The premiere screening of the Peter Jackson WWI film “They Shall Not Grow Old” in the United States took place last week at the U.S. National Archives in Washington, DC, on Monday, Dec. 10th. The screening was hosted by the British Council, the UK’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. As part of the event, a remarkable after-screening panel-discussion took place. That panel discussion has been made available by the U.S. National Archives. Click here to read more, and to watch the video of the insightful panel discussion.

You may remember meeting Peter Stassen in another article earlier this year.  SGT MAJ Peter Stassen is a retired member of the Belgian Army, who lives near the American Cemetery in Flanders Field. Some time ago, he and his family volunteered to adopt the grave of one of the soldiers buried there, SGT Willis Burnworth, from Bremen, Ohio. That simple act of kindness has turned into an incredible adventure for SGT MAJ Stassen and his family. They have done deep research into unit histories, genealogy, they have looked into the stories of people who served and died with SGT Burnworth. They have recruited others to help with the volunteer program, etc. A great culmination of their effort came this autumn, when SGT MAJ Stassen and his wife traveled to the United States to participate in commemoration events for SGT Burnworth in his hometown. We had the opportunity to meet with SGT MAJ Stassen at the Commission office during his travel, and to talk to him about this remarkable journey.

A Doughboy statue in Muskogee, Oklahoma originally brought to memorialize the service of the Five Civilized Tribes during World War I has been restored and re-dedicated. Located at the Montgomery VA Medical Center, the restoration included adding a small monument extending that memorialization to all veterans who have served in all wars. The restoration of the Memorial was welcomed by area residents and veterans, who gathered at the re-dedication ceremony for the statue. “We have to make sure our children and their children understand what this statue means,” said State Representative Chuck Hoskins at the ceremony.  Click here to read more about the restoration process for the sculpture, and the support of local individuals and organizations for the project.

After two years of intensive effort, the League of World War I Aviation Historians dedicated a monument to World War I Airmen at the Memorial Park of the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) near Dayton, Ohio on 21 September 2018. The League initiated the project in 2016 after noting there was no monument at the Park to the U.S. Airmen who served at the Front during the Great War. Robert Kasprzak of the League has written a thoughtful retrospective of the two-year project, the challenges met and overcome, and the dedication ceremony which brought the League’s effort to fruition.

Historian Mike Hanlon has been a WW1CC volunteer since the Commission’s earliest days. He has been a frequent contributor to the weekly Sync Call and Podcast, and social media postings. A noted Battlefield Tour Guide, Mike led dozens of tour groups and official staff rides through the major sites in France, Belgium, Italy, and Germany during the Centennial period. He is also a formidable publisher, with a number of web sites and magazines focused on World War I. Mike has been interviewed previously in these pages (see here and here). Now, with the Centennial of the Armistice passed, he takes a look back the five-year World War I Centennial commemorative period, and reflects on the activities therein. Click here to read Mike’s thoughtful retrospective on the Centennial Commemoration.

Gus Zimmerman’s grandfather, John B. Kane, an architect who lived in the Philadelphia area, died when Gus was twelve years old, having never discussed his time in the service during WW1 with Gus or his mother, Sashie. But when Sashie was an adult, she discovered a book he wrote to her when she was ten years old. The “little story” was typed on fragile onion skin paper, written as though he were telling his young daughter stories about his military service. Now Gus, his wife LaWanda, and Sashie have brought the faded typed text into the twenty-first century in a book titled The Khaki Road of Yesterday. Click here to read more about the unexpected volume, and the lessons John learned in WWI that still resonate today.

The WW1 Centennial News Podcast is about WW1 THEN: 100 years ago this week, and it’s about WW1 NOW: News and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.  Available on our web site, iTunes, Google Play, Podbean, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio on Demand.  Spotify  listen on Youtube. New – Comment and ask questions via twitter @TheWW1podcast

Episode #101
Highlights: The Aftermath Part II

Part II of a special 2-part series examining the immediate aftermath of the Armistice signing.

Preview of coming attractions – Host | @00:35

Gold Star Mothers – Candy Martin  | @02:45

American Battle Monuments Commission – Mike Knapp | @10:35

Three Key impacts of WWI – Sir Hew Strachan | @18:00

The Cost of a Seat at the Table – Mike Shuster | @24:55

The effect of WWI on tUS policy – Professor Michael Carew | @28:55

1918. The Peace Christmas.

By Connie Ruzich

During the last two years of the WWI Centennial, Connie Ruzich and her blog Behind Their Lines, which shares lesser-known poetry of the First World War, have generously teamed up with WWrite with timely posts.

Ruzich excels at drawing the past and present together by linking current events with pivotal moments from 1914-1918. Her archival work into the lost poetic voices of WWI has served as an incredible resource, providing discussion and research on international lost voices, poems written by those on the home front, and poetry that has been neglected in modern anthologies. In 2020, Ruzich will go from digital to print as she publishes her anthology, International Poetry of World War I: An Anthology of Lost Voices, with Bloomsbury Academic Press.

This week, we have come together once more and WWrite has the pleasure of featuring her important post on a VAD nurse on duty in France, who writes of “Christmas, 1918”, the “Peace Christmas”. Read this powerful post that discusses the soldiers remaining on overseas duty and the devastated countryside “feeling for her frozen heart.”

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Monday’s MIA this week is Private Samuel Roach. Born February 12th, 1886, in Bradford, Ohio, Private Roach was an employee of the E.C. Atkins Saw Works in Indianapolis when he enlisted in the U.S. Army on October 16th, 1917. Sent to Ft. Thomas, Kentucky for muster, he took his training at Washington D.C., where he was assigned to Company D, 6th Engineer Regiment, 3rd Division. He left for overseas on December 6th, 1917, and was killed in action on March 29th, 1918 near Villers Bretonneux. He is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Somme American Cemetery, Bony, France. Interestingly, he was initially reported to the state of Indiana as having been returned and interred at Arlington national Cemetery.

Would you like to help us delve further into what happened to Samuel Roach? Why not donate ‘Ten For Them’ to Doughboy MIAand help us make a full accounting of the 4,423 American service personnel still listed as missing in action from WW1. Make your tax deductible donation now, with our thanks.

Navy Blue ¼ Zipper Fleece Sweatshirt

Inspired by the iconic image of a U.S. Doughboy, you can wear your American pride with this Made in the USA ¼ zipper fleece sweatshirt. An informal term for a member of the U.S. Army or Marine Corps, “doughboys” especially used to refer to the American Expeditionary Forces in World War One. Largely comprised of young men who had dropped out of school to join the army, this poignant lone silhouette of a soldier in trench warfare serves as a reminder of those who sacrificed so much one century ago.

Sweatshirt features: Navy with white doughboy embroidery. 80% cotton/20% polyester,  9.5 Oz. High quality heavy weight pre-shrunk fabric. Sweatshirt has ¼  zip pullover with cadet collar and silver metal zipper. Ribbed cuffs and waistband with spandex. Cover-seamed arm holes. Mens’ sizes available Small and Medium. Proceeds from the sale of this item will help to fund the building of the national World War One Memorial in Washington, D.C.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

Pershing Sponsors