at it. If you were my daughter I would be very proud of you.
Excellent, Marie. You did a great job. This looked so professional to be good enough for a major network documentary. You are more than good enough to work in Hollywood to make history documentaries. You should seriously consider it. Anyway, you did France and all the veterans proud with this work. God bless you always. Bill
Hello To our Dearest Frenchfry Miss Marie !!! May I say you sound Much better & I hope your feeling that way Also !!! As Always I have Illuminated the like button 🔘 😁👍👍🌞 Thank you for Bringing us Along and Offering the World 🌎 a sneak peak of Magnificent France !!! God Speed ' kind Lady !!! Hail to All our Brave Veterans Dead & Alive your sacrifices will never be Forgot !!! " God Bless You All ". AMEN !!! 😇🌄
Thank you for this video. As a child in the mid 1950s with my parents (my father was a US soldier in WW 2,) we visited this site. It brought back some memories branded on my mind. My great grandfather à German infantry solder fought here. Because he survived that hell , is the reason I am here today
That was FANTASTIC ! I really enjoyed that tour especially from a French perspective. I live in the States, in Kansas City, Missouri, and we have a WW 1 National Musuem similar to what you just went through. Maybe not as Grand as that in France, but it is magnificent nevertheless.
What a wonderfully comprehensive video. Merci! I have been to France and visited the site of the small battle of Fromelles where my great uncle died on 19 July 1916 along with 5500 other raw young Australians as a feint in the Somme. Verdin was something altogether more massive and terrible. This war was horrendous and the French people have suffered so very much from war; they really want to forget it. It was interesting how they wonder at foreigners like me who come seeking to know more of our lost, when their lost are counted in hundreds of millions and seem too many to think about. The museum at Verdun seems extra special.
Paying respects to people who most young people nowadays do not even give a damn about makes the kind of people who need to be protected at all times, I wish younglings were as sensitive and kind as you are. when I go to France I want to see you shake your hand and pay my respects to you beautiful lady.
The thing that amazes me, every time I think of it, is that France and England lost almost an entire generation of young men to the Great War! I've read that many women moved to North America so that they would have a better chance of finding a husband. Mind-boggling! I could tell from your face, as you recorded the intro, that you were expecting to have a repeat (in some ways) of your Normandy experience. Hopefully your first experience 'innoculated you' at least somewhat. (I know your Normandy trip gave you a bit of PTSD - I recognized the signs.) I'm sure that you'll need some time by yourself to think after this. But I would like to suggest that if you know someone who has served in combat, it might help you (& maybe them, too) if you talked with them. It seems like merely a cliche, but "talking helps the healing" ... really, it does! Looking forward to the next video.
Love what your doing and showing us . Also want to say Thank You because you do a great job making us feel like we're with you as you walk through the sites. God Bless Kyle
Thank you for sharing! The battle of Verdun really highlights the French soldiers bravery!! Its astonishing how the landscape has been forever changed. I hope to visit some day!!
Thank you for this much appreciated,my great great uncle fell in France 8 days before the Armistice,he was from Scotland and still have his photo in our house .❤️
Salut Marie 💐 " They shall not Pass " General Philippe Petain It's highly commendable of you to visit a place that has such a special significance in french history , a turning point in the great war. I know it couldn't have been easy knowing what carnage took place there, it's difficult to comprehend it now with it being so peaceful. I found the museum impressive the way it conveyed the horrors of war along with it's ingenuity ,through modern means, I was especially moved by the personal items including the letters sent back home & the white shirt thread like it was just yesterday , it was also interesting seeing the early stages of the air force. Going around the trenches & in the forts was a little erie stepping back in time feeling how cold & harsh it must have been for the troops , the pictures always bring it alive. The Necropolis with all those white crosses was deeply humbling , a time to reflect on the sacrifices that took place which we must never forget for the sake of liberty. They've done well in preserving the memory & taking care of everything there , I couldn't finish up without mentioning the animal heroes to considering I once had a pet pigeon , I recommend you read more about the role they played in both world wars. I look forward to the second part , maybe you were aware of the voie sacree & found it, I have been learning more about the Lafayette 🛩️ corps & all the AFS 🚑 volunteers that evacuated 1000's of french lives hopefully while you were there you did to. Thanks again , I wish more of your Gen were inspired by what your doing, we'll always appreciate it, Take care 💕 ✝️ ✌️
Thank you very much for sharing! In the United States very, very few young people are interested in history, let alone military history. New fan and subscriber!
I have always wanted to visit Verdun, but the way life is these days, I'm not sure I'll get the chance, however thanks to your video, at least I've had an opportunity to see a part of it. Merci!
During the Korean War the US Marines had a horse that carried ammo to the front lines. It did this sometimes without a guiding Marine. It was officially given the rank of sargent and died in 1968. Its name was Reckless.
Thank you for posting this. It is nice to see someone showing the history from this side of France. I live near Bar-le-Duc where the soldiers started their march to Verdun along La Voie sacrée. Have you visited Mont Sec? There are so many places here that were touched by war. For me, it was a very emotional experience to visit them, when I first arrived here from the States.
It is to bad more people don't take at least a little interest in history so they would know how we got here and what was sacrificed. Great video young lady, very cool.
