Family Vacay VIII: Day 17--From Kansas City to Miami

We'd been to Kansas City on vacation once before, but we didn't visit the National World War One Museum that time. This time, we did.
The Liberty Memorial was built in 1926. The World War One Museum at its base was expanded, remodeled and reopened in 2006. We began with lunch in the Over There Cafe. Mari chose one of the "eat like a soldier" options:  Braised Corned Beef, Turnips, Peas & Carrots, with House-Made Slaw & a Buttermilk Biscuit served in a metal pot of the kind a soldier might carry in his rucksack.

Pablo talked to us about how the war began (knowledge learned by heart from Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales), including the order of the countries that entered the war, which was represented by the order of the flags that were hanging from the ceiling.


The glass bridge to the Museum entrance crosses over 9,000 poppies, each of which represents 1,000 people killed by the War.

Above:  an undated print of “The Harvest is Ripe,” by Louis Raemaekers, a Dutch political cartoonist depicting the indiscriminate killing of Belgian civilians.

This image of British pilot Albert Ball is on a wall that commemorates World War One Flying Aces, who shot down 5 or more planes. Manfred Von Richtofen, the Red Baron, brought down 80--more than any other pilot--before he was himself killed on April 21, 1918. Also on the wall:  Herman Göring, who went on to infamy in Nazi Germany. Göring brought down 20. Ball brought down 44 planes. He was 20 years old when he died on May 7, 1917.

I read a lot of signage at the World War One Museum, and I was still reading when the rest of the brood was ready to move on. So I stayed in the Museum while they walked down the hill to Union Station.

I visited the World War One Museum with Honors students earlier this spring and also stayed in the museum while some of them went to Union Station.  On the Honors trip, I came in wondering if the Museum could help me figure out how much the "World" War was truly global in scale. It's a story you have to look for, but it's there.

What follows are 12 stories that caught my attention in the Museum.  Some are about the global reach of the War.  Others are not. There were more stories, but I actually edited them down for this list, believe it or not. Scroll past them to find out what happened to the Union Station adventurers.

ONE:  The World War Emboldens Japan

August 27, 1914: Four days after Germany invades France, Japanese forces blockade Qingdao ("Kiautschou"), located in the German protectorate of Jiaozhou, China. Throughout the fall, the Japanese take over most of Germany’s possessions in the region, including the Marshall Islands, the Mariana Islands, and the Carolines. Australia, backed by British naval forces, take control of German New Guinea. Japan’s land forces play no role in the fighting in Europe or the Near East, but Japanese naval vessels escort Allied ships to the Mediterranean Sea. The German defenders in Qingdao run out of ammunition and are forced to surrender on November 6.

TWO: Germans Endure in East Africa

August 26, 1914: British and French troops manage to conquer Togo, in West Africa, one of four German colonies in Africa. By July 1915, South African forces, supported by British ships, take control of South West Africa (present-day Namibia). But in German East Africa (later known as Tanganyika and, today, Tanzania), German forces led by General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, hold out. An Allied force of British, Indian, Nigerian, and South African troops take control of the coast and major towns, forcing the colonial German army to move deeper into the interior, but Lettow-Vorbeck does not surrender until November 25, 1918, after South African and British forces manage to get word to him that Germany has signed an armistice in Europe.

THREE:  in Armenia, The Ottomans Engineer a Genocide

August 25, 1915:   Reports of Armenian massacres by the Turks begin to appear in the press in Europe in the United States, causing outrage and alarm. Eventually, the Turkish kill at least 600,000 Armenian.

FOUR: While England Sends Troops to Europe, Ireland Rebels

April 23, 1916: A leader of the Irish nationalist movement, Padraic Pearse and six others declare “the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland.” Fifty-Eight Irishmen die in the Easter Rising. Afterward, the British impose martial law in Ireland.

FIVE: The British and French Carve Up the Middle East Between Them

December 17, 1914: British declare protectorate over Egypt. The Ottoman Empire, Germany’s ally, controls the entire Near East region from Palestine to Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq. The British hope to acquire the oil fields in Mesopotamia and drive Turkey out of the war. In 1915, British forces, largely made up of Indian troops, move up the Tigris River in Mesopotamia to attack Baghdad. But the Turks surround them at Kut-el-Amara, south of Baghdad, and after a siege of 143 days, the British surrender on April 29, 1916. Few British soldiers survive Turkish captivity. Determined to avenge Kut, the British, working through T. E. Lawrence, “Lawrence of Arabia,” encourage Arab tribes in Arabia and Palestine to revolt against the Turks. The allies commit more than 2.5 million troops to the effort, as well as naval and air forces. Meanwhile, on May 16, 1916, the British and French agree on a secret pact dividing the Middle East between British and French interests. The Sykes-Picot Agreement undermines Arab hopes for independence. Syria and Lebanon are placed into the French orbit, while Britain claims Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf states, and the Palestinian Mandate. Supported by British gunboats traveling up the Tigris River, Anglo-Indian troops advance toward Baghdad, which has been abandoned by the Turks. On March 11, 1917, the British enter Baghdad, bringing Mesopotamia under British control. Aerial supremacy, heavy artillery, and a cavalry charge drive the Turks from their positions in Gaza; they are forced to retreat to the hills around Jerusalem. On November 7, 1917, the British seize Gaza. By December 1917, the British have captured Jerusalem.

SIX: Once a Peace-seeker, Wilson Cracks Down on Anti-War Protesters

January 22, 1917:  In a speech to Congress, President Woodrow Wilson calls for a settlement of the war in Europe: “peace without victory.” Germany rejects the offer.  When the U.S. enters the war, the Wilson Administration deals harshly with critics. Postmaster General Albert Burleson banned radical publications from the mail. The Trading-with-the-Enemy Act requires all foreign language publications to submit English translations of articles advance to the Post Office, Attorney General Thomas Gregory permits the volunteer American Protective League, 250,000 members strong, to spy on dissidents, radicals, and “slackers” and make sweeps to detain draft evaders. Suffragists are arrested for picketing the White House They had called Wilson to task for fighting a war to “make the world safe for democracy” while half the American adult population is barred from voting. Some suffragists are jailed, and when they go on a hunger strike to protest, they are subjected to force-feeding. On September 14, 1918, Eugene V. Debs, is sentenced to a 10-year prison term for anti-war activities.

Tolkien, Age 24 (1916)

SEVEN: World War One / War of the Ring

July 14, 1916:  J.R. R. Tolkien takes part in the Battle of the Somme. Tolkien’s first experience on the front is an unsuccessful attack on the village of Orvillers. His unit is relieved after several days of fighting.

EIGHT: Throughout Europe, Workers and Soldiers Revolt

In 1917, solidarity begins to unravel in the factory and at the front. At first, workers supported the war and refrained from striking. But by 1917, strikes break out over low pay and high prices. In Germany, especially, food shortages are acute. Workers cannot take long hours of heavy industrial labor on empty stomachs. Soldiers too began to protest. Long periods in the front line and military setbacks, especially the failed Nivelle Offensive, cause thousands of French soldiers to mutiny on April 29, 1917. For nearly a month, troops will defend but not attack. In 1917, almost 40,000 French troops mutiny, and 3,327 of them are put on trial. In the Italian army, 48,282 mutiny, and at least 56,000 desert. In the summer of 1917, Russian army units begin to refuse to fight.

NINE:  Butchery on the Battlefield and Bread Shortages at Home Spark Revolution in Russia

On March 9, 1917, bread riots break out in Petrograd. Crowds shout “Down with the Czar!” Russian troops refuse to fire on the demonstrators. Three days later, guards mutiny in Petrograd, and revolutionaries capture the Winter Palace. On March 15, Czar Nicholas II abdicates, and Russian naval officers are massacred at Kronstadt. After a week, U.S. and other Western powers formally recognize Alexander Kerensky’s Provisional Russian government. One month after the Czar’s abdication, Germans smuggle Vladimir Lenin, back into Russia from his exile in Switzerland, hoping he can foment a mass strike of Russian workers. Three months later, on July 18, Lenin and his followers try to overthrow Kerensky. They fail. On September 8, Russian General Kornilov orders his troops to march on Petrograd to overthrow Kerensky, intending to take power himself. Kornilov’s troops show little enthusiasm, and the attempt fails. On November 7, 1917, Lenin’s forces finally succeed in overthrowing the Kerensky government. Once in power, the Bolsheviks demand a “just and immediate peace.”

TEN: Sculptor Freezes while Sculptures Are Kept Warm

November 17, 1917: The French sculpture August Rodin is found frozen to death in an unheated attic in Meudon, France. The world-renowned artist had applied to the government for warm quarters but was turned down due to war shortages. He asks to sleep in a Museum that holds some of his sculptures but is also denied permission.

"Our Colored Heroes" (1918) depicts the German raid on then-Pvt. Henry Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts.

ELEVEN: African American Soldiers are First Americans to Win Croix de Guerre

When the French plead with American General Pershing for reinforcements, he reluctantly gives them some U.S. units, including a segregated African American unit known as the “Black Rattlers,” formed from the 15^th New York National Guard. On May 24, 1918, a German raiding party wounds two Black Rattlers: Sergeant Henry Johnson and Private Needham Roberts. When they attempt to take Roberts prisoner, Johnson fights with his rifle butt and bolo knife to free him. They kill four Germans and wound several others. Johnson becomes the first American recipient of the French Croix de Guerre for bravery. Roberts is the second. While they make up only a tenth of the civilian U. S. population, African Americans account for 13 percent of the armed forces in 1918.

TWELVE: Russian Composer Responds to Chaos and Horror of War

September 28, 1918: Igor Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” premiers in Lausanne, Switzerland. A response to the chaos and horrors of the war, Stravinsky’s dance-theater piece tells the story of a soldier who loses his soul to the devil.

That's Emi, Pablo and Nina, running uphill across the lawn from Union Station to the National World War One Museum, where I await.


I couldn't resist taking photos of the gathering storm clouds above us.


That's not smoke rising from the Liberty Memorial.


I didn't know it at the time, but these clouds are hail-makers.


I got to the car before the Union Station runners did.





Golf ball-size hail hurts when it smacks your skull. There was a lot of it.

When we left the Museum, we drove through the Roanoke Park neighborhood to the Thomas Hart Benton House. It was closed. I'd like to go inside it the next time I'm in Kansas City.

A thunderstorm hit us in Pleasonton, Kansas, and we sat out in a convenience store parking lot. We were driving faster than the storm, so we looked for a reason to delay our progress. We found it at the Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield, where my great-grandmother's grandfather, Colonel Barney Ford, was a combatant in October 25, 1864. Emilio and I walked the battlefield. I'll post the photos at emiliosdad.blogspot.com.

Day Last: From Las Vegas, New Mexico to Home

The last day of our trip was the hardest ride. The only diversion we allowed ourselves along the way a Dairy Queen pit stop and a lunch at Kabuki Romanza, a Japanaese teppanyaki-style grill in Amarillo, where a talented chef cooks your food in front of you and other dinner guests on a hot iron grill that everyone sits around (I noted the irony of eating here a day after we'd visited the Manhattan Project Museum in Los Alamos.)

We had learned about Kabuki Romanza from our Amarillo friends and had eaten her before. The kids remembered it fondly. They had fried rice and edamame.


After traveling more than 3700 miles, visiting three national parks, three museums, and Disneyland, spending one night in a tent and another in a tipi, enjoying the water in five hotel pools and one Pacific Ocean, reconnecting with lifetime friends, adding four new states to the kids' visit lists (which now stands at 20), eating Middle Eastern, Chinese, Italian, Cajun and Japanese dishes, bonfire 'smores and veggie hot dogs, home-made ice cream and Dairy Queen blizzards, lots of picnics and lots of big breakfasts, listening to a hundreds of years of world history in audiobook form, a compilation of classical music and the Hamilton soundtrack (repeatedly), and hiking through canyons and caverns, we got home before dark to find that our house was still standing.

And I went to the grocery store.

Grand Tour, Day 11: Auvers-sur-Oise

Gerardo met me at 8:15 am to go to the French train ticket office to buy the regional train tickets that we needed to go from Chambery to Valance at the end of the month. When we got to the office, we realized that I had left a document we needed at the apartment, so I rushed back, while Gerardo sat in line. When I got back to the apartment, I realized that I didn't have a key to the front door, so I headed back to the ticket office to get the key, and then went back to the house to get the document we needed. When I finally made it to the ticket office, and it was our turn, we learned that we didn't need--and couldn't make--reservations on the train from Chambery to Valence!

When we got back to the apartment, we took a bus to the train station, where we took the first of two trains that would take us to Auvers-sur-Oise, which is 17 miles northwest of Paris. Before we started this trip, I thought that we would take a day trip to Chartres to see the cathedral, but after we got to Paris, we decided to make a shorter trip to the village of Auvers-sur-Oise, which Maria Rosa and Jaime recommended to us. Gerardo hadn't been there before, so that was an added bonus.

Along the way, we stopped in the village of Pontoise. That's the Pontoise Cathedral in the background at the top of the hill. Its origins are from the 12th century; it was enlarged in the 16th century. Pisarro moved here in 1871 after marrying his mother's maid. Pisarro lived in Pontoise for seventeen years. He and his wife had seven children together. We got a bus here that would take us to Auvers-sur-Oise. According to my good friends at Wikipedia, if you walk along the Oise between Pontoise and Auvers-sur-Oise, you can see many of the landscapes Pisarro painted.

In May 1890, Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise to be nearer to his brother Theo (who lived in Paris) and to Dr. Paul Gachet, who had been recommended to him by Pisarro. Gachet was an amateur painter who had treated several other artists.

Construction of the Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Auvers-sur-Oise began in 1137 and was completed in 1227.

These stairs were built in 1615.

Vincent Van Gogh's brother Theo invited mourners to attend Vincent's funeral in this church at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, July 30, 1890, but according to Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, authors of Van Gogh: The Life (New York: Random House, 2011): "a local curate would not permit a funeral in the Auvers church . . . Whether because Vincent was a foreign Protestant or a suspected suicide, the abbot . . . even forbade the use of the parish hearse. And not all Theo's Parisian politesse, or Gachet's influence, could change his mind. The most Tessier would allow was for Theo to purchase a plot in the sparsely populated new cementery on the plateau above the town, far from the church Vincent had painted" (860).
Today, the Auvers church is best known for a painting of it that was made by the artist whose body was not allowed inside the the building after his death. In the photo above, you can see the church beside a reproduction of Van Gogh's painting. In a letter to his sister Wilhelmina, dated June 3, 1890, Van Gogh described the painting in this way:  "I've done a larger picture of the village church--with an effect in which the building appears purplish-blue against a sky of deep & simple blue, pure cobalt. The stained-glass windows appear as patches of ultramarine, the roof is purple and partly orange. In the foreground a little greenery in bloom and some pink sunlit sand. Again, it's very similar to the studies I did in Nuenen of the old tower and the churchyard. Only now the colour is probably more expressive, more sumptuous" (491).  Given these dates, it looks like Van Gogh was looking at the church at almost the same time of the year that we were visiting it for the first time.

The image below is a photo that I took, which has been rendered as a painting using some photo editing software.


In a letter to Theo dated July 2, Van Gogh encourages his brother to bring his wife and their 4.5 month old son Vincent to Auvers, where "there are children, animals, flowers and good air." In a letter dated July 10, Van Gogh comments on "how healthy and invigorating I find the countryside."
After we left the church, we went to the nearby cemetery when Vincent and Theo are buried.

On the morning of July 28th, Theo got word that Vincent had wounded himself. By midday, Theo was at his brother's bedside in Auvers. The brothers spent much of the afternoon in conversation. When night fell, however, Vincent's condition worsened. He was resting in Theo's arms at half-past midnight, when he died.


Less than three months after Vincent died, Theo was himself hospitalized, following a nervous breakdown. On January 25, 1891, Theo died as a result of syphillis-related symptoms.


In 1914, Theo's wife asked that his body be reburied next to Vincent's in Auvers. Several people had set small rocks on top of the brothers' graves. Nina did the same.


When his career as a missionary ended unhappily in 1880, Vincent was 27 years old. His 23-year-old brother encouraged him to pursue a career as an artist. By July 22, 1883, Vincent was living in the Hague, when he wrote to Theo, "I don’t really have any friends except for you, and when I’m ill you’re always in my thoughts."

When we left the cemetery, we made our way through wheat fields of the kind that Vincent painted during his final days in July when they were less green.

Below, another photo of mine that has been fed through the paintenator.
Pablo and I did some forest wandering on our own.
We stopped at Carrefour to buy picnic supplies: pistachios, peanuts, salad bag, a box of mango-strawberry juice (we liked it), two baguettes, gouda cheese, cold cuts,potato chips, a peach, tomatoes, carrots, and Petit Ecolier cookies. We then made our way down to the banks of the Oise.

After our open air feast, we headed back into town to visit the Auberge Ravoux, where Van Gogh lived during the final 70 days of his life. (Despite appearances, we did not allow Pablo to consume pommes frites feedbag-style).

Gerardo paid for our tickets to visit the Auberge Ravoux.

According to Naifeh and Smith, "On Sunday, July 27, 1890, Vincent returned from a morning of painting to have his midday meal at the Ravoux Inn. When he was finished, he slung his bag of paints and brushes over his arm, reshouldered his easel, and returned to his labors, just as he had been doing almost every day for weeks" (850).


Naifeh and Smith on the events of July 27: ". . . after the sun had set, [Vincent] staggered back to the Ravoux Inn with out his bag or his easel or his canvas. The Ravouxs and their other boarders, who had taken dinner outdoors on a hot summer evening, were lingering on the cafe terrace. They same him approach on the darkened street. '[He] was holding his belly and seemed to be limping,' one of them later recalled. 'His jacket was buttoned up'--odd on such a warm night. He passed them without a word and went straight to his room" (850).

Naifeh and Smith: "Gustave Ravoux, concerned about his guest's strange behavior, listened at the bottom of the stairs. When he heard moaning, he climbed to Vincent's attic room. He found Vincent lying on his bed, curled up in pain. He asked what was wrong. 'Je me suis blesse,' Vincent replied as he lifted his shirt and showed Ravoux the small hole under his ribs--'I wounded myself'" (850).

The image above is the room adjacent to Van Gogh's. We were able to look in Van Gogh's room, but photographs were not allowed.  The two rooms looked alike. The shutters on the second floor behind Nina's right shoulder open on to Van Gogh's room.

Naifeh and Smith believe the shot that killed Van Gogh was fired by a 16-year-old schoolboy whose identity Van Gogh chose to protect.

On the way back to Paris, to took the train to Valmondois, where we transferred to another train, which took us to the Gare du Nord train station.

At the Gare du Nord, Gerardo and the kids climbed on the "Maison Fond" a sculpture by the Argentinian sculptor, Leandro Erlich. The "Melting House" is a symbol of climate change. According to Erlich's website, Located in front of the busy Gare du La Maison "[interrupts] commuters’ everyday lives with a reminder of what is to come if we do not change our ways."

We got back to Gerardo's neighborhood around 5:30 pm and picked up a few groceries at the Carrefour. After showers, the kids and I enjoyed a dinner of rice, broccoli, hummus, and fried eggs, while Mari and Gerardo went out to dinner.