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Remembering the Great War: An Interview with Dale Archer, Chief of Staff of the U.S. WWI Centennial Commission
Digging Into History: World War I Trench Restoration in Seicheprey, France
As Women’s History Month begins this March, author Pamela D. Toler, whose new book Women Warriors: An Unexpected History was recently published, takes a look at the different attitudes and experiences encountered during (and after) World War I by women who volunteered to serve in the American armed forces during the Great War. As Toler notes: “The Navy’s ‘yeomanettes’ and the Army’s Hello Girls were the first American women to openly serve in (or at least with) the military. And, though they served in the same war for the same nation, their experiences differed greatly.” Click here to read the entire insightful article on the TIME magazine web site.
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As well as serving in the armed forces, American women in World War I stepped forward to fill other traditionally male roles and occupations that were emptied by the mobilization of men into uniform. Take the case of Bessie Bendt, a trailblazer in Sioux Falls, SD as the city’s first ‘conductorette’ during World War I. When her new husband Otto, who was working for the city’s electric trolley company, was called to military duty in June of 1918, Bessie stepped forward to keep the commuter rails running as the first female to serve in the role of a conductor for the Sioux Falls Traction System. Click here to read more about Bessie, and the role she pioneered in supporting the American war effort.
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Businesses, organizations and individuals all throughout Mohave County came together in 1928 to erect a monument dedicated to those who served in World War I. Now that the passage of time and a few bad actors have led to the deteriorating condition of the monument, there’s a group of veterans leading another community effort, this time to restore the World War I monument at the Mohave County Superior Courthouse. Bob Wallace, director of the Arizona Military Order of Devil Dog Charities, notes that “The monument was to recognize the service and dedication of those young kids that went to WWI. They were 18, 19-year-old. This monument is for the memory of those folks that went into what they call the ‘War to end all wars’ and preserved the planet.” Click here to read more about what Wallace and others are doing to rescue the neglected memorial and restore it to its original condition.
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From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Historian’s Corner:
Dr. Patricia Fara on Women’s Rights post-WWI in the United Kingdom
Historian’s Corner:
Dr. Charissa Threat on African American Women in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps
Episode #112
Highlights: The Sculptor’s Art
Host: Theo Mayer
100 Years Ago This Week – Host | @02:10
Mission to Moscow – Mike Shuster | @09:35
A “Y” girl sets up a library – Dr. Edward Lengel | @13:20
Announcing WWI Themed “Fleet Week” in NYC – Host | @20:20
“Digital Technology and the Sculptor’s Art” Part 1 – Host | @21:10Courtesy of the author: Traci Slatton
Historians Corner: Women’s Suffrage in the UK – Dr. Patricia Fara | @27:35
Remembering Veterans: Choctaw Code talkers in WWI – Sarah Sawyer | @34:55
Speaking WWI: Scrounge – Host | @42:50
Dispatch Newsletter Highlights – Host | @44:50
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The Debt of WWII Resistance Writers to WWI Veterans Part 3:
French Journalist Traces Her Breton Family Through Both World Wars
WWrite Interviews Stéphanie Trouillard.
French journalist and regular WWrite blog contributor Stéphanie Trouillard has undertaken a formidable task: chronicling innovative histories of WWI and WWII… at the same time. For five years and counting, she has used social media to tell the stories of WWI for the French media.
She has also just published her successful first book, My Uncle from the Shadows, a memoir of her great-uncle who died in the WWII French Resistance. In this week’s post, she sits down to talk with WWrite about the ways her research and writing on both wars have intertwined to tell a tale of her own family’s experience of loss and survival in 1914-1918 and in 1939-1944.
This is the third in the blog series entitled, “The Debt of WWII French Resistance Writers to WWI Veterans.” Read Trouillard’s story about one generation and two wars at WWrite this week!
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Aftermath
A sister’s poem for her brother killed in the first weeks of the war: “Aftermath.” Mary E. Boyle writes, “Let the stones of literary criticism fall from your hands, or use them to build a cairn, as we do in the north, to the memory of a very gallant young soldier, and a great mutual love.”
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A man is only missing if he is forgotten.
Monday’s Doughboy MIA this week is Sergeant Wallace Green, DSC. Very little is known about Wallace Green’s early life. He was born and raised in the little town of Eure, North Carolina and may very well have been a pre-war soldier, serving with the 9th Cavalry. What is known is that he sailed as a corporal from Hoboken, New Jersey, bound for ‘Over There’ aboard the transport Covington on 09APR1918, assigned to Company M, 6th Infantry Regiment, 5th ‘Red Diamond’ Division.
The 6th Infantry Regiment is one of the oldest of the ‘regular army’ regiments in the army inventory, tracing its roots back to 1812. In November, 1917, while still in the States, the 6th was assigned to the assembling 5th Division. Then once overseas, when the 1st US Army was organized in France to perpetrate the St. Mihiel Offensive (set to begin on 12SEPT1918), the 5th Division was one of the divisions assigned to it on 10AUG1918. At that time, however, the division was serving in the Vosges Sector and preparing for a limited offensive of its own.
At 4:04 am on the morning of 17AUG1917, after a 10 minute artillery barrage, the 6th Infantry Regiment launched an attack against the village of Frapelle in that sector. Two minutes into the attack, a heavy German counter barrage began to fall on the American trenches and the attacking Doughboys. Nevertheless, the 6th pressed on doggedly and by 6:30 am had reached and liberated the town of Frapelle, freeing it from four years of German occupation. However, now Sergeant Wallace Green wasn’t with them – he had been killed in action during the initial attack and in the process earned the Distinguished Service Cross. Reports of him being both KIA and MIA appear simultaneously in papers back home as early as 24SEPT1918. On 05OCT1919 his award of the DSC was officially announced:
GREEN, Wallace Sergeant, Company M, 6th Infantry.
For extraordinary heroism in action at Frapelle, France,
August 17, 1918. He unhesitatingly and with great coolness
and courage went forward under a heavy enemy barrage
to destroy wire entanglements and
continued this hazardous work until killed.
General Orders No. 15, War Department, 1919
Sergeant Green’s name is among the 284 names which grace the Tablets of the Missing at the beautiful St. Mihiel American Cemetery at Thiaucourt, France.
Want to help shed some light on Sgt. Green’s case? Consider making a donation’ to Doughboy MIA and 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.
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This 100% woven silk tie has been custom created for the World War One Centennial Commission. This red silk tie features World War One-era aircraft and the official logo of the Centennial Commission on the back. This beautiful tie also comes packaged in a 2 piece box with the Doughboy seal printed on the top. Proceeds from the sale of this item will help to fund the building of the national World War One Memorial in Washington, D.C.
A Certificate of Authenticity as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial is included.
This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.
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Submitted by: Michael Rauh {Grand Nephew}
Philip Martin was born around 1892, Philip Martin served in World War I with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1919.
Story of Service
In 1958, I was a 5th grade student. While studying world history, my class learned about World War I, also known as the Great War. We read about the terrible battles where trench warfare, poison gas, and modern weaponry took many lives. I learned then that America had entered the war on April 6, 1917.
To help mark the 100th anniversary of these events, I want to tell my family the story I learned so many years ago.
At the end of the term where I learned about World War I, there was an old black & white movie on TV about the life of Sergeant Alvin York. He was one of the many American heroes who fought in the great war. For his actions, he received many awards and was the most decorated soldier of the war. I was very impressed with the movie and was surprised when my mother told me my great-uncle was a member of the same infantry unit as Sgt. York, and that he had fought in the same battles.
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Royal Canadian Legion, US Branch #25 