Every day without fail, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, Taps sounds at the National World War I Memorial honoring those who perished in the “war that changed the world” and all who have served in the armed forces of the United States. As a joint effort between the Doughboy Foundation, the National Park Service, and the World War I Centennial Commission, this ceremony keeps faith with the American Doughboy and pays tribute to all our service members and veterans. The Daily Taps program now provides a unique opportunity to dedicate a livestreamed sounding of Taps in honor of a special person of your choice while supporting the important work of the Doughboy Foundation. Click here to read more, and learn how you can choose a specific day to honor someone, or even establish this honor for them in perpetuity.

Dr. Jeffrey Sammons, a professor of history at New York University (NYU), was the guest speaker at the event honoring 40 Orange County, NY residents who died in battle more than 100 years ago on the same day during World War I. The 40 Orange County residents served in Companies E and L of the 107th Regiment of the 27th Division and were killed in action during the Battle of the Hindenburg Line in Northern France. Click here to read more, and find out how Orange County “will always remember our fallen heroes.”

The Central Ohio Military Museum hosts a free monthly Veterans luncheon. The October 2022 program featured Paul LaRue, member of the Ohio WWI Centennial Committee. LaRue’s program focused on the return of the bodies of WWI Service Members who lost their lives in Europe. Click here to read the entire article, and learn how families after WWI had difficult decisions to make regarding the remains of their relatives who died overseas during the global conflict.

A 75-year-old New York City man pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 1976 killing of a World War I veteran whose dismembered remains were found in 2019. The guilty plea in the death of WWI vet George Seitz represented the first successful use of genetic genealogy by any of the city’s prosecutors. Click here to read the entire article, and learn how the disappearance of Seitz, a World War I veteran who was then 81 years old, remained a mystery for decades until a tipster led police to a backyard where dismembered body parts were buried under concrete–a very New York, New York story.

A chance encounter with a photo of a stranger in a World War I U.S. Navy uniform was the door to a rabbit hole for researcher Joe Felice. The journey down that pathway led Felice to the man who turned out to be his great grandfather: John Faulkner, the man in the Navy uniform. But there was no family knowledge of Faulkner ever serving. Click here to read the whole story, and learn how Felice’s journey through the labyrinth of WWI service records, which was aided by a number of military veterans along the way, finally led him to an unexpected discovery.

To honor the nation’s veterans, Harvard Magazine has republished Adam Goodheart’s remarkable collection of stories about the Great War, “We Remember World War I,” which appeared in the November-December issue of 1993, together with contributing editor Jim Harrison’s engaging photographic portraits. Click here to read the whole article, and learn how in 1993, among Harvard Graduates, “the war is still quite alive in the lives we lead today, for in a certain sense it was the beginning of the modern world.”

One University of Arkansas at Little Rock researcher has made it her mission to uncover the history of American Indian women who served as Army nurses during World War I. Erin Fehr, assistant director and archivist of the Sequoyah National Research Center, partnered with the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission to create a website commemorating the approximately 12,000 American Indians who served in the military during World War I. During her research, Fehr came across an article that described two of the 14 American Indian women who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. “I realized no one has written about any of the others,” Fehr said. “I am bound and determined to find these women. ” Click here to read more, and learn how her ongoing research has revealed that the American Indian nurses “have fascinating stories to share.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” writes author, moviemaker, and aviator Dorian Walker, “but we have finished our film The Liberty Plane on America’s first Warbird.” The new film, airing on PBS TV stations nationwide starting in the Fall of 2022, was “inspired by both the timeframe, our own DH4, and Peter Jackson’s, They Shall Not Grow Old, We have attempted to take audiences back to World War I.” Click here to read more, learn how “the story of America’s first warbird, the DH-4 Liberty Plane, we found as largely unknown, yet so many innovations evolved from it,” and find out where and when you can see this documentary of WWI aviation history.

The two-volume book In the Centennial Footsteps of the Great War chronicles and explains the historical events of the Great War through photos taken by the author one hundred years later, between 2014 and 2021 in each and every theatre of this global conflict, 57 countries in all. With festive season approaching, are you still looking for the right present for your loved ones? Click here to learn more about an ideal offer for you that the whole family would enjoy on Christmas Eve, with a significant discount!

There’s a new World War I exhibit in Fairfax, and it’s offering visitors an up-close experience with history. The “True Sons of Freedom” traveling exhibition from the Library of Virginia is now on display at the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center. It commemorates Black soldiers from Virginia who served in World War I, fighting for freedoms they were denied at home. Click here to read more, and find out how to view this exhibit running through December 3.

It may have taken 104 years, but one Army veteran from Sayre, PA has finally received the service medals he deserved. Federal and State officials joined at the VFW Post 1536 in Sayre, PA November 10 to award Private Raymond Jay Varner the Purple Heart and World War One Victory Medal for his service. “It’s great. He had it coming, but he never said much about it,” Robert Varner, son of Raymond, said, adding “Growing up, I always wondered what the dents were in his body, and he told me.” Click here to read more, and learn how Raymond Jay Varner was was the one man out of twelve in his company to survive the battle in which he was shot.

Chaz Haywood first saw a photograph of Winton Paul Burtner (left) in a framed portrait at his wife’s family home. Haywood asked his wife, “Who’s that fella?” Ginny Haywood responded that the man was her great-uncle, who was killed in June 1918 at the Battle of Belleau Wood in France during World War I. It wasn’t until Haywood started digging around online and pulled up a photograph of Burtner’s gravestone, located at Arlington National Cemetery, that he noticed something strange — the marker was labeled Maryland instead of Virginia. And the name was spelled wrong. Click here to read more, and learn how diligent work on the part of family and friends ensured that “Someone who dies for their country should have everything correct on their marker as accurate as possible.”

Molly Millie Anderson noticed the plain black box at an Omaha auction. Anderson, a history buff, opened the box and found numerous negatives inside. She held one up to a light and spotted a date: 1917. “This is pretty cool, but there’s no way these are any good,” she thought.  Anderson still bid for the box and won it. She bought a light board and began looking at the negatives. Click here to read the entire article, and learn more about what Anderson found: a photographic record captured by Rudolph “Doc” Henry Cook, who served in World War I, in pristine shape. 

Sgt. Henry Dokes was a member of the 371st Infantry Regiment, made up of Southern Black men mostly from South Carolina drafted into the U.S. Army. Dokes was shot in the face in the same battle where Cpl. Freddie Stowers was killed. Stowers would be recognized with the Medal of Honor decades later, in 1991. But despite his visible wounds and a disability designation from the VA, Dokes never received a Purple Heart. But on November 5, that changed. Click here to read more, and learn how Dokes’ grandson and great grandson were given the military medal Henry Dokes earned more than a century ago. 

Writes author Jennifer Orth-Veillon: “My just-released book, Beyond Their Limits of Longing: Contemporary Writers and Veterans on the Lingering Stories of WWI, is informed and inspired by “The WWrite Blog. Exploring WWI’s Influence on Contemporary Writing and Scholarship,” a blog I had the honor of curating for the Official United States World War One Centennial Commission’s website from 2016-2019. The blog featured posts almost every week by emerging and established writers from all genres who volunteered to reflect upon the place of WWI memory in the United States and in the world. While my work with the blog and the commission finished in 2019, my passion for modernizing the WWI narrative motivated me to create a book because, though a blog is wonderful in some many respects, I wanted to both consolidate and polish a selection of the timeless posts in an easily accessible collection.” Click here to read Orth-Veillon’s entire thoughtful essay, and learn more about her new book, including where to buy it.

A new digital exhibit unveiled by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) highlights a lesser-known aspect of World War I (WWI) – the sabotage and espionage campaign carried out in the United States by Imperial Germany. The “Evolution of Espionage in America” exhibit spotlights this secret war on the American home front, which began long before the United States entered WWI. Click here to read more about the exhibit, and learn how “While many of these stories have long been forgotten, they hold valuable lessons as we confront today’s challenges.”

“…gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy during the operations against the Hindenburg line, east of Ronssoy, France, 29 September 1918,” begins the Medal of Honor citation for Pvt. Michael Valente, but he would describe it more plainly. “I was pissed that my men were getting killed,” he would reply when his grandson, Ralph Madalena, asked him about that fateful day on the Western Front. Rushing on a German machine gun nest, Valente and a comrade killed or captured the entire crew, before turning their attention toward another position, and doing it again. Valente would be wounded shortly thereafter, but lived on until 1976. The notion of legacy was a conspicuous theme on the night of October 22, as the Veterans of the Seventh Regiment hosted a commemorative “Hindenburg Line” dinner at the Park Avenue Armory. Click here to read more about Pvt. Valente, the Veterans of the Seventh Regiment , and why the “Hindenburg Line” dinner takes place.

Despite its significance in 20th-century history and its role in transforming the United States into a world power, the First World War sights, cemeteries and museums of France typically hold little interest for American travelers. Yet several are at Paris’s doorsteps. The Suresnes American Cemetery and the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial are both in the suburbs while the Musée de la Grande Guerre (Museum of the Great War) in Meaux is just 25 miles east along a meander in the Marne River. Click here to read more about the Meaux museum, and the tremendous collection of objects from the First World War that has been amassed over more than 40 years. And about brie…

The Armchair Historian LLC specializes in producing educational and entertaining animated history videos, primarily 20th-century military history. Writes founder Griffin Johnsen: “I started this channel in June of 2016, but our first video came out in November of 2017. I was 18 at the time and did all of the research, animations, editing, and some of the art myself. As our channel grew I brought on more and more experts to improve our animation, scriptwriting, and illustrations. Now we are a team of around 70, and create videos on YouTube, run our streaming service “Armchair History TV,” and design historical strategy games with our new studio “Armchair History Interactive.” Now The Armchair Historian has a new animated video: WW1 From The American Perspective. Click here to learn more about The Armchair Historian, WW1 From The American Perspective, and where you can find the video.

A new book, “The Ivy Hero: The Brave Life of Sergeant William Shemin” (City Point Press, 2022), authored by Sara Shemin Cass and her cousin, Dan Burstein, shares William’s story—from his earliest years on the Lower East Side to his military service and time at Syracuse University, to the 15-year fight of his daughter Elsie Shemin-Roth ’51 for William to be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He is the only known graduate of Syracuse University to have received the distinction. Click here to read more about Sergeant William Shemin, his extraordinary bravery during a long-fought battle in 1918 near Bazoches, France, and the ultimately successful campaign by his family for the the Medal of Honor that he was denied due to his Jewish faith.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

This month we are featuring something different for our MIA of the Month: an ‘Unknown’ buried in France.

 The remains we are focused on here were originally discovered in early-1938 by members of the British Imperial War Graves Commission. How they had come into the information is unknown. The remains were recovered by US personnel in April 1938 from an isolated grave in an open field on Cravancon Farm outside the commune of Chaudun in the Aisne Department.

Poppy Lapel Pin

Back in stock!!

• Exclusive Commemorative WW1 Poppy Lapel Pin
• Soft enamel color design
• Approx. 1.5 inch in dia.
• Standard military clasp

Proceeds from the sale of these pins will help complete the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the Doughboy Foundation.

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