美国国家公共电台 NPR 100 Years Ago, A U.S. Pilot Saw An 'End To The Sorrow' On Armistice Day

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

On this day 100 years ago, Allies of World War I and Germany laid down their arms. In this audio recording¹ from 1975 of Army Air Corps² pilot Fenton Caldwell, he remembers the exact moment.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FENTON CALDWELL: Where was I on Monday, November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m? I was at about 10,000 feet in the air, flying a De Havilland DH-4 airplane...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Caldwell was flying a reconnaissance mission over Bordeaux, France, oblivious³ to the fact that the armistice⁴ had begun. More from his story in a moment. But now let's introduce his niece, Joy Panagides. She brought this family audio treasure to our attention. And she joins us now in the studio. Welcome.

JOY PANAGIDES: Thank you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Tell us about your Uncle Fenton.

PANAGIDES: Uncle Fenton was my favorite uncle. He had wonderful stories. And he enchanted⁵ everybody in the family with his very good memory for details.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So what happened as he looked down over Bordeaux?

PANAGIDES: He was looking at where there might be enemy installations, where there might be any evidence of firing of guns - different places so that this could be reported back to their base. The way they got information from home base was somebody would lay out sheets - white sheets on the ground...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CALDWELL: And which was all spelled out in little code books, which were in the hands of the lieutenant⁶ in the airplane, as well in the hands of those at the command post on the ground...

PANAGIDES: The airplane didn't have any kind of radio contact with him. So these pieces of white cloth were laid out on the ground with a code that meant something.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CALDWELL: At about 11 a.m., we began getting no changes in the panels on the ground. And in fact, we could not see people running around. And I decided⁷ to head for a field at Cazaux, which was a French gunnery school.

PANAGIDES: People that should have been coming out - because it was an American plane on a French field - they didn't come out to see who it was and why they were down.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CALDWELL: We saw no one around, not a soul on the field. It was deserted⁸ as if some epidemic⁹ had hit the field and wiped out all the inhabitants. However, after walking a few hundred yards down the road beside the hangars and the office, we could hear noise up ahead, a great amount of cheering and hooping and singing. And we went up to a French cafe. And here was everybody, every inhabitant of that flying field, Frenchmen who were yelling and throwing their arms in the air. And above it all, every now and then, we would hear one expression - (speaking French) - the war is over. The war is over. And this was the way I learned that the armistice had been signed.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: World War I, of course, was a truly horrific war, as you know. What did your Uncle Fenton tell you about it? How did he process the experience?

PANAGIDES: All during this time, he had problems, as they all did, with staying alive.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Of course.

PANAGIDES: The plane that he was in mostly - the DH-4 - it's a De Havilland - was a very precarious¹⁰ airplane and was known as the fiery¹¹ coffin¹². People were falling to their deaths.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It was incredibly dangerous what he...

PANAGIDES: Incredibly...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...Was doing.

PANAGIDES: ...Dangerous. That was one of the problems. The other one was because they were doing reconnaissance flights, they were targets for the enemy.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What did your uncle say about Armistice Day and what it meant to him?

PANAGIDES: Oh. I do have a piece that's from him that I'd like to just say because he realized that Americans had different meanings for Armistice Day. But for him, the most important part was that - he says, (reading) now I was free from that ever-present conscious or unconscious knowledge that there was a chance of not living another day, the end to the sorrow of seeing close friends go down - some in flames - and to those funerals I had gone with a heavy heart to stand at attention during the firing of rifles and the hearing of the mournful notes of tap.

So he was incredibly encouraged and grateful, I would think. This was important.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: He was a wonderful writer. And thank you so much for bringing his words to us now.

PANAGIDES: Thank you for letting us share this.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That was Joy Panagides. She kindly¹³ shared a recording of her uncle Fenton Caldwell and his memories of Armistice Day 1918. You can hear the full recording on our website - npr.org.

(SOUNDBITE OF LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF WALTON'S "PASSACAGLIA: THE DEATH OF FALSTAFF")

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

4 armistice   

n.休战，停战协定

参考例句：

• The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
• The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。

5 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

6 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

9 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

10 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

11 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

12 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

13 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。