RELATED VIDEO CNN's Mark Marino talks with two men who served their countries in what was known as the 'Great War' Windows Media 28K 80K

May 31, 1999
Web posted at: 11:01 p.m. EDT (0301 GMT)

(CNN) -- Survivors of the first global conflict see a new century about to begin with many of the same burdens of the past.

George Bell was just a boy when he fought for Britain's The Queen's Regiment in 1918.

"The doctor said to me, 'How old are you?' I said 18," recalled Bell. "I had never shaved -- I was that young."

Battlefield memories come slowly now for this 100-year-old World War I veteran.

"I don't talk about it much," Bell said.

But the memories are still there, like the day he survived the war that was to end all wars because of a copy of the new Testament he kept in a pocket, over his heart.

"A shell burst at my feet, right at my very feet -- blew me -- pfft .... " Bell remembered. "I was wounded five times. If it hadn't been for that (Testament), I'd be a goner," he said, fingering the hole a fragment tore in his small religious book.

Albert Dieda fought for the United States on the same battlefields as Bell.

He's also had the better part of a century to reflect on man's wages against man.

"There's always war, it's waiting for you," Dieda warned. "I don't think I ever remember a time when there wasn't a war."

Nearly 5 million soldier wore the U.S. uniform in World War I. On this last Memorial Day of the 20th century, fewer than 4,000 U.S. WWI veterans remain.

Bell, left, and Dieda

"To me, it meant everything," said the patriotic Dieda.

But every survivor of the first global battle of this century offers a living, breathing chapter in the account of man's bloody disputes.

"It's too bad they don't learn -- that's all I think," said Bell. "It's too bad human beings don't learn to get along and settle their differences -- it's just too bad."

These veterans offer a lesson from old men with painful memories -- who see a new century beginning with many of the same burdens of the past.

"Take the thing over in Serbia now," instructed Dieda. "They're getting driven out of their places and driven out of their homes, and they're being killed by people that are supposed to be their friends."

"How can you answer questions like that?" Dieda wondered. "I'd like to hear a good, sensible answer on it."

Correspondent Mark Marino contributed to this report.

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