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

You can also  purchase the limited edition US Mint WWI Commemorative Coin in combination with our specially-designed display stand, personalized with information about your WWI ancestor. This will make a great collectible Christmas gift for family members and descendants of those who served in World War I. Personalization can include: rank, full name, enlisted date, deceased date, unit/decorations, battles, cemetery, etc. If you have already purchased the Commemorative Coin from the US Mint, you can order just the personalized display. Both the combo set and display alone are available at here. Supplies are limited.

Rarely in our lifetime will we see a tribute to the veterans of World War I that is as unique, or as vivid, as the new documentary film, “They Shall Not Grow Old”, directed by noted filmmaker Peter Jackson. The film project, which is an official  WW1CC commemorative partner, utilizes original 100-year old combat imagery that has been treated with 21st Century digital technology in restoration, colorization, visual-effects, editing — and sound. The original footage was silent, so all aspects of sound were addressed in the film’s overall sound design. The results are extraordinary, and have been heralded as a true milestone in filmmaking by critics. The film’s sound achievements came from the remarkable talents of Brent Burge (left), the film’s Supervising Sound Editor. A legend in the world of sound editing for film, Burge was interviewed recently for the WWI Centennial Commission Podcast. Click here to read a detailed transcript of the Burge interview, and find out the extraordinary process to bring authentic sound to silent film from WWI.

In his soon-to-be-released documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” based on actual World War I film footage, “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson explained that his grandfather had actually fought in the war. He offered this explanation for why he had taken on the project. “I think it’s great if we can just pause for a moment and think about them for a bit because they are part of our family, part of us. We still carry their DNA … let’s pause in our modern lives for a second and think about what they went through,” he told Britain’s Forces TV. It’s a quote Poway CPA Robert Knight invokes to explain why he requested a Purple Heart award ceremony for his great uncle William James Williams, Jr. (left), 100 years after he died during a German U-boat attack in World War I on the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa. Click here to read more about how the ceremony for Great uncle Willie came about..

Dr. Steven Trout (left) is a professor at the University of South Alabama, where, he leads a unique organization — the Center for War and Memory. The Center is an interdisciplinary team of scholars committed to advancing the study of war remembrance in all its forms — including public memorials, civic rituals, works of literature and film, television programs, and web sites. The Center hosts speakers and conferences, offers online scholarly materials, and serves as a resource on all matters related to war commemoration. World War I Centennial Commission intern Lee Febos was able to talk to Professor Trout about the Center, his work there, and his thoughts on World War I in America. Click here to read the entire thoughtful and wide-ranging interview about how “remembrance is itself a kind of battlefield with warring forces and winners and losers.”

A British nurse who risked — and ultimately lost — her life to help British and French soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium in World War I was remembered with a Google Doodle on December 4. A pioneer of modern nursing, Cavell was in Belgium in 1914 when war broke out. She immediately returned to Brussels, where she pledged to treat casualties of all nationalities — regardless of their allegiance. She simultaneously became involved with an underground group that sheltered French and British soldiers. Together, they helped around 200 men to escape occupied Belgium. But disaster struck in August 1915 when Cavell was caught, arrested, and charged with treason. She confessed to a German military court and was executed on October 12, 1915, despite an international outcry. Click here to read more about Clavell and her legacy.

In December 7th’s WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 100, host Theo Mayer spoke with Professor Joanna Bourk (left) about the steep impact of military wounds, both mental and physical, on both the men and women who carried them, and the widespread and lingering effects of the psychological health of individuals and nations alike in the years following the war. and society at large. Click here to read a complete transcript of the interview,

In December 7th’s WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 100, host Theo Mayer spoke with Dr. Glyn Prysor and Peter Francis of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, a British organization dedicated to honoring the war dead of Great Britain and the Commonwealth nations from the First and Second World Wars. Click here to read a transcript of the interview.

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 #100
Highlights: The Aftermath – Part I

Host: Theo Mayer
Part I of a special 2-part series examining the immediate aftermath of the Armistice signing.

• Preview of coming attractions – Host | @00:25
• The immediate aftermath – Mike Shuster | @04:15
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Dr. Glyn Prysor and Peter Francis | @07:50
• War, wounds, pain and fear – Professor Joanna Burke | @18:00
• Coming Home – Jonathan Casey | @26:40
• Hello Girls the Musical – Cara Reichel and Peter Mills | @33:00
• Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old” – Brent Burge | @42:10

Letters That You Will Not Get: Women’s Voices from the Great War

By Susan Werbe

Susan Werbe is back with another remarkable performance! WWICC featured Werbe for her 2014 The Great War Theatre Project: Messengers of a Bitter Truth, a multi-media theatre piece. It has evolved now to include music as a way of introducing women’s writings. This week at WWRite,

Werbe talks about her latest piece, Letters That You Will Not Get: Women’s Voices from The Great War, a song cycle based on women’s writings from both sides of the conflict and set to contemporary music. Read this moving post about the premiere performance in New York at WWrite!

The Army Biscuit

A remarkable WW1 attic find, the complaints of a war-time goat, and soldiers’ dental health: read about the despised Army hard tack biscuit at Behind Their Lines.  

Black Full Zip Fleece Vest

Inspired by the iconic image of a U.S. Doughboy, you can wear your warm American pride with this Made in the USA full zip fleece vest. 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. Vest features: Black with white Doughboy embroidery. 100% spun polyester, 12.5 Oz. Premium anti-piling fleece. Vest has full zip front with two side seam pockets. Men’s sizes available S – 2XL. 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.

Pershing Sponsors