Young people who went to war 100 years ago often died from what are now preventable childhood diseases. We can try to keep today’s children a little safer, writes Perri Klass, MD, in the New York Times.
Armistice Day was first celebrated in 1919, a year after the armistice that ended the long and terrible first World War, taking effect at precisely 11:11 a.m. on Nov. 11. It was renamed Veterans Day in 1954, to honor all those who had served, but also perhaps to acknowledge that the “war to end all wars” had done no such thing.
But this week at the centennial of that original armistice, as we think about the millions who died, it’s important to remember that many of them died from what are now preventable diseases. We can try to keep today’s children a little safer.
