We will open the webinar with an update on the Memorial construction, and reveal when the fences are coming down for public access to the National WWI Memorial. Next, historian and author Dr. Mitchell Yockelson (left) will give us some insight into what was happening in New Jersey 100 years ago as the newly minted soldiers and raw recruits prepared to embark for the war zone and combat.

Then Master Sculptor Sabin Howard (right)  will walk us through the 48 clay figures, in different stages of completion, which are being created for eventual casting into bronze.  You’ll get a close look at the intricate details of the sculpting from the artist himself, and a deep understanding of the creative process.

And apropos our theme, we are closing with the short documentary "How WWI Changed America: Going To War”.

Click here to register for this unique webinar.  Advance registration is required, so sign up now!

The bronze plaque on the Loudoun County World War I Memorial has stood in the heart of Leesburg for nearly 100 years. Located on the county courthouse grounds, the plaque lists the names of the 30 service members from Loudoun who died during war. Segregated by two engraved lines, on top are the names of 27 white service members; below are three Black men who equally gave their lives for America.

The dividing line may soon be gone.

Click here to read more about efforts to change the plaque in time for the 100th anniversary of the memorial’s installation.

The decades-long effort to clean up a World War I chemical munitions hazardous site in Washington, DC (reported on here previously) located just southwest of the American University campus, is now complete, according to the project’s manager. Click here to read more about what it took to finally render “the mother of all toxic dumps” safe again.

The Bleckley Airport Memorial Foundation is on a mission to ensure a piece of history flies the skies of Wichita all to honor 2nd Lt. Erwin Bleckley, one of eight to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the "Lost Battalion" episode, and one of the only four members of the U.S. Army's Air Service to be awarded Medals of Honor in WWI. Click here to read more about the effort to put the aircraft that Bleckley flew to back into air worthy status.

During the First World War, thousands of foreign-born citizens and immigrants joined the United States military as the nation tried to meet the massive manpower requirements of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). Of these immigrant combatants, 13 received the Medal of Honor for their wartime valor. One of these men, Ludovicus Matheus Van Iersel, volunteered to serve again in the Second World War -- in the U.S. Marine Corps!.  Click here to read the fascinating story of this American fighting man from the Netherlands, and his service in two wars.

The Lackawanna Historical Society's History Bytes publication, Janice M. Gavern, Deputy Commander, Woman Veterans Issues, for the 15th District American Legion, Department of Pennsylvania, tells the story of the creation of the World War I Memorial in the Scranton, PA's Nay Aug Park. Click here to read the entire story of how citizens determined that the sacrifice of the 242 men and six women from Scranton who gave their lives in World War I would be remembered.

While American women had been fighting for the right to vote for decades prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920, it was not until World War I that their cause for political independence regained momentum, argues legal scholar Pamela S. Karlan. Interviewed on the Futurity web site, Karlan discusses what the 19th Amendment accomplished and the challenges that persist today. Click here to read the entire interview.

Modern shoppers can frame almost any purchase in moral terms. Think of all those people getting takeout to support local restaurants during the pandemic. As theater historian Marlis Schweitzer explains, one foremother of this attitude was British fashion designer Lucile, or Lady Duff Gordon. She promoted luxury consumption as a patriotic duty in the face of government-backed austerity campaigns during the First World War in New York. Click here to learn more,including Lucile's insistence that “it was the duty of every wife, sweetheart and mother to spend as much on dress as they could possibly afford in order to make the best of themselves for the sake of the men in the trenches.”

As America and the world continue the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the lessons from World War I and the Spanish Flu Pandemic continue to resonate. Writing in the Edmonds Beacon newspaper in Washington state, Betty Lou Gaen recalls how the disease had killed over 5,000 of the state's residents by 1918. Adrija Roychowdhury writes in The Indian Express newspaper of "Lessons from the 1918 Spanish flu: When mask laws triggered protests in the United States." On the the history.com web site, Becky Little explores "'Mask Slackers' and 'Deadly' Spit: The 1918 Flu Campaigns to Shame People Into Following New Rules." TEN magazine, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, carries an article about how "During the deadly flu pandemic, Fed drove vital funding for World War I" in 1918. But if you have already heard enough comparisons between the COVID-19 and Spanish Flu pandemics, try this: "Another WWI throwback: Trench Fever Spread by Lice Found in Denver."

Stay healthy out there!

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is Private Homer A. Armstrong, of Philomath, Oregon.

Homer Alexander Armstrong was born January 18^th, 1892 in the town of Paddock, in Gage County Nebraska to Irene and John E. Armstrong. Homer was one of three sons; himself, and younger brothers Clarence and John Jr. There had also been two girls born – one before Homer (Minnie, in 1888) and one just before Clarence (Louisa, in 1893) but both died in infancy.  John Senior himself died in 1899 shortly before John Junior was born, and in 1904 Clarence died at age 9. In about 1910 Homer went to live with his mother’s sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Alex J. Brown. Then, when Irene died in 1915, John Jr. joined them and they all moved to Philomath, Oregon.

Shortly before the declaration of war, Homer made the decision to enlist in the Oregon National Guard and was assigned to Company K of the 3^rd Oregon Infantry, based in Corvallis. When the 3^rd Oregon Infantry Regiment was federalized, they became the Headquarters Company of the 162^nd Infantry Regiment/41^st Division. After receiving training, Homer left with the 41^st for France on December 12^th, 1917.

In France the 41^st Division was redesignated the 1^st Depot Division and immediately began feeding its infantry units piecemeal into combat units to fill battle casualties. Homer was sent to the 32^nd Division as a replacement sometime after May 1918, being assigned to Company D of the 127^th Infantry. In late July the 32^nd moved into the Chateau Thierry sector to relieve the 3^rd Division, which had seen heavy combat over the previous three months.

On the night of July 29^th, the 127^th Infantry moved into the front lines under a terrible artillery barrage. At 1430 hours on July 30^th, 1918 the 127^th went over the top and followed a rolling barrage into the Bois des Grimpettes. They pushed through the woods until they were stopped by machine gun fire from the right flank. On this flank, from positions in the Bois de Cierges, the Germans continued to oppose every effort to advance, but the 127^th gained the edge of those woods and established themselves there. During the night the Germans launched a counter attack from the Bois de Meuniere and a bayonet melee raged for hours in the dark, tangled woods, until the attacking force was finally routed.

On the morning of July 31^st, the regiment was again in action, pushing their attack through the Bois de Meuniere and into the village of Cierges and beyond. North of the village they were held up by a withering hail of machine gun fire from Bellevue Farm, which the Germans had organized into a very strong center of resistance and which the U.S. artillery had failed to smother.

It was there, north of Cierges during heavy fighting that afternoon that Homer Armstrong was killed by machine gun fire. His comrades buried him in a hasty battlefield grave that day, the position of which was reported to Graves Registration Service. Nevertheless, when GRS officials went looking for the grave after the war, it could not be located. Homer remains missing to this day, and is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery at Belleau, France.

Postscript:

At the beginning of 2020, Doughboy MIA was contacted by Mr. Eric Niemann, the Mayor of Philomath, Oregon. The city council wished to honor Homer among the veterans from their town, but they were finding little information and asked if we could help. Slowed by Covid but undeterred, the Doughboy MIA team went to work and chronicled Homer’s story in a full report and sent it to Mayor Niemann. The result was that a city resolution was passed proclaiming July 31^st ‘Homer Armstrong Day’ in Philomath. Thus it was that, 102 years after his death, Homer was again remembered, and will be every year from now on; to be forgotten no more.

And a man is only missing if he is forgotten.

This is a beautiful example of your donations at work. Because of your donations the research materials needed to investigate and chronicle Homer’s story were available to us. Thank you! You made a difference with us. And if you haven’t donated and would like to in order to be part of our work, hop on over to our website at www.ww1cc.org/mia and make your tax-deducible donation today.

White Ceramic
WWI Centennial
Mug

Featuring the iconic Doughboy silhouette flanked by barbed wire so prevalent during WWI, you can enjoy your favorite beverage in this 15-ounce ceramic mug and honor the sacrifices made by American soldiers, sailors, and Marines in World War I.  

Proceeds from the sale of this item will help build the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC.

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

Sgt. Henry Johnson, a member of the famed “Harlem Hellfighters,” is the subject of the newest graphic novel in the Association of the U.S. Army’s series highlighting Medal of Honor recipients. Medal of Honor: Henry Johnson features the story of Johnson, who served on the Western Front of World War I with the 369th Infantry Regiment, an African American unit that later became known as the “Harlem Hellfighters.” Click here to read more about the new book, and the incredible bravery of Henry Johnson that the volume spotlights.

The "Spirit of the American Doughboy" statue, sitting on the Pettis County, Missouri  Courthouse lawn, was vandalized over the July 4 weekend. The saber and gun are bent and the statue’s hand is cracked. Barbed wire circling the monument is also broken. On July 24, the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office took a suspect into custody.  Fortunately, the damage was not intentional, but occurred when a person "determined they would climb the statue for purposes of having a picture taken on it." Click here to read more about the damage caused to the E.M. Viquesney statue, and the investigation that identified the culprit who caused it.

Branch Rickey was an Army officer in the Chemical Warfare Service during WWI. In his unit, coincidentally, were future baseball greats Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson. Rickey would also take a place in baseball history, thanks to his decision to do the right thing. In October 1945, as general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey signed infielder Jackie Robinson, an African American, for the Dodgers' minor league team. Robinson's later success with the Dodgers from 1947 to 1956 led other owners to seek Black talent. Click here to read more about RIckey's great service to the nation in war and peace.

As Major League Baseball struggles to restart play amidst the challenges of COVID-19, looking back 100 years to baseball getting back on the diamond after World War I may offer some lessons. Writing on the Society of American Baseball Research web site, author Dixie Tourangeau notes that "Every day ships entered Boston Harbor with returning troops from Europe, bringing joy and relief to awaiting households, but they docked in the midst of continuing pandemic burials." Click here to read more, and learn how baseball and America worked through the legacy of the recent war and the omnipresent pandemic to make sure "Play ball!" was heard again in major league ballparks.

A series of retro illustrations offer a modern take on American propaganda posters from World War I — showing what the images might have looked like if they were made to promote mask-wearing to try to contain the novel coronavirus Clara Aranovich, a writer and filmmaker who has also worked as a period researcher for the TV series "Mad Men," is the brains behind the re-created posters, which have been shared thousands of times on Instagram since early July. Click here to read more about (and see images of) Aranovich's artwork, meant to inspire a sense of camaraderie in the same way many people united to support America's efforts in World War I

Writing a decade ago for the Public Health Reports at the National Institutes of Health, researcher Carol Byerly took a hard look at how "The American military experience in World War I and the influenza pandemic were closely intertwined." The pandemic "sickened 20% to 40% of U.S. Army and Navy personnel" with highly deleterious effects on induction, training, and availability of military personnel. She notes that "During the American Expeditionary Forces' campaign at Meuse-Argonne, the epidemic diverted urgently needed resources from combat support to transporting and caring for the sick and the dead." Click here to read the entire article, and learn more about the 1918 pandemic, and lessons we can take way a century later from the military's response.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial commemorates the centennial of the 19th Amendment, prohibiting the denial of voting rights on account of gender, with a new exhibition dedicated to telling the story of the women’s suffrage movement. Votes & Voices explores the history of the fight for women’s right to vote, largely from the perspective of those who fought for enfranchisement more than 100 years ago. Click here to read more, and learn how "World War I and the women’s suffrage movement are inextricably tied together.”

Outdoor events allowing for social distancing are among the August offerings from the National WWI Museum and Memorial. The Summer Movie Series returns on Friday, Aug. 13 with a screening of the ground-breaking film They Shall Not Grow Old from Oscar-winner Peter Jackson. Guests can come together on Saturday, Aug. 29 from 5-8:15 p.m. for the socially-distanced Jazz on the Lawn: A Modern Picnic. The event celebrates the spirit of the early 1920s with the hottest jazz band in town, Grand Marquis, as well as former Mayor Sly James and DJ Hartzell Gray. Rounding out the slate of outdoor events is the annual program Living the Great War from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29. This free program features the Living History Volunteer Corps and vehicles from the Military Vehicle Preservation Association. Click here to read more about these and other August activities at the National WWI Museum and Memorial, and how to sign up to attend.

Keith Colley, owner of the incredible WWI Mobile Museum (see previous articles here, here, and here) has been interviewed by his local Oklahoma television station.  His traveling schedule has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced him to cancel 238 scheduled showings. But he’s spent that time making the museum better. Click here to read the entire article, and learn when the WWI Mobile Museum expects t be back on the road again.

Most war reenactors are older men, but 27-year-old Lillian Fehler stands out for designing uniforms that are historically accurate down to the tiniest details. In an interview during the 2019 Camp Doughboy event at Governor's Island in New York City  Fehler talked about how she decided to recreate the persona of Dr. Anna Tjomsland, a real-life surgeon who served in World War I, and was one of about 55 female surgeons to put on a uniform for the American military during the First World War, but one of only 11 to get assigned overseas.  Click here to read more about Fehler's intensive research and meticulous work that brings the story of a unique and independent female doctor back to life.

On July 28th in 1918, President Woodrow Wilson gave the order to fly the flag of Serbia over the White House. This was one of a number of acts that reflected the solidarity of Americans with the Serbian people who suffered so tremendously during the First World War.  At the start of the conflict, thousands of young Americans of Serbian descent volunteered to cross the Atlantic and fight shoulder-to-shoulder with their cousins. Malvina Hoffmann’s famous poster urged people to make donations to assist the people of Serbia. Pupin, Mabel Grujić, and others collected not only money, but also thousands of tons of humanitarian aid for the poor and for displaced refugees from Serbia. Click here to read more about American assistance to Serbia during and after World War I.

In July, South Carolina Public Radio replayed three programs about World War I and South Carolina, hosted by Dr. Walter Edgar. The replays can be listened to online from wherever you are. The programs include "Fighting on Two Fronts: Black South Carolinians in World War I"; "South Carolina in WWI: The Military"; and "Conversations on S.C. History: Women and World War I".  Click here to read more about these three World War I programs, and how your can access them by radio in the South Carolina Public Radio listening area, or online elsewhere.

On July 22, 1917, a young soldier from East Texas was recovering from serious wounds, while coping with the effects of a mustard gas attack 72 hours after fighting his second two-day battle in seven weeks. George Lawson Keene, who always went by his middle name, grew up in his birthplace of Crockett. His roots ran deep in the Piney Woods with both parents direct descendants of early settlers. Click here to read more about how the "fearless Texan" found himself in the middle of one of the pivotal battles of WWI, and emerged with the Army’s second highest medal - the Distinguished Service Cross.

In 1932, some 25,000 World War I veterans descended on Washington, DC to to demand that the government keep its word about an early payment of a bonus they had been promised following victory in the First World War. On July 19 of that year, retired Marine Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler took to the stage at the largest so-called Bonus Army camp in the Anacostia Flats area outside of downtown D.C. There he launched into a fiery tirade that remains relevant to military veterans, and Americans at large, even to this day. Click here to read more about Butler's speech, and why it remains pertinent and important almost eighty years later.

During World War I, a plethora of “good boys” and dog breeds participated in tasks that would be deemed unusual in today’s modern wars. Among them were dogs who pulled carts with machine guns on the other end, while others hauled supplies. Bruce, a black-and-white British companion, acted as a messenger running urgent orders up and down the Western Front. Rats were a nuisance in the muddy trenches and were so prevalent that the French trained smaller dogs as rat-catchers. Mutt, a French Bulldog (left) belonging to the YMCA Cigarette Dog delivery service, was wounded twice while trying to improve the morale of soldiers in the 11th Engineers. Click here to read more about the many animals (many of surprising species) who made their mark serving American and other forces in World War I.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is Private Samuel J. Hochfelder of Company L/106th Infantry Regiment/27th Division.

Hochfelder was born in January, 1899 to Louis and Rose Hochfelder, Hungarian immigrants. He was one of five children and was born in the Bronx, New York. Following America's declaration of war, Samuel joined the army on June 7th, 1917 and was first assigned to the 23rd Infantry Regiment, New York National Guard. The 23rd was later federalized as the 106th Infantry. With them he went to France aboard the USS President Lincoln on May 10th, 1918.

In France the 27th Division was one of two divisions brigaded with the British as the US 2nd Corps, fighting in the British sector. The 106th first moved into the lines on June 25th, 1918 in Belgium, distinguishing itself in combat. On September 1st, 1918, the 106th Infantry was engaged in heavy action in the midst of the Ypres-Lys Offensive. About 10:00 am that morning, in the midst of a heavy artillery barrage, Hochfelder was hit directly by an artillery shell and was reported "mutilated beyond recognition". His comrades had no time to bury him properly and thus his remains were pulled into a nearby shell hole. Unfortunately his grave was never found.

Even with Covid upon us, we continue to research our missing Doughboys and need your help! Please consider giving 'Ten For Them' - make a donation of just $10.00 to Doughboy MIA and know that you did your part toward making as full accounting as possible of our missing soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines from the Great War. Visit www.ww1cc.org/mia and make your tax deductible donation to our non-profit organization today. And remember:

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

"Lest We Forget: The Great War"

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 United 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. Proceeds from the sale of this book help fund the new National WW1 Memorial in Washington, DC. 

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

Pershing Sponsors

WETA Arts, a half-hour magazine-style show featuring Washington, DC-area arts and artists, will lead the July edition with an encore presentation of “James Reese Europe”, the story of a renowned jazz bandleader and commander of an all-Black unit in World War I, featuring The Kennedy Center’s Artistic Director for Jazz, Jason Moran, and the reenactment band The 369^th Experience, The band was sponsored by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission. The original episode segment can be viewed here:https://watch.weta.org/video/weta-arts-february-2019-ozigr4/  The new episode will feature an amazing group of additional DC-local Black artists, as well, and will be streaming  on the WETA website https://weta.org/arts and via the PBS Passport app, starting July 5 at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

By his own admission, Ph.D. student Mark Hauser "knew very little about the First World War before I began graduate school, but I was always vaguely aware it was important."  Mark's recently completed dissertation provides an interesting new perspective on just how important the war was to America, making the case "that World War I changed Americans’ relationship to mass culture is both a history of the military and a business history."  Click here to read more about how Mark's research illuminated a relatively unexplored aspect of the impact of World War I on America.

A woman and her husband in northeast Maryland found a live World War I artillery shell while digging in a flower bed. After the startling discovery, Kelly and Shannon Thomas, of Belair, MD, left the round where they found it and called the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. “After examining the device, it was determined that the best course of action was to conduct an emergency disposal to render the ordnance safe,” the Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal said in a news release. “Bomb Technicians disposed of the potentially dangerous round on the scene.” Click here to read more about this very unexpected find of a "connection" to World War I for a suburban household a century later.

It was a single gravestone that prompted Carolyn Warren Bessellieu’s sometimes challenging, sometimes emotional, but satisfying quest for African American World War I service information. The discovery in "an unmarked African American cemetery" of a headstone of a WWI veteran named Tobie Harris started Bessellieu’s quest. "My great-uncle Holiday Bennett use to tell me many stories of World War II. I was fascinated to see what I could find on those who served in WWI.” Click here to read more about Bessellieu’s research, and how it led to a personal discovery of her own family's connection to World War I..

On May 28 1917, less than two months after the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies, 191 U.S. Army officers and men led by Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing boarded the British ocean liner RMS Baltic and sailed for England. President Woodrow Wilson had dispatched this group as the nucleus of the American Expeditionary Forces, an army that eventually comprised over one million American soldiers in Europe. Writing in Army History Magazine, author Tyler Bamford takes an in-depth look at how this unprecedented interaction with the armed forces of allied nations helped prepare U.S. forces for "an enormous task for which the U.S. Army possessed little institutional experience." Click here to read more about what they learned, and how the hasty U.S. and British Army introduction to cooperation during World War I "laid the foundations for the unique, informal Anglo-American military relationship in the interwar period."

When the United States entered World War I in April of 1917, New York Life shared the nation’s fighting spirit and rallied to help mobilize America’s troops. The company offered its deep financial and human resources to support the war effort. And the volunteerism born then—from fundraising to moral support to military service—would live on as an abiding value for decades to come. Click here to read more about how the culture of the company, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, was shaped by the organization's experiences in World War I.

Writing for the H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online web site of the University of Michigan, reviewer Matthew Villeneuve looks at Thomas Grillot's book First Americans, calling it "a study of Indigenous patriotism in the aftermath of World War I. While the historiography on American Indian participation in the First World War often focuses on the battlefield experience of Indigenous people, Grillot's study examines the ways Indigenous veterans, along with their Euro-American comrades, made meaning out of Indigenous participation in the War to End All Wars after the armistice."  Click here to read more about how Grillot's book "sheds light on the process by which the symbolic repertoire for the expression of Indigenous pride came to include such icons as the American flag, citizenship, and the figure of the GI." in the war's aftermath.

The National WWI Museum and Memorial announced a grant for $125,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize and transcribe letters, diaries, and journals from soldiers and family members originated from World War I. “This gift is essential as it allows the organization to take a major step forward in our efforts to digitize and transcribe our entire collection of letters, diaries and journal entries from the Great War, “said Museum President and CEO Dr. Matthew Naylor. “Making the content from these incredible first-person accounts available is important because it allows people to connect with those who experienced the 20th century’s founding catastrophe.” Click here to read more about the grant, and how it will support and further the work taken on by the Museum while it was shut down for the COVID pandemic.

Dogs are man’s best friend, and at times that means we have brought them with us into the worst parts of what we do. The use of dogs in war is nothing new, but their role changed over time. In the First World War dogs were used extensively by all sides, with different breeds managing different roles. Emily Green, Founder and Chief Editor of the DoggieDesigner.com web site, takes a look at five specific breeds which played (sometimes outsized) roles for American and other military forces in World War I.

One woman is named on the Cole County, MO World War I Memorial at the courthouse. Grace Hershey was a stenographer with the American Red Cross. Highly praised for her clerical skills in contests and courtrooms, the 31-year-old took a significant pay cut when she left her job with the state insurance department to go overseas. Her fiancé, Thorpe Gordon, had deployed to France in August 1918. Click here to read more about how her departure only a month later was "her patriotic duty to do what she can to help win the war."

Andrew Capets’ initial interest in World War I was finding out more about his grandfather’s unit, the 313th Machine Gun Battalion. That research led the North Huntingdon resident and amateur historian to write “Good War, Great Men,” which focused on his grandfather’s battalion and its exploits. Now, Capets has joined with a Nebraska man on a new WWI project: creating a searchable database of soldiers’ burial cards, some of which will be linked to a digital map showing where those soldiers are buried. Click here to read more about this grassroots effort to make World War I burial records more accessible to families and other researchers.

As the nation continues to deal with the effects of COVID-19 influenza pandemic in 2020, a look back at the American experiences with the great Spanish Flu Pandemic during World War I can provide remarkable reminders of how a similar scourge was dealt with a century ago.

Navy, Marines Struggled With 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Remembering WWI soldiers who succumbed to the 1918 flu

As the 1918 Flu Emerged, Cover-Up, Denial Helped Spread

The Pandemic to End All Pandemics?: World War I, the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, and Urban America

1918: A Study in How Disease Can Shape Public Policy

Reading your own obituary: Samuel Bustard, the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, and the evolution of New York Metro Area soccer through World War I

Paul LaRue, former member of the
Ohio World War I Centennial Committee, writes that "A unique monument stands in the rural French countryside. It is a monument to the 372nd Infantry, an African American World War I combat regiment. The 372nd Infantry Monument represents one of the earliest monuments erected to African American World War I Troops." Click here to read more about the 372nd, and how those who served in it "understood the significance of their service, and wanted to leave a monument in France to their fallen comrades."

Pershing Sponsors

The National WWI Museum and Memorial will reopen to its members on Monday, June 1 and to the general public on Tuesday, June 2. “We have monitored the COVID-19 situation closely during the past few months and, in accordance with guidance from public health officials at the local, state and federal levels, we are ready to reopen America’s official WWI Museum and Memorial,” said Dr. Matthew Naylor, National WWI Museum and Memorial President and CEO. “We’ve spent considerable time developing a comprehensive reopening plan that allows for people to visit one of the world’s great museums and memorials in a safe and welcoming environment.” Click here to find out more about the Museum's plans and protective protocols to get visitors into the Kansas City facility again next week.

Samuel W. Hart was only 14 years old when the United States of America entered the First World War on April 6, 1917.  Hart  "borrowed a pair of long pants from a friend of mine and proceeded to the Navy recruiting station and told them I was 16. I was sworn in on April 10th." This was just the beginning of a remarkable story of service in two World Wars that included being aboard the Navy troop ship USS President Lincoln when she was sunk by a German U-Boat in WWI, the aftermath of which earned one Navy officer the Medal of Honor.  A century later, his daughter Ava has stepped forward to remind Americans of this amazing story, and the patriotic service of her father and his older (there were none younger!) fellow Americans who stepped forward to answer the nation's call to war in 1917. Click here to read Samuel's incredible story, and his daughter's reminder that we should remember his service, and that of his fellow World War I vets, a century later.

On May 15, 1918, William Henry Johnson fought off scores of Germans single-handedly in the Forest of Argonne in France, a performance that earned him praise from former President Theodore Roosevelt ,who eventually called him one of the “five bravest Americans” to serve in World War I. But Johnson, an African American, did not receive the Medal of Honor from his nation until a century after his extraordinary heroism. Click here to read more about Johnson's courageous service and the long effort to get him the recognition he deserved.

Writing in the New York Post on Memorial Day, Rich Lowry discusses Johnson's heroism in the context of  how African American soldiers, from the Revolutionary War to the 20th Century, "were always fighting a two-front war — against the enemy in battle and against prejudice at home." Click here to read Lowery's entire timely Memorial Day reminder of this "long African American military tradition of exceptional devotion."

Connecticut USAF veteran Jeff DeWitt undertook a personal project in 2019 to find and photograph the plaques on local war memorials that listed only the names those who died during wartime service.  He found that "What struck me most about it all was how little I knew about each of those people. It was then that I decided to tell their stories." On the Norwalk WWI Memorial, "One plaque has only the names of those who died in service 1917 to 1919. I recognized three people on that plaque who are namesakes of our VFW and American Legion posts in town. The rest were a complete mystery to me." Click here to read how DeWitt went about solving those 100 year-old mysteries, and bringing forgotten stories of service to light again.

"The current pandemic we are living in provides us a window into an earlier time 102 years ago," writes Paul LaRue of the Ohio WWI Centennial Committee.. "On Memorial Day of 1918 the United States was in the midst of the Spanish Influenza Pandemic." Click here to read Paul's article about the Fayette County, OH service members lost to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic.

After writing in 1918 to question why "the 'forgotten' 1918–19 flu pandemic had so little effect on culture, policy, and public memory in the decades after killing between 50 million and 100 million people," author Rebecca Onion notes that in the time of SARS-CoV-2 "I find this historical phenomenon even harder to understand.." But, says Onion, perhaps literary scholar Elizabeth Outka has part of the answer. Click here to read Outka's analysis of how "the pandemic wasn’t 'forgotten'—it just went underground" and that the work of many notable authors of the period "was deeply affected by the flu in ways that aren’t so immediately obvious."

All he wanted was a little COVID-19 distraction, but the century-old photo of a military chaplain took an Albemarle County man on a 102-year time trip to a different state during a different deadly pandemic. In the time of COVID-19, with everyone warned to stay home as much as possible, military historian Art Beltrone found himself with a lot of time and home projects on his hands. He began to see the portrait of the chaplain in a different light.  Click here to read more about his research, and how “It turned out that he played into the 1918 pandemic in a big way.”

A statue of a World War I infantryman in Falls Township, PA’s Fallsington section will be restored. The limestone Doughboy statue that sits atop a small memorial at the intersection of Yardley Avenue, New Falls Road, Main Street, and West Tyburn Road has become weathered and damaged over the years. Acid rain and pollution have taken their toll on the statue erected to recognize the veterans and casualties of World War I. Click here to read more about the community restoration project for this century-old monument.

The wreck of the World War I U.S. Navy battleship USS Nevada has been located 75 miles off the coast of Hawaii at a depth of nearly three miles. It’s a significant discovery, as the battleship represents one of the most storied vessels in U.S. history, having survived World War I, the attack on Pearl Harbor and a kamikaze suicide attack during World War II, and atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. USS Nevada was deliberately sunk by the U.S. Navy in 1948, but the vessel’s precise resting place was unknown, until now. Click here to read more about the rediscovery of a ship built over 100 years ago that continued to affect shipbuilding design for half a century later.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

World War One.

It was the first war where America made the promise: 'Everyone comes home - nobody gets forgotten.'

And in the years following the war, America did her best to keep that promise to the best of her ability.

One hundred years later, Doughboy MIA has 4,452 reasons to continue that work.

Join us on a webinar Friday, May 29, and learn about The Who, The Where, and The Ways and Means behind what it is we do.

“A Man is Only Missing if He is Forgotten” is the slogan of Doughboy MIA, and after this webinar you’ll understand the efforts to ensure that all the MIA are properly remembered, and how you can be a part of the effort.

Click to Register for the Webinar

Would YOU like to be a part of our mission of discovering what happened to our missing Doughboys from WW1? Of course you would, and you CAN! Simply make a donation to the cause and know you played a part in making as full an accounting as possible of these men. Large or small doesn’t matter – that you cared enough to help does. Visit www.ww1cc.org/mia to make your tax deductible donation to our non-profit project today, and remember:

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

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