Bells of Peace Partner

Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge

By Aaron Rosenthal
The National Patriots Bell Tower of the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge.Staff Writer

On November 11, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. American citizens and organizations will be invited to toll bells in their community to commemorate the 116,516 American men and women who lost their lives during World War One. Participating in this momentous event is the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge, who will proudly utilize their National Patriots Bell Tower, a prestigious structure complete with 58 bronze bells and a combined weight of 26 tons, to toll its bells Twenty-One times in commemoration of America’s World War One fallen. The Chapel itself has an interesting story, built as a memorial to George Washington and his troops encamped at Valley Forge, it has continued to be a memorial to America’s fallen in every war since.

In the case of World War One the Chapel’s statue entitled “Sacrifice and Devotion,” dedicated to the mothers of America who have lost their sons in battle, has become a pilgrimage site for the families of soldiers who never came home from the war. Additionally it has also been the meeting place for the Descendants & Friends of the 314th since 1978.

In the following article we interview Nancy Schaaf and Gardiner Pearson to learn more about the Chapel and its connection to World War One. Nancy Schaaf is a Maryland World War I Centennial Commissioner whose grandfather served with the 314th Infantry of the American Expeditionary Force, and is a member of the Descendants & Friends of the 314th, while Gardiner Pearson is a Member of the Board of Directors for the Washington Memorial Heritage.

Tell us a little about the history of the Chapel. Why did the Chapel become a pilgrimage sight for those who lost loved ones in World War I? What makes this Chapel unique?

Pearson: In a Washington’s Birthday sermon in 1903, Dr. W. Herbert Burk of All Saints Church in Norristown, Pennsylvania described his vision of a “wayside chapel” on the site of the Valley Forge encampment of 1777-78. It would be a “fit memorial” to George Washington, his troops, and to all the patriots who fought for the nation their sacrifices helped create.

By June 19, 1903, the 125th anniversary of the Continental Army’s marching out of their Valley Forge encampment, Burk had raised enough money to lay the cornerstone for the Washington Memorial Chapel. Over the next twenty years thousands of Americans donated money to build this memorial. The beautiful building that resulted incorporates some of the best craftsmanship that existed in America at the time, most of it from the Philadelphia area. This includes the architectural design by Milton B. Medary, Jr., which ranks among the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the country, the wood carvings of Edward Maene, the stained glass windows by Nicola D’Ascenzo, and the elaborate wrought iron by Samuel Yellin.

The Chapel, however, is not just a memorial to George Washington, the Founders and the Patriots who secured our independence and the liberties we enjoy today. It is also a memorial to those brave men and women who have fought to defend those liberties in the 240 odd years since we became a nation.

Read more: Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge is Bells of Peace Partner

Carnoustie Golf Club, The Open, Tommy Armour, and WWI 

By Aaron Rosenthal and Josh Singer
Staff Writers

With this past weekend’s Open Championship at Scotland's famous Carnoustie Golf Links, we take you back to the first British Open ever played at Carnoustie in 1931, to tell the story of its champion, Tommy Armour.

Tommy Armour (left) being handed the Claret Jug trophy after winning the 1931 British Open.Few people know that Armour, dubbed the “Silver Scott”, was a WWI hero -- who took up golf to help recover from his significant war wounds.

For his many victories on the PGA tour, Tommy Armour became a household name for golfers in the U.S. and in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s.¹ 1931 saw a close race that went to the end between the Scottish-American Armour and the Argentinian's Jose Jurado. Tailing him for the entirety of the competition until the final round, where he managed to finish just a shot clear of Jurado, winning it all 296 to 297.^2,3

However, before his tour on the professional golf circuit, Tommy did his tour of duty during the First World War, fighting for the British. He distinguished himself on the battlefield and the grit and determination that he gained from combat were applied to his golf game, resulting in a man with different legacies on both sides of the Atlantic.

Read more: Carnoustie Golf Club, The Open, Tommy Armour, and WWI

Captain Harry S. Truman's American Expeditionary Forces Identity Card from World War I

New Exhibit at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library 

"Heroes or Corpses": Captain Truman in World War I 

Special to the United States World War One Centennial Commission web site

“There we were watching New York’s skyline diminish, and wondering if we’d be heroes or corpses,” Harry S. Truman later recalled as he departed New York for the battlefields of France in the spring of 1918. Truman returned a hero, and his service helped set him on the path to the presidency.

“‘Heroes or Corpses’: Captain Truman in World War I” tells the captivating story of Truman’s service in the Great War through never-before-exhibited photographs, personal letters and more than 40 artifacts from Truman’s personal World War I collection. http://www.trumanlibraryinstitute.org/library-museum/museum-exhibits/temporary-exhibits/

View the loving cup that members of Battery D purchased for Captain Truman with money they pooled together following the war. See Truman’s tack box that was painted over with the new title “Captain Harry S. Truman” when he was promoted from lieutenant to captain. Read some of the more than 100 letters that Captain Truman sent to his fiancée Bess while stationed overseas.

Read more: "Heroes or Corpses": Captain Truman in World War I

The ill-fated cruiser USS San Diego in 1916 (left) and her wreck today on the bottom off the coast of Long Island, NY.

Centennial of the World War I sinking of USS San Diego

By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission

This week marks the centennial of the sinking of the USS San Diego, off the coast of Long Island NY. Mystery surrounds the sinking to the day, but the initial investigation placed likely blame on a sea-borne mine planted by a German U-Boat. Six U.S. Navy sailors lost their lives in the tragedy.  The story below was created by the staff of the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, as part of their special online portal of resources related to World War I. This remarkable portal can be found at https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-i.html 

The story of USS San Diego, Armored Cruiser No. 6

History

Following the Spanish-American War in 1898, the U.S. Navy recognized a need for ships capable of protecting the nation’s overseas territories and sea lanes. The Navy designed a 12,000-ton armored cruiser, which traded firepower for speed and would be able to outmaneuver enemy formations while not sacrificing armor, thanks to recent improvements in steel. Authorized by Congress in 1900, six such armored cruisers, starting with Pennsylvania, were laid down in 1902.

Unfortunately for the Pennsylvania-class, due to the speed at which military technology changed, these armored cruisers did not prove viable for their planned purpose. By 1904 the development of the steam turbine, combined with a study of tactics employed in the Russo-Japanese war, determined that armored cruisers were best used to provide auxiliary support to big gun battleships.

Admiral William B. Caperton, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (center) with members of his staff aboard San Diego at San Diego, California, ca. 1916-17. NH 83793.San Diego was launched on April 28, 1904 as armored cruiser California (Armored Cruiser No. 6) sponsored by Miss Florence Pardee, daughter of California governor George C. Pardee, and commissioned on 1 August 1907. Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, California operated along the West Coast conducting training exercises and drills until she was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1911. The vessel then served on the Asiatic Station visiting the Philippines, China, and Japan in early 1912, before being ordered to Nicaragua to protect American lives and property during a time of political upheaval in that county.

California was renamed San Diego on 1 September 1914 to bring the Navy into compliance with the policy that reserved state names for battleships, and subsequently designated the flagship of the Pacific Fleet. On 21 January 1915, the ship suffered an explosion in her No. 1 fire room, killing five Sailors and injuring seven more. Ensign Robert Webster Cary, Jr and Fireman Second Class Telesforo Trinidad received Medals of Honor for their actions during the fire to save their fellow crewmen.

Following America’s entrance into World War I in April 1917, San Diego operated as the flagship for Rear Admiral William F. Fullam, commander of the Patrol Force U.S. Pacific Fleet, until reassigned to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in July. Once there, the crew’s mission was to escort convoys through the dangerous and submarine-infested North Atlantic on the first leg of the voyage to Europe.

Read more: Centennial of the WWI sinking of the USS San Diego

From the World War I Centennial News Podcast 

100 Cities, 100 Memorials: Saugerties, NY

In July 13th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 80, Lisa Polay, Vince Buono, and Bill Payne spoke with host Theo Mayer about the World War I centennial room at American Legion Post 72 in Saugerties, NY. The following is a transcript of the interview: 

Theo Mayer: This week, we're headed to Saugerties, New York, where the Lamouree-Hackett American Legion post 72 has built a World War I Centennial room as a permanent exhibit to commemorate the town's World War I veterans. Here to tell us about the project are Bill Payne and Vince Buono, members of post 72. And Lisa Polay, a member of the community who's been helping with this project by doing the exhibition design and writing the grant application. Welcome to the podcast.
Lisa Polay: Hi Theo.
Bill and Vince: Hello.
Theo Mayer: Well, Saugerties, New York, that's sort of mid-state near Albany, isn't it?
Bill and Vince: Saugerties, New York is located on the Hudson River, 50 miles south of Albany, about 100 miles north of Manhattan. Saugerties is a Dutch word which means "the little sawmill." 
Theo Mayer: About how big is it?
Bill and Vince: Saugerties population is about 25,000 people from the villages within the town.
Theo Mayer: So how big was it around the turn of the century? Around the start of the war? Bill and Vince: It was a bigger population then, I would think. There were many factories.
Lisa Polay: I believe there was about 9,000 people.
Theo Mayer: Excellent. The town really does have a very rich history. Tell us a bit more about it.
Bill and Vince: From the point of view of the shared military history that this town has got, people from this town served in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and in the Civil War. Service continued, of course, in the Spanish American War, and we had a large population of soldiers who served, and many fell, in World War One. The post is named after Adele Burt Lamouree and Patrick Hackett, that reflects the Huguenot background and most of the Irish backgrounds. They both died in the big offensive in October of 1918, against the Germans. They were in the 77th Regiment and the 27th, both National Guard units. So they were very close to the end of the war, when both of them fell.
Theo Mayer: And when you built this Centennial commemoration room, can you tell us a little bit about it? What is it, and what am I going to find there?
Bill and Vince: Our post home, which we acquired in 1951, it's an old building, little over a hundred years old, was a home. In about 1982, we decided we would put in a museum of military service. So the centennial room had actually not been developed as a part of the exhibit until now. We have artifact that were brought back by the World War One veterans from Saugerties. Some of them were captured items from the enemies. Many of them are personal items from these soldiers, themselves.
Lisa Polay: I was very impressed because they really have a lot of material that's intact, and in very good condition.
Bill and Vince: Aviator's uniforms.
Lisa Polay: Right.
Bill and Vince: A list of sailor's uniforms, combat uniforms with helmets, and gas masks.

Read more: Podcast Article: Saugerties, NY Interview

From the World War I Centennial News Podcast 

Remembering Veterans and Stories of Service: An Interview with Deborah Dudek

In July 13th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 80, genealogy expert Deborah Dudek spoke with host Theo Mayer about researching family members who served in the war. Additionally, Theo Mayer explains how anyone can upload their ancestor's information to our Stories of Service page. The following is a transcript from the podcast:      

 Theo Mayer: This week, in our remembering veterans segment, so often at the Commission, we're contacted with questions about how to learn more about a family member who served in the war. Doing genealogical research has been made much easier since the advent of the internet, but major challenges still remain. Especially, when you're looking for information from a century ago. Today, we're joined by Deborah M. Dudek. Deborah is with the Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Importantly, she's also the author of the World War One Genealogy Research Guide: Tracing American Military and Non-Combatant Ancestors. Her book is available as an ebook, and in paperback, both on Amazon.com. Deborah, thank you for joining us.
Deborah Dudek: Thanks for having me, Theo, I really appreciate it.Deborah Dudek is an author and WW1 genealogy expert
Theo Mayer: So, Deborah, at the Commission, we get information requests like literally every day, from people asking for help and looking into the wartime service of a family member. So we're really happy to be speaking with you. So let me do a couple of scenarios, and maybe that will lead you into explaining to people how this could work. In scenario one, my grandfather served in World War One, let's say, and I know he was in the marines and went to France. Where do I start?
Deborah Dudek: Well if you're super lucky to have an ancestor who served in the Navy or Marines during World War One, you have a really straightforward task to doing research. If your ancestor was in the army or the air service, that's a totally different story. There was a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973, and we did lose about 18 million official Army and air service and Air Force military personnel files, from about 1912 to 1964. But there's a really great, fool-proof way that you can start your research, regardless of what branch of the military your ancestor may have served. Go through what you already have. It sounds very simple, it sounds very elementary, but go through those old trunks in the attic, or call the relatives who have the older photographs, the medals, the uniforms, the post cards. And go and examine everything. This is the time to bring them out. Get your smart phone out, download some of those apps that allow you to scan them effectively through your smart phone. So go through all of those photographs together, as a family, and start talking about what everybody remembers. If you don't have any of those family heirlooms, you're not alone. All you may have had is a story that's like, grandpa served in France. But even that's a great place to start. If you have that information, you can start going through things like ancestry, Fold3, and internet archives, or even the National World War One Museum and Memorial online. And you can start doing your research there.
Theo Mayer: Okay so, in scenario number two, let's say my grandmother drove an ambulance in Italy. She wasn't a soldier, she was a volunteer in 1916. How do I start with her?

Read more: Podcast Article: Deborah Dudek Interview

The central feature of the proposed World War I memorial is this narrative allegory in bronze by sculptor Sabin Howard, with 38 figures depicting a soldier’s path from home to the crucible of the battlefield and back home again. (Photo by Sabin Howard)

The Battle of Pershing Park

What the fight to build a World War I memorial near the White House reveals about the state of civic art and architecture.

By Catesby Leigh
via the Weekly Standard web site

These days M. Paul Friedberg is looking like one lucky guy. A retired modernist landscape architect in his late 80s, he has only a few purportedly important projects to his credit, and his reputation rests largely on an innovative approach to playground design. A few years ago, Congress redesignated his derelict Pershing Park (1981), situated just east of the White House and Treasury Department along Pennsylvania Avenue, as a World War I memorial, authorizing the park’s much-needed “enhancement” with “appropriate sculptural and other commemorative elements, including landscaping.”

But it turns out the federal Commission of Fine Arts, which reviews such projects in the nation’s capital, is determined to retain the essence of Friedberg’s Pershing Park—especially qualities associated with its now-empty central pool and boxy, granite-clad fountain, which has been out of action for over a decade—even if doing so stands in the way of the creation of an appropriate war memorial.

Pershing Park as it looks today: Ugly tables hunch near the empty pool, enclosed on two sides by granite steps and planters. (Photo: Hannah Yoest for TWS )So much for congressional intent.

Elevated above the din of street traffic by grass berms, heavily screened by trees and equipped, at its southeast corner, with commemorative mahogany granite slabs and a larger-than-life-size statue of General John J. Pershing, Friedberg’s largely sunken park features unattractive lighting fixtures and a rather drab brownish hardscape. A domed steel-and-clear-plastic kiosk, where refreshments were once sold, stands near the shallow pool, abandoned. The park is situated on a trapezoidal, 1.75-acre site along Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets. To the north lies the venerable Willard Hotel; to the west a handsome park focused on an equestrian statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman; to the south the White House Visitor Center, housed within the vast classical pile that is the Commerce Department building; and to the east, postmodern mandarin Robert Venturi’s forlorn Freedom Plaza (1980), which, aside from a few months as a camping site for Occupy D.C. protesters in 2011-12, mainly serves as a skateboarder’s resort. 

Read more: The Battle of Pershing Park

Hollywood and WWI – Wild Bill William Wellman

By Aaron Rosenthal
Staff Writer

When the United States entered World War I, William Augustus Wellman, the great-great-great grandson of Francis Lewis, the New York Signatory of the Declaration of Independence, was eager to serve.¹ He was quick to apply to the U.S. Air Service, but was denied, due to his lack of education.² Undeterred, he quickly moved to join the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, part of the British Red Cross. The organization accepted many American volunteers to serve in France during the war³, including a sixteen-year-old Walt Disney, who lied about his age to join.⁴ Wellman was then transferred to the French Foreign Legion and became the first American to join the Black Cat Squadron of the Lafayette Corps.⁵

William Wellman in front of Nieuport aircraftWellman joined as a replacement for one of the squadron’s lost comrades, a hard circumstance to come into. In addition, being the only non-Frenchman in the squadron did not make this task any easier for him.⁶ However, an opportunity presented itself with the American’s first mission. The commanding officer of the Squadron came to the Black Cats with a new idea to get the jump on a German airfield. The idea entailed that rather than send the usual six planes to bomb and strafe an airfield, instead just one plane would be sent, flying close to the ground to avoid detection the pilot would catch the Germans sleeping. He calculated that this would give the pilot time for two passes before losing the element of surprise and having to return home. Considering the experimental and therefore highly dangerous nature of the mission, a volunteer was asked for rather than an assignment being given. Only Wellman raised his hand.⁷

The idea worked, and Wellman made it to his target undetected, completing not only his sanctioned two passes over the airfield, but an unsanctioned third as well. This daring third pass allowed the American airman to drop his entire payload of bombs, and resulted in not only the destruction of more enemy planes still on the runway, but also the death of many German pilots and mechanics. Then, upon his return to base, Wellman had largely gained the respect of his French comrades, and was given the nickname, “Wild Bill,” a name that would follow after the war, all the way to Hollywood.⁸

Wellman would not be the lone American in the Black Cat Squadron for the entirety of the war, Tommy Hitchcock, the famous polo player and future decorated World War II pilot⁹, would soon join him. The two were described as, “Fast friends, and fearless flyers,” and this newly formed friendship soon became known as the “A-team.”¹⁰ They were known for their daring stunts in the air, accompanied by several successful missions and at least five kills in the air between the two of them. Both would be awarded the Croix de Guerre after the war.¹¹

Read more: Hollywood and WWI -- William Wellman director of Wings

Senators Dean Heller (R-Nev.) (left) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) have introduced bipartisan legislation to award the women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, known as the "Hello Girls," with the Congressional Gold Medal for their service and subsequent 60 year fight to be recognized as veterans.

Senators Tester, Heller Introduce Bill to Honor the World War I ‘Hello Girls’ 

By Cassie Byerly and Megan Taylor
Special to the United States World War One Centennial Commission web site

Big Sandy, Montana — U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) are honoring the groundbreaking service of the women who connected American and French forces on the front lines during World War I.

The Senators’ bipartisan Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act will award the women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, dubbed the Hello Girls, with the Congressional Gold Medal for their service and subsequent 60 year fight to be recognized as veterans.

U.S. Army Telephone Operators are reviewed by General of the Armies, John Pershing during WWI“The Hello Girls were faster and more accurate than any enlisted man at connecting men on the battlefield with military leaders,” said Tester, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “They took the Army oath, their bravery and composure helped our allied forces win the war, but they were still denied the veteran status and benefits they deserve. They blazed a new path for women on the front lines in France, and the Congressional Gold Medal will honor their service as well as their fight for recognition.”

“The Hello Girls stepped up to the plate and got the job done, and they played an important role in our nation’s history. They pioneered the way for female veterans, and like all of our nation’s service members – they should be recognized for their bravery and contributions,” said Heller. “As a senior member of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I am proud to work with Ranking Member Jon Tester to introduce this bipartisan legislation that recognizes the Hello Girls, including Nevada’s Ammalen Jackson of Aurora and Margaret Hope Kervin of Reno, with a Congressional Gold Medal for their service during the First World War.”

Read more: Senators Tester, Heller Introduce Bill to Honor the World War I ‘Hello Girls’

WW1CC Commissioner Dr. Matthew Naylor (at podium) gives remarks at the opening of the new outdoor photo exhibit at NYC's Worth Square. The exhibit is a collection of striking contemporary photos from the WWI battlefields in Belgium and France. Fourth from right is WW1CC Commissioner Dr. Libby O'Connell.

"Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace" World War I Outdoor Photo Exhibit in NYC

By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission

NEW YORK CITY — On Friday July 13th, NYC Parks unveiled a new outdoor photography exhibit,“Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace: The Doughboys 1917-1918”, that tells the story of the World War I battlefields of France and Belgium. 

The exhibit is free and open to the public, and can be seen at Worth Square, adjacent to Madison Square Park, for the next three weeks. It is made up of striking modern images from WWI battlefields, taken by acclaimed photographer Michael St. Maur Sheil. Sheil's works have been featured in National Geographic Magazine, Time Magazine, and elsewhere.

Specific information on the exhibit can be found here www.theworldwar.org/fieldsofbattle. The exhibit is a partnership between the WWI World War I Centennial Commission,the National WWI Museum, NYC Parks, and the Madison Square Park Conservancy

The location for the exhibit is particularly fitting. As described by NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, “NYC Parks has 102 WWI memorials throughout the city’s public spaces, and we are proud to showcase these striking photos in Worth Square. This meaningful photo exhibit is made all the more poignant by its proximity to the Eternal Light Monument in Madison Square Park, which honors the WWI Armistice and serves as the setting for the annual Veterans Day ceremony.”

Read more: "Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace" WWI-Themed Outdoor Photo Exhibit Comes to NYC