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Commission activities honor America’s World War I Vets during Fleet Week 2019
Fall start envisioned for WWI tribute; concept for monument in D.C.‘really coming along,’ says Arkansas designer
Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, PA was founded by Irish immigrant Thomas Cahill in 1890, and was the first free Catholic high school in the country. By the time the United States had entered World War I in 1917, the school was already more than a quarter-century old. Yet many alumni, including writer Chris Gibbons, had long assumed that there was no commemorative plaque for World War I because no Roman alumni had died in that war. However, as Gibbon’s interest and knowledge of the Great War deepened over the years, he began to doubt this assumption. After he read James Nelson’s book The Remains of Company D, Gibbons resolved to finally learn the truth regarding World War I and the lost boys from Roman. Click here to read how this search unfolded, and how the names of the lost boys of Roman are being rediscovered and honored 100 years after the end of World War I.
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Daniel Bernardi is a remarkable young filmmaker, and a very busy person. He is a Navy Reservist, a professor of film at San Francisco State University, and he manages a film production company specializing in documentaries. Daniel’s current project, as a filmmaker, is a series of pieces for the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), which manages the nation’s veteran cemeteries across the United States. These National Cemeteries are amazing historical sites, and are home some of America’s greatest military heroes. — In fact — The Centennial Commission worked with the NCA for the Wreath Laying Ceremony for World War I heroes buried in NYC’s Cypress Hills National Cemetery on May 2nd. Daniel’s biggest film of this series, the WWI-themed WAR TO END ALL WARS, premiered recently at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, and will be screened there during Memorial Day Weekend. Much of the new video work done by Daniel and his team can be found on their YouTube channel. Recently we took some time to talk to Daniel about his work, and hear his thoughts on why these stories are important; click here to read the entire interview.
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The cremated remains of four World War I veterans were transported in a horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by Patriot Guard Riders and a police escort, to their final resting place at the Roseburg National Cemetery Annex in Douglas County, Oregonlast week. The veterans’ remains were forgotten on a shelf at a local mortuary before being rediscovered through the painstaking research of Douglas County Veterans Forum member Carol Hunt and retired Roseburg National Cemetery technician Gigi Grimes Shannon. What the two women found was one of the largest groups of unclaimed veterans remains ever to have been recovered in the state. Click here to read this extraordinary story of a dogged pursuit for justice for these four World War I veterans.
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Over a century ago, the first African-American officers trained at Fort Des Moines. On May 4, local members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity unveiled a display honoring members who received their commissions there in 1917 and served during World War I. The Fort Des Moines training camp was the first and only established for African-American officers and non-commissioned candidates. What began as a simple question — “Did Phi Beta Sigma have any members who were commissioned here” — turned into a three-year project that uncovered 20 men from the fraternity who served in WWI, including nine who received their commissions at Fort Des Moines. Click here to read the entire story about the search, the ceremony, and what the fraternity learned about its World War I heritage as a result.
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From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Events:
Richard “Corky” Erie and Beth Baker
on Fleet Week 2019 in NYC
In May 10th’s edition of the World War I Centennial News Podcast, Episode 121, host Theo Mayer interviewed Richard “Corky” Erie and Beth Baker about Fleet Week New York. Richard is the director of Fleet Week New York, and Beth is the Director of Public Affairs for the Navy in the Mid-Atlantic and Fleet Week New York. The two of them have plenty to say about the logistics, scale, operation, and impact of Fleet Week on the city- as well as how this year’s event incorporates World War I. Click here to read the entire interview, and get an inside look at what it takes to bring “12 to 14 Navy and Coast Guard ships carrying upwards of 2,600 Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen to all five boroughs of New York City, executing over 130 events in six days.”
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Centennial News Now:
Tom Frezza on the USS Recruit
In May 3rd’s edition of the World War I Centennial News Podcast, Episode 121, host Theo Mayer reviewed some of the most important headlines from this week, 100 years ago. Among them was the death of James Reese Europe, the legendary African American band leader of the 369th Infantry Band. Already famous as an innovator and an advocate for Black musicians in New York, he’s often credited for bringing Jazz to France with the 369th. He was tragically murdered in an altercation with a bandmate. Click here to read the contemporary story of the death of a military and musical legend 100 years ago.
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Episode #123
Highlights: Remembering WWI Veterans
Host: Theo Mayer
Germany Agrees to Sign Peace Treaty – Mike Shuster | @ 02:15
100 Years Ago: The Treaty and the League as Viewed in America – Host | @ 06:50
War Memoirs From WWI: “Will Bird” – Dr. Edward Lengel | @ 13:10
Back Over There: Italian Immigrants Serving in WWI – Luca Angeli | @ 18:50
Fleet Week New York 2019: The Site, the Events and the Social Media – Host | @ 27:15
Living Historians from the Cutter Olympia – Laura Adie & Kevin Smith | @ 28:10
“The Hello Girls Musical” Releases Cast Album – Cara Reichel, Peter Mills & Ben Moss | @ 37:15
Articles & Posts: Highlights from Dispatch – Host | @ 46:50
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Waking Up to History: John Dos Passos, the Cut-up, and World War I
By M.C. Armstrong
When M.C. Armstrong traveled to Iraq as a war reporter, he took with him the work of WWI volunteer ambulance driver and American novelist, John Dos Passos. Like Dos Passos did in 1919, Armstrong came back and began to assert his own theory of war writing based on lessons learned.
In this post, Armstrong analyzes language as a weapon in war through the ways Dos Passos criticizes journalism using fiction. Read Waking Up to History: John Dos Passos, the Cut-up, and World War I, which discusses the war propaganda machine and Dos Passos’ signature “cut up” technique at WWrite this week!
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World War I Prints from the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
As the United States commemorates the centennial of World War I, one of the nation’s premier military history institutions pays tribute to the Americans who served and the allies they fought beside to defeat a resourceful enemy with a lavishly illustrated book. It is an official product of the Unites States World War One Centennial Commission. The story of WWI is told through the memorable art it spawned ― including posters from nations involved in the conflict ― and a taut narrative account of the war’s signal events, its major personalities and its tragic consequences; and the timely period photographs that illustrate the awful realities of this revolutionary conflict. Most importantly, this book is a tribute to those who served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and what would become the Air Force. It serves as a lasting reminder that our world ignores the history of World War I (and the ensuing WWII) at its peril ― lest we forget. Proceeds help fund the WW1 Memorial in Washington, DC.
This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.
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Submitted by: Elmer J Bott, Jr. {Legion Post Adjutant}
John A Dean born around 1893, John Dean served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.
Story of Service
John A. Dean was born about 1893, his mother Anna (Kelly) Dean and William Dean were residents of Butler.
John A. Dean enlisted August 31, 1917 in the Ambulance Co #33, which trained at the Van Wyck estate bordering on Lake Apshawa. He then traveled to Syracuse, New York, Allentown, Pennsylvania and lastly Camp Greene, Charlotte, North Carolina for further training.
At Camp Greene his company was incorporated into the 4th Division Regular Army. They left the United States for service overseas on May 13, 1918. In whole or part he served at Belleau Wood, Chateau Thierry, and the Aisne-Marne offensive, St. Mihiel, the Meuse Argonne in France and in the Army of Occupation in Germany.
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