Marching to Victory

 

 

We have reached the point in 2018 when 100 years ago, the fighting on the Western Front in World War I was reaching its peak. After almost three years of stalemate on either side of deep, reinforced trenches, the German and Allied Armies left their defensive positions and attacked. The Germans realized that with the entrance of the U.S. into the war, this was their last chance to win, and launched a series of offensives from April 1918 on. With the addition of thousands and thousands of fresh American troops, the Allied armies were now able to respond with vigor, and they did, leading up to the final push, the Meuse-Argonne offensive in eastern France, which led to the Armistice of November 11, 1918. So it is time to resume my commemoration of the centennial of the war.

My last blog post ended as of March 1918, when the United States was firmly on a war footing. On the home front, citizens were voluntarily restricting their consumption of wheat, meat, and sugar; buying war stamps and bonds to help the government finance the war; and putting on and donating to fundraisers for extras for the troops.  Some workers had missed work when factories closed during the winter’s coal crisis. Everyone watched their friends, neighbors, and sometimes their sons, go off to train for war, and go on to France.

“USS Calamares” transported troops and supplies to Europe

In spring 1918, the U.S. government was under tremendous pressure from the Allies to get its Army to France quickly, as Germany would be able to concentrate all of its offensive power on the Western Front after the collapse of Russia with the Russian Revolution. At the end of March, the U.S. commander, General Pershing, offered all of the resources of the U.S. to Marshall Ferdinand Foch of France, who was to command the combined armies. Pershing insisted on separate American units, however, resisting the call for him to insert Americans into the French army. The focus was on sending infantrymen, and by June, 10,000 U.S. troops were arriving in France EVERY DAY. Let me repeat that, 10,000 soldiers EVERY DAY.  By April 12, there were 500,000 American troops in France. By June 15 there were 800,000, headed for a million by the first of July.  At the same time, as expected, the Germans launched a multi-pronged spring offensive.

In March, the Troy “Times”, which was our major local paper, began to report on U.S. troops in France, but with little detail, due to security concerns. For example, on March 13, an article reported that “American troops are giving the Germans little rest,” but gave no information on what troops. Of course, as American units began to go into combat, men were killed and wounded.  The paper began publishing a daily list of casualties. Still in March, an article said the practice would cease, as it gave valuable information to the enemy, but the lists resumed shortly- people needed to know about their relatives. Then, the lists included just the name and rank of the man, not his address, but soon the addresses were included as the government was bombarded  with calls and letters to be sure which “John Smith” had been killed, for example.  From then on, the Troy “Times” published a daily list of men who had been wounded and killed in the tri-state area until months after the Armistice. Sometimes a more detailed story on a man killed appeared a few days later.

Charles Waldron, killed in action April 12, 1918

The cold truth of the war was certainly brought home to our community when a local boy with deep roots, Charles Waldron, was killed in action April 12, 1918. He had been living in Massachusetts when he enlisted in what became the 104^th Infantry, part of the 26^th or Yankee Division, one of the first U.S. divisions to reach France, in October 1917. The 104^th went into combat for the first time at the start of April in the Bois Brule, in the Ardennes forest of France. Charles was killed during hand-to-hand combat with the Germans. The whole regiment later received the French “Croix de Guerre” for its bravery.  The Troy “Daily Times” of April 29 reported that a memorial service for Charles was held at the Presbyterian Church. He was buried in France at the time, and re-interred in Elmwood Cemetery in 1921. The American Legion Post in Schaghticoke is named for him.

Frederick Harrigan

The Melrose Methodist Church had a special service on May 28 to honor local boys in service: Chester Yahn, Eugene Coonradt, George Wetsel, Frederick Harrigan, Raymond Dormandy, Charles Brenenstuhl, and Wilbur Simon. A parade saw off the latest contingent of drafted soldiers in Hoosick Falls at the same time.  Hoosick Falls was the departure point for all local soldiers in the county, outside of Troy. The church service and parade certainly had acquired more seriousness in view of the casualties being incurred by American soldiers.

The 3^rd Liberty Loan campaign began April 6, on the first anniversary of the U.S. declaration of war, with a goal of raising $3 billion in bonds sold to U.S. residents. The newspaper pushed the campaign hard, with articles about the progress, activities, and the donors almost daily. A May 3 article stated “subscriptions to the 3^rd Liberty Loan flow in like a tidal wave,” and by May 4, the total raised was already over the goal. May 18, the National Red Cross began a campaign to raise $100 million to aid its support of the troops, hospitals and ambulance corps. In Schaghticoke, the “old Post Office building” was refitted for use by the Red Cross, presumably a place for a fund raising headquarters as well as room to store supplies and for women to sew and knit for the troops. In June the Melrose Red Cross made 22 bed jackets, 14 pajamas, 14 sets of underwear, 15 hospital shirts, 50 first aid bags, 3 refugee dresses, 12 petticoats, 10 pairs of socks, one pair of wristlets, 1 scarf, and 2 sweaters. (Troy “Times” July 6) A Junior Red Cross organization recruited student members. The newspaper reported that half of the students in Rensselaer County schools were members. They worked making bed pillows and refugee garments, planting flowers and vegetables. (May 22, Troy “Times”)

As June began, American troops were in combat in a major way, during the battle of Belleau Wood, near the Marne River in eastern France.  Ralph Osberg, the son of farmers in Easton, who came home to live in Easton himself after the war, was one of the Marines there.  In a major lapse in the policy of not identifying individual units, in June the newspapers reported that the Marines had fought well.  Since there were few Marines in France, people knew who and where they were. The Marines had just been part of the men in the offensive, but they got all the credit, leading to jealousies with the Army. More importantly in the long run, the relatively untrained Americans proved their mettle as soldiers. Our very experienced Allies, France and Britain, had had grave doubts about the abilities of the U.S. troops to fight. By June 21, the newspaper reported that the American Expeditionary Force was holding 38 miles of the Western Front.

A second national draft was held on the anniversary of the first, June 5, 1918, only registering the men who had turned 21 in the intervening year. Draft regulations were revised to say that every man must work or fight. Professional baseball had until September 1 to adjust to this new order. So all players had to either seek essential employment or go into the military. This affected 327 players. Nationally, one million men registered. Meanwhile, men registered the previous year were still being called up, 200,000 between June 24 and 28. In Schaghticoke, the law office of Arthur Case was the draft registration location (Troy “Times” May 31).  By the end of the month, the draft numbers had been assigned, and the newspaper listed the men and their numbers. Men from our town included Leo McCloskey, Arthur Strope, Paul Campbell, and Otis Slyter of Melrose, none of whom actually served.

As the summer went on, new restrictions were placed on folks on the home front; new requests made of the population. People were urged to plant gardens: “If you can’t go, hoe!” There was a ban on use of pleasure boats. New York Telephone announced it would not answer phone requests for the time of day for the duration of the war. There was voluntary (for now) conservation of shoe leather, with shoes not to be over 8” high and available in only four colors. 25,000 student nurses were wanted. Recommended consumption of sugar was 3 pounds per household per month, reduced to 2 pounds in July. The newspaper gave advice on how to preserve fruits with less sugar and how to dry fruit at home. On August 30 a ban on pleasure driving of gasoline engines was imposed.

German U-Boat

The U.S. faced German attack at home for the first time, as U-boats menaced the East Coast in June and July. The June 3 Troy “Times” reported that as many as 15 merchant ships had been sunk off the Jersey coast. As a result, all display lights in New York City were banned. Observation balloon and seaplane stations were to be established to guard the coast against the threat, in addition to the already existing coastal artillery. Throughout June, the paper reported more U-Boat sightings off Sandy Hook, and Virginia.  Three barges were sunk within view of shore off Cape Cod. The peak of this action was the attack by German U-156 on the coast at Orleans, Massachusetts in July. At the same time, the Allies were destroying the U-boat fleet as a whole, drastically limiting their impact on US convoys of men and supplies. As late as September, a German U-boat sank a troopship with 2800 aboard when it was 200 miles from the English coast. Thankfully, the men were transferred to the destroyers escorting its convoy and none were lost.

Photo sent by Arthur’s parents to the NYS Veterans Service Data, collected by local historian Alex Banker

Another local boy, Arthur Turner, was killed July 28, 1918. He and his family lived on Turner Road, which goes east from route 40 in Melrose. Arthur was in the 165^th Infantry Regiment, part of the 42^nd or Rainbow Division, still based in Troy today. The 165^th was part of the French 4^th Army in the Champagne region and fought in the battle of Chateau-Thierry beginning July 18. This summer, men from the current 42^nd Division went to France to commemorate this battle.  Arthur’s mother was told that Arthur survived the battle only to be “killed by a bomb shell the day following the battle…while carrying a wounded comrade.” Though I could find no confirmation of it, she said he had been studying to be a missionary before becoming a soldier. A memorial service for Arthur was not held until October, at the Lutheran Church. He was reinterred somewhere in the area in 1922.

A further draft was conducted in August, pulling in those who had turned 21 since June. And August 31, a new national manpower bill was adopted, extending the age for the draft from 18-45, from 21-30.  It was estimated that 13 million more men would register on September 12. The new law would allow more industrial and agricultural exemptions, as the government realized the need to keep production going to supply the military.  The freshman class of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in September 1918, 300 strong, were all to be Student Cadets, training to be in the Army as they attended college. The previously mostly volunteer members of draft boards all over the nation were now to receive compensation of $50-$200 per month. The U.S. was preparing for the long haul.

 

 

Folks in Schaghticoke had sons and husbands serving in all branches of the military, based in various places in the U.S., and in a number of Army units that went to France. I’m sure they read the newspapers carefully. Their soldier sons and husbands could write letters, but those from France were heavily censored. The largest number of local men in one unit were in the former 2^nd NY National Guard Regiment, now the 105^th NY Infantry Regiment and part of the 27^th Division.   They were:  Walter Barber, Charles Brenenstuhl, Ralph Clark, Clyde Heer, Giles Slocum, Clement Subcleff, Francis VanBuren, Richard Ward, Raymond Warren, and Leo White. They had been training in Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina since September 1917. Those men finally went to France in May, for further training with the French.  The Troy “Times” ran periodic reports from men in the 105^th, which was really the local regiment. On July 24 it reported that the 105^th was finally in the trenches, as of June 24, five miles behind the front. Sgt. Thomas Norton reported “we are all fine over here…we are attached to an English company…It certainly is hell up there (at the front)…the whole of France is pretty well war worn and filled with deserted villages.”

Me at the monument to the 27th Division near Mount Kemmel

Soon enough, the 105^th was doing its own fighting. August 31-September 2, they went into action near Mt. Kemmel in Belgium, along with the 30^th Division, probing an area the Germans were said to have evacuated, aiming to seize the heights. This battle wasn’t reported in the local paper until September 26, probably for security reasons.

Giles Slocum, NYS World War I Veterans Service Data

Giles Slocum from Schaghticoke served in the Battalion Headquarters of the 105^th in the mounted orderly section. He would have been in charge of delivering messages from one headquarters to another, riding a motorcycle in what would have been challenging circumstances to say the least. Sometime around this time, Giles got to meet the King and Prince of Belgium, who visited with American troops in the trenches. Giles spoke with Prince, later King, Leopold and “instantly admired him.” The Troy paper reported in 1935, just after the death of King Leopold’s wife, Queen Astrid, that Giles was inspired to write a letter of sympathy to the King, based on that long-ago meeting. He received a lovely reply, in French, from the secretary of the King’s cabinet, of which he was very proud.

As fall began, there were a number of new developments. The 4^th Liberty Loan, with a goal of $6 billion, was launched and doing very well. The Valley Falls Committee to canvass for the loan included Mrs Rufus Halliday, Mrs Peter Stover, Mrs Emma Carpenter, Mrs George Lohnes, Mrs Joseph Bedell, and postmaster Mark Sweeney. The ladies were all members of the Woman’s Club of Valley Falls and Vicinity.  The goal was reached by October 21, and the newspaper published the long lists of the donors. The drawing of draft numbers for the new draft was completed. As of October 5, 1,850,000 US troops had reached France.

Sadly, the paper also reported the progress of another cause of many, many deaths in fall 1918: Spanish influenza, a world-wide epidemic. At the end of September, military training camps in the U.S. were riddled with flu. Frank Lewis, a local man, was drafted at the end of July, 1918, and died of flu on September 29 at Camp Meade, Maryland. He was in training there. New recruits were kept at home rather than go to training camps filled with disease. Another local man, John Butler, a Private 1^st Class in an Ordnance department, actually died on the ship on the way to France, on October 15. Though the records say he died of pneumonia, it could have been that, or the flu. His body was returned home on the same ship. John, who had been working as an auto mechanic for D.E. Seymour in Schaghticoke before the war, was buried at St John’s Cemetery. The flu spread through the troops abroad as well.

On October 4, the Troy “Times” reported “a few” flu cases in Troy, plus Petersburgh, Berlin, and Grafton. By October 9, all places of amusement in Troy plus all area sporting events were cancelled, to prevent the spread of the flu. As of October 11, schools in Watervliet, Troy and Lansingburgh were closed for the same reason. The peak of the epidemic seemed to have been shortly thereafter. There were 100 cases of flu in Hoosick Falls on October 19.

Breaking the Hindenburg Line

The “Times” reported German peace feelers as fighting intensified. September 30, it said “the western front is aflame for 100 miles with a huge battle.” September 29 the 105^th Infantry and its 27^th Division participated in the breaking of the major German defensive position, the Hindenburg Line. This was a huge development both physically and psychologically for both sides. Bernard Taylor, an English immigrant who lived in Pittstown, was in Company M of the 105^th and was killed September 27 by a shot fired from an enemy airplane. The Troy “Times” didn’t report this until November 25. Bernard was reinterred in St. John’s Cemetery in 1922.

As of October 7, Germany made its first formal offer of peace as Germans were “in full retreat between Rheims and the Argonne.” (Troy “Times”)  Any proposals were rejected by the Allies as long as the Germans continued to occupy territory in France and Belgium.  From here on, most of the American fighting and dying of the war occurred, especially in the continuous fighting from the end of September to the Armistice on November 11- called the battle of the Meuse-Argonne. 26,000 of the 53,000 American combat deaths of the war occurred during those weeks.   First cousins Augustus and John Madigan both died during that battle. Augustus was killed in action October 26. John died October 31 of wounds suffered just a few days earlier.

Tombstones of the Madigan cousins in St. John’s Cemetery

Augustus was the son of James and Mary Madigan, and served in the 311^th Infantry, part of the 78^th Division. He served with two other local men: Wilbur Simons of Melrose and Sophus Djernes of Pittstown. The 78^th, or Lightning Division was the “point of the wedge” in that final offensive, and lost over 1000 men. Augustus had just been made a Sergeant a few days earlier, and died “leading his company against machine gun nests.”

John was the eldest son of John and Ellen Madigan. He was in Company K of the 23^rd Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in France in September 1917 and been in some fighting in July. The Regiment was in the lead at the battle of St. Mihiel in September, then in continuous fighting in the Meuse-Argonne offensive in October. John was wounded in the midst of the battle and died soon after. Buried in France at the time,  the cousins were reinterred the same day in 1921 at St. John’s Cemetery in the biggest funeral the area had ever seen.  Nephew Bill Madigan told me the cortege, made up of cars and horses and buggies,  reached from the Stover house in Valley Falls to the cemetery, about two miles.
I wonder how people at home were feeling, continuing to prepare for more war, but knowing that the Allies were pushing the Germans back, the newspapers full of talk of peace. Turkey, a German ally, surrendered on October 31, Austria on November 4. The headline that day was “Germany’s Military Doom Approaches.” On November 5, the Hoosick Falls draft board listed draft classifications for six more local men, including James Beecroft of Schaghticoke and Charles Hare of Melrose. It announced that Harold Simon of Melrose would leave for training camp between November 11 and 22. On November 7, there was a false announcement of an armistice in Washington, D.C., with people celebrating for two hours before they realized that there was no peace.

Finally on November 11, the headline was “The Greatest War in History Ends. The Long Awaited Dawn of Peace.”  “Troy Delirious with Joy.”  All schools and businesses closed immediately so everyone could celebrate.  The draft calls of 250,000 men in November and 300,000 in November were cancelled at once. There were still 1 million men in training camps in the U.S, plus others on duty, for a total of nearly two million troops.  Already on November 12 it was announced that the U.S. would do police and guard duty in France and Belgium, and that Germany was asking for the same. And ads began to reflect the end of the war. In late October, the regulations for sending Christmas packages to the troops had been announced, and an ad on November 12 encouraged people to purchase items to send to the troops, “Your boy won’t be home for quite a while. Send him an Xmas package.”

“USS Wyoming”, dreadnought battleship

The German fleet in the North Sea surrendered on November 21. 20 U-Boats, the German submarines, had surrendered the day before. Fred Haner, who lived with his wife Jessie in Easton after 1940, served on the “USS Wyoming”, a dreadnought battleship, which worked with the British North Sea Fleet, during the war. He may have been present for the surrender. James Kinisky, the son of a Polish immigrant who worked on the Quackenbush farm on Stillwater Bridge Road at the time of the war- now the Corn Maze- was definitely present at the surrender. He served on the “USS Texas”, another dreadnought, which received the German surrender for the U.S. Navy. The “Texas” is the only surviving World War I battleship, and is a museum near Houston. James also served in the Navy in World War II at age 52, and lived to be 99. All the capital ships in the U.S. Navy headed for home soon after the surrender, though the sailors were discharged from service over a period of months.

Francis Van Buren, NYS WWI Veterans Service Data

In the midst of the joy, word came on November 22 that two more boys from Schaghticoke were dead. Frank VanBuren of Schaghticoke died of flu in France on October 26, at the peak of that epidemic.  Frank was in our local 105^th Infantry^, and had been in combat right up until his fatal illness. His dad was the local pharmacist.  Daniel McMahon died of pneumonia in a training camp in the U.S. on November 19. Daniel was an orphan as of the 1905 NY Census, when his brother Frederick, 26, headed a farm household consisting of Daniel and his siblings. Though he had not made it to France, Daniel had done well in the Army, which he evidently intended to make a career, as he died in Officers Training School in Virginia. Frank is buried in Elmwood and Daniel in St. John’s Cemetery. Though John Madigan had died in October, his photo appeared in the November 25 Troy “Times”. Indeed, the daily casualty list was published in the Troy “Times” for a couple of months after the Armistice.

Daniel McMahon, from the Troy “Daily Times”

War-connected fund raising in the U.S.  turned to “Fill the War Chest!” this time for war relief agencies, serving the civilians in Europe affected by the war, but also the Red Cross, YMCA, YWCA, and Knights of Columbus, which would sponsor activities to keep the troops occupied. The goal of $650,000 in Rensselaer County was reached by November 21, showing the continuing support of the country for its fighting men. A 5^th Liberty Loan was launched by the federal government on November 27, with a modest goal of $600 million.

As it had taken months to transport the troops to France, it would take the same amount of time to get them home. At least the public was now informed where the 35 overseas divisions were based, and soldiers were allowed to write letters home without censorship. The newspaper speculated about which troops would be sent home first, but in the end, a number of divisions composed the Army of Occupation in Germany. Those troops not in Germany were sent to staging camps in various locations in France. Gradually they were moved to French ports for transport home. They were deloused and given new uniforms just before boarding the transports. Therefore, almost all surviving uniforms saved by veterans were not the ones they wore in battle.

77th Division Victory Parade in NYC

The first troops arrived home from France on December 2, but others didn’t get home until summer 1919. Once their troop ships arrived in the New York area, our local boys were released to go home within just a few days. For example, Arthur Brundige of Schaghticoke, who served in the 305^th Infantry, part of the 77^th Division, was wounded on November 4, but recovered enough to march with his unit on a “15-day hike back from the front line”  after November 11 to a camp in France. He was kept busy drilling until it was his turn to go home. “The “cotties”, cooties or lice, were “our friends”, and he was happy to be deloused. He boarded the “SS Aquitania” on April 19, 1919 in Brest, France and arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey on April 24. He participated in the victory parade of the 77^th Division in New York City on May 6 and was home soon after.

One of the results of this long time with many young men in camps with little to do was the formation of the American Legion in March 1919 by officers in France, including Col. Theodore Roosevelt, son of the former President. The men were anxious to preserve morale, mostly through having many organized physical activities and lots of entertainment for the men. They had seen the benefits of the Grand Army of the Republic to the veterans of the Civil War, and emulated that organization as well. Chapters of the Legion were formed all over the U.S. right away, including the Charles Waldron Post in Schaghticoke.

Even the almost 2 million troops based in the United States couldn’t be released at once. About 30,000 men were to be demobilized per day, with each getting a one- month salary bonus, plus the right to wear his uniform for three months, and the cost of his transportation home. Bureaus at the army camps attempted to find jobs for the soldiers being released. Our country unwound from a war footing as rapidly as possible.  Wartime rules for the home front were cancelled, from ending restrictions on sugar and wheat to restarting sports teams. The Student Training Corps at R.P.I. converted to regular students on December 10.

Inside the Palace of Versailles, signing of the treaty

President Woodrow Wilson went to Europe in December. While the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919, the U.S. Senate did not ratify it, and did not formally end its involvement in the war until 1921. I am not going to get into Wilson’s 14 Points, the idealistic plan for peace which he first elucidated in January 1918, and the formation of the League of Nations, which was intended to avoid future war. We know that World War II followed in 1939.

So what did this war, The Great War, mean for us locally? I found that most of the men who were soldiers and sailors were able to reintegrate. Our Civil War soldiers were sometimes away for three tough years, and many were definitely disabled in some way by the experience. These World War I soldiers were away for a year at the most. Sailors were sometimes gone for two years, but few saw combat. Some of the men wrote of their experiences for local historian Alex Banker in 1921. A couple wrote quite long narratives, but one, Harry Yates, wrote, “I don’t like to think about it.” He had been drafted in May 1918, in France in the 52^nd Pioneer Infantry by July, and served through the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He died of tuberculosis in 1929.

A couple of local veterans really suffered from their experiences. Adrian Gutbrodt, who lived near our town hall, had been drafted into Company D of the 305^th Infantry in February 1918 with several other local men: Julius Hansen, Walter Ralston, and Arthur Brundige. Adrian was gassed on October 5, 1918, at the start of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He recovered enough to go home with the regiment in April 1919. He married his neighbor Beatrice Williams on January 10, 1920. Their child Frank was born November 20, 1920 and baptized March 27 at the local Lutheran church. Adrian died on May 17. Certainly he had never recovered from being gassed. He was buried with a full honor guard from the new American Legion plus a firing squad from the Watervliet Arsenal. Beatrice and Frank moved in with her parents. Frank and his best friend Malcolm Douglas were killed by a drunk driver in 1934. Beatrice lived on in a little house on Route 40 until 1993, having been a widow for over 70 years.

Sometimes a disability is harder to discern. Sophus Djernes, a Danish immigrant who lived in Valley Falls, served in the 311^th Infantry with local men Wilbur Simons and Augustus Madigan. In fierce fighting in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Augustus was killed on October 26 and Sophus “severely wounded.” In this case, it means he was gassed, like Adrian Gutbrodt. This was mustard gas, which would devastate the lungs. Sophus was listed as 10% disabled on his NYS Abstract of Service card. However Sophus came home and went to work first as a farm laborer. He married Florence O’Connor in 1926 and they had three children. Sophus worked at the Watervliet Arsenal for over 20 years as a tool grinder, but was hospitalized in Veterans’ Hospitals several times through the years, evidently for extended periods, as the newspaper reported that his wife and children visited him during his confinement. Sophus died in 1973 and is buried in our Elmwood Cemetery.

Local men joined together at once to form the American Legion. The Troy newspaper has many articles over the year showing the support of that group for its members, especially in officiating at their funerals. The organization was definitely a social focus for the village.

Some men were able to use the skills they learned in the military through their lives. For example, Theo VanVeghten of Hemstreet Park stayed in the Army Air Force as a test pilot. Several men learned auto repair and stayed in that field. Raymond Dormandy was an electrician in the Navy and for life. Most men came home and went back to what they had been doing. Those who had been abroad certainly had an experience they would remember for the rest of their lives, as well as a different view of the world, having been not only away from home, but out of the country.

World War I enmeshed the country in the affairs of Europe like never before. The major newspaper stories had been the war for at least four years.  Citizens had joined together to support the troops, buying war stamps and bonds, donating to the Red Cross, giving up flour, sugar, and recreational use of gasoline. Partly due to the skills they exhibited in helping the war effort, women had gotten the right to vote in New York State in 1917, nationally in 1920.  The U.S. government increased its penetration into the daily lives of its citizens. The draft had touched all men in the country aged 18 to 45, who all provided personal data to their government. The government had its first propaganda arm, The Committee on Public Information, which had built patriotism and shaped public opinion. The United States Food Administration, headed by Herbert Hoover, controlled food at home and for the troops.  We truly entered the modern age.

Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, inscribed with the names of 90,000 soldiers who died in the vicinity. The whereabouts of their bodies is unknown.

Of course we in the U.S. were and are isolated from the devastation of land and people suffered by the citizens of Europe. Parts of France and Belgium are still roped off due to unexploded mines, and bodies of soldiers and still being discovered. Cemeteries and monuments dot the landscape of the Western Front. It is impossible to know how many people were killed during the war- perhaps 18 million dead and 23 million injured in total, civilian and military. The U.S. had 116,000 military deaths compared to its major allies Great Britain, with 744,000 and France, 1,150,000; and foes Germany with 1,800,000; and Austria-Hungary 1,016,000.