My great uncle was a machinist, and was exempt from the draft.

But he enlisted anyway, got put in the infantry, and was killed shortly after arriving in Europe, leaving a young wife and daughter to pick up the pieces of their lives.

My great aunt ended up marrying a veteran who survived the war and they had several more kids. But there was still a hole in our family for generations.

Plenty of families had it worse - on both sides of the conflict. What a waste of life and potential - it's heartbreaking to think about.