Concerning a memorable moment in his life, my paternal grandfather, Claude Clifford “C.C.” Shearer, years later described it as “the sweetest silence I have ever heard in my life.”
He was referring to Nov. 11, 1918, at 11 a.m. – the 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month, when the armistice occurred ending World War I, or the Great War, as it was then called.
The reason for his excitement was that he had an unenviable ... (click for more)