{"id":890,"date":"2009-08-06T10:55:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-06T10:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/08\/thinking-of-harry-patch\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:09:28","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:09:28","slug":"thinking-of-harry-patch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/08\/thinking-of-harry-patch.html","title":{"rendered":"Thinking of Harry Patch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe>\n<\/p><p>Today<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harry_Patch\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"> Harry<\/a> was laid to rest.<\/p>\n<p>He had been offered a State funeral. He declined. He wanted a private burial. And he\u2019ll get that. But he could not avoid his fame and the need for a public funeral, which took place at the Cathedral in Wells.<\/p>\n<p>I first heard of him simply as the oldest Englishman who had died at the age of one hundred eleven. Turned out he was also the last survivor of the trenches of World War One.<\/p>\n<p>And then it turned out in addition to some heroics during the war he was an unalterable opponent of war, requesting that \u201cWhere Have All the Flowers Gone\u201d be sung at his memorial.<\/p>\n<p>Still there had to be some military component and his coffin was carried by six English infantrymen. But accompanying them were two Belgium soldiers, two French soldiers, and most tellingly, two German soldiers. All privates. I\u2019m not sure if officers were not invited, but it really, really, seemed right.<\/p>\n<p>I wish no one the terrors of his youth. I wish all of us the wisdom this simple plumber brought to life\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Good bye, Harry.<\/p>\n<p>Rest in Peace\u2026<\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sxZxqs0vDVQ\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sxZxqs0vDVQ<\/a>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/33904114-3992482954639808681?l=monkeymindonline.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today Harry was laid to rest. He had been offered a State funeral. He declined. He wanted a private burial. And he\u2019ll get that. But he could not avoid his fame and the need for a public funeral, which took place at the Cathedral in Wells. I first heard of him simply as the oldest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Thinking of Harry Patch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today Harry was laid to rest.He had been offered a State funeral. He declined. He wanted a private burial. And he'll get that. 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