On Christmas Day, 1914, British and German troops laid down their weapons for one sunrise to sunset and conducted what has become known as the Christmas Truce. There are many different tales told about the event, and I am fascinated about the power of the human spirit in the cold, dank pits of the trenches that December day. It makes me wonder – why didn’t they just keep the truce going? (Superior officers' orders, that’s why).
One of the cool stories? Football – the European version that many of my family and friends love so much (this means you Charlie, Rick, Brian, Jake, Eli, Joe B, and many more). While there was no official game played between the two sides, they did have a few “kick abouts” – immortalized with a small memorial in the middle of a farm off a side road south of Ypres. The small memorial of a football on a exploded shell connecting two trenches has additional material left behind by visitors from all over. There’s the power of sports for you. Maybe the World Cup can be the great unifier in the world today?
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