Claim A says A general ordered a final charge at 10:59 a.m. Claim B says A private charged a machine gun nest at 10:59 a.m. Claim B is true, and Claim A is completely made up.
His name was Henry Gunther, a 23-year-old private from Baltimore. He is recorded as the last American soldier killed in World War I.
Gunther had once been a sergeant. He was demoted after writing a letter from the trenches urging a friend not to join the Army, and the letter ran afoul of wartime censorship laws.
On the morning of November 11, 1918, word reached his position that an armistice would take effect at 11 a.m. About 16 minutes later, Gunther rose with his bayonet fixed and charged a German machine gun nest.
The Germans reportedly tried to wave him off, since the fighting was nearly over. He kept going and was struck in the left temple at 10:59 a.m., one minute before the guns fell silent. His rank of sergeant was later restored, and his motive remains a matter of speculation.
No general ordered a final charge. Gunther made the advance on his own, as a private, not on a commander's orders.
Think you'd have guessed right? Send this to a history buff and see if they get it.
