Taphophile Tuesday:
One of our Colorado native and young war veterans, Bryan "Bud" Salladay. Bryan was born in 1896 and was #10 of 12 children born to Lounis and Victoria Salladay. They resided in Falcon, Colorado for a number of years then moved to Black Forest. At age 22, in April of 1918 he enlisted and was a Corporal in the U.S. Army. He was immediately sent to Ft. Lee in Virginia for training with the 349th Motor Supply Train, then on to France during the final months of World War I.Here comes the history lesson...
100 years ago, in 1918, the world faced a pandemic called the Spanish Influenza (so called because reports of mass illness first appeared in Spanish newspapers The countries involved in the war didn’t want to announce the mass casualties from this illness because it would show weakness, Spain was a neutral country and was able to do so) Within months this flu had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history. It struck fast and was indiscriminate. Unusually, it proved deadliest to healthy young adults, with nearly half of all deaths striking those between the ages of 20-40 years old. In just one year the average life expectancy in America dropped by 12 years, according to the US National Archives.
This deadly illness took hold as World War I ended and killed an estimated 50 million people globally. By concentrating millions of troops, it created ideal circumstances for the development of more aggressive strains of the virus to be spread. Our Bryan contracted this flu and died on October 18, 1918... just 3 weeks shy of him seeing Armistice Day. This flu went on to kill almost *three times* more people than the 17 million soldiers and civilians killed during World War I.
Bryan was brought back after the War was over, along with 27 other boys from our region. His funeral was held at the lovely Evergreen Cemetery Chapel, on June 19, 1921. He's located in block 56. 
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