Truman was commander of an artillery regiment in France at the end of World War I. He wasn't happy about the ceasefire, and his unit continued firing into German positions after the armistice had been signed at 5am on 11/11/1918. The ceasefire didn't technically take effect until 11am. A quote from Harry Truman in a letter he wrote that day:
Quote:
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It is a shame we can't go in and devastate Germany and cut off a few of the Dutch kids' hands and feet and scalp a few of their old men but I guess it will be better to make them work for France and Belgium for fifty years.
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http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistle...s/pg13_txt.htm