On
the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice was
declared between the Allied nations and Germany United
States
The year
my husband completed a graduate program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of
Government, we were young newly weds who felt like we had “arrived”, and we
were determined to take advantage of all Harvard had to offer. The first event
we attended that year was at the American Repertory Theater. The members of ART
were beginning the season with solo performances, and the first was a reading
from Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth. The reading vividly
brought to life Brittain’s haunting prose describing the heartbreaking loss of
her fiancee and her best friend, her brother, to the horrific events of the
First World War,
“There
seemed to be nothing left in the world, for I felt that Roland had taken with
him all my future and Edward all my past.”
When the
performance was finished, the actress quietly remained on stage as the audience
sat in stunned silence, unable to applaud.
The last
event my husband and I attended that same year was the highly anticipated
spring concert dominated by two exciting acapella groups, The Harvard
Krokodiloes and The Radcliffe Pitches. The concert was held in Harvard's
Sander's Theater, and the house was packed, the energy high, and the music
wonderful. These talented student performers were capable of bringing laughter
and tears to an audience who wildly cheered and savored each song performed.
The Kroks traditionally had each member of the group perform a solo to be
backed up by the remaining singers. When a young African American student
stepped forward to sing, no one expected the performance to take the turn it
did. Sander’s Theater is housed in Harvard’s Memorial Chapel, a huge Victorian
building constructed in 1865 to honor Harvard students who fought for the Union
As time
has passed, more sad memorials have been added to honor Harvard students who
have died in all the wars fought since the Union
As he
sang, his voice transported both himself and his listeners to another place
where the feel of battle, and the terrible peace which lay in its wake, held us
all in its power. Once again, after the performance, the house sat in stunned
silence. The singer himself seemed to have difficulty regaining his focus, and
two members of the group came forward to join him as the crowd broke into
thunderous applause.
Both
events still bring tears to my eyes, and both events make me feel that on this
day all the veterans of all the wars are very much with us in mind, heart and
spirit.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/213527.Vera_Brittain
