![]() ![]() ![]() He was a tough man, as many were of that time period. Even though I never met him, my mother would tell me stories about him. When he died in 1962, it would be a full ten years before I was born in 1972. ![]() That bullet also changed my grandfather’s life as well. The bullet that ended Franz’s life started a chain of events that would lead all the major nations of Europe and the United States into a war that would engulf millions. Both died within minutes, Franz’s last words pleading for his wife to live for their children. This was not to be, as Franz and his wife were shot by a Serbian nationalist by the name of Gavrilo Princip. This day should have been nothing more than the standard state protocol with a speech or two and a state dinner at night. He and his wife Sophie were visiting the city to open a new state museum. The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was touring the city of Sarajevo in the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina. What damage can one bullet do? It was a sunny summer day in 1914 when that question was answered. This year, the world will pause to remember the 100th anniversary, or centenary, of the end of World War I. November 11 is known worldwide as Armistice Day, and Veterans Day in America. Armistice Day, 2018: Reflecting on the Centenary of the End of World War I ![]()
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