European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A amps photos by Ken George a gun barrel protruding from the Trench of the bayonets is the death Marker of a Soldier burled alive. Verdun a tale of two towns except for its War monuments contemporary Verdun shows Little of its tragic past. This French City is very much a Community of the living and the dead by Ken George staff photographer Verdun is a City within a City. On the surface is a modern bustling French provincial Center. Behind the scenes is a City of ghosts a Community of hundreds of thousands of fallen soldiers. Nearly 74 years ago this expanse of French Farmland was the site of perhaps the most vicious fighting in the history of warfare. The City and its environs became synonymous with the savagery of world War i. In some respects it May appear that Verdun has forgot a Quot its past. The Lively farm town was nicely rebuilt after its destruction. Contemporary shops bars and cafes stay on late. Movie Heaters Are Busy As Are the churches and scr r gasoline stations favored by the French. But there is one image that separates Verdun from of Quot towns and that is the unrelenting presence of Graves in and near Verdun Are 70 military cemeteries. By to accounts More than 700 000 men were killed and wounded in the Battle that Bega eventually petered out in 1918 to the North is the to Naumor the huge Dou Aumont o a o unidentified troops a a amp  holes a Are Heap -1 a scary s 150-foot Tov r near the ossuary Quot a a nights where son Quot a a a a i nearby a. F or i i the fall of 1016 arc it of Story dominate foe Bone of 130 000h a Jii pones skulls a a a. A �-.1 b la of the l a r i v a group of French pilots visits the remains of fort Dou Aumont a world War i stronghold near Verdun. One cemetery includes a memorial to Andre Thome a world War to Era Leader who died at Verdun. The spire Marks the Dou Aumont ossuary repository of the Bones of 130,000 French and German soldiers. I i n off a. Hot i it a r hit Tor bidding hot a a world Vav i i  kit oif v ,-i.� a Ltd in it e. A