A century ago many of the nations around the globe were involved in "The Great War," popularly known as World War 1. That war ended with an armistice silencing the guns November 11, 1918.
interviewThe centennial anniversary of that war was marked in Henryetta Monday night by a special program hosted by the Friends of the Library with guest speaker John Hinkle.
During the hour-long program, he discussed how the war started, the intermingled royal houses who governed the countries and its ramifications still being felt today.
"World War II was actually chapter two of World War I," he said. "It also resulted in the Korean war as well as Vietnam and even ISIS."
Hinkle, who has a masters' degree in library science started researching the years from 1914 to 1918 after he read about how opposing troops took time off in 1914 and held a Christmas break from the fighting, meeting in the shell-cratered and bloody no-man's land between the trenches.


He presented slides and maps showing how the embattled countries lined up against each other and listed how the toll of battles claimed millions of lives.
Hinkle's stop in Henryetta marked the near-completion of his tour around Oklahoma discussing the war. He has four more stops with the final program to be held at his home church in Oklahoma City on Nov. 11. He said he will end that program at 11 a.m. with the church bells throughout the state's Capitol marking the end of that segment of history.
Governor Mary Fallin has asked municipalities, religious congregations, military installations, organizations and cemeteries to ring bells Sunday, Nov. 11, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
The groups are asked to participate in the tolling of the bells at 11 a.m. Oklahoma time on Nov. 11, the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended hostilities in World War I. The U.S. World War One Centennial Commission is calling on Americans across the nation to toll bells at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to mark this solemn occasion.
World War I took place between July 1914 and November 1918, and is among the deadliest conflicts in world history. The United States officially entered the war on April 6, 1917. During the conflict, 116,516 Americans were killed, including 1,820 from Oklahoma. More than 200,000 Americans were wounded.
The governor issued a proclamation declaring Nov. 11 as “Bells of Remembrance Day” in Oklahoma, asking Oklahomans to participate in the remembrance.
“The tolling of bells is a traditional expression of honor and remembrance for those who died serving our nation,” said Fallin. “The bell tolling provides a solemn reminder of the sacrifice and service of veterans of World War I, and all veterans.”