From the World War I Centennial News Podcast

Commission News: An interview with Bells of Peace Program Coordinator Betsy Anderson

In June 29th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 78, Program Coordinator Betsy Anderson spoke with host Theo Mayer about Bells of Peace, touching on the historical background and purpose of the initiative as well as how people can participate. The following is a transcript of the interview:     

 In Commission News: Bells of Peace, a World War I remembrance, is a collaborative program that brings the Centennial of the Armistice to communities and organizations across the nation, in a grassroots program to encourage the tolling of bells, and the commemorative activities and communities across the United States on Sunday, November 11th, 2018 at 11am, local time. Bells of Peace brings attention to the end of the fighting in World War I at the 11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, a hundred years ago. Now with us to introduce you to the program is Betsy Anderson, the Bells of Peace program coordinator for the Commission. Betsy, welcome to the podcast.

Betsy Anderson: Thank you, Theo. It's a pleasure to be here.
Theo Mayer: So Betsy, let me start by asking you to explain the idea of the program.
Betsy Anderson: When we first got the idea of the program a few years ago, we reached out and found out that the Society of the Honor Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier first started doing this in 2015. It is such a perfect way to involve communities across the nation in the commemoration of the armistice that we picked up on this idea, and now we're promoting it nationwide.
Theo Mayer: It's a national program, especially one that reaches into communities. The commission can't do this alone, so who are some of the supporting organizations for this?
Betsy Anderson: Besides the Society of the Honor Guard, we have partnered with the National Cathedral. They will be tolling their bell on November 11, as part of a sacred service that is planned for that day. Others are, our commemorative partners, our founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and of course, we'll be reaching out to all of our other commemorative partners, as well as our state partners.
Theo Mayer: So, we have listeners of all kinds on the show. Who should consider participating, and if somebody's interested in doing that, what should they do?
Betsy Anderson: Theo, this program is for everyone. Civic organizations, religious organizations, fraternal organizations, fire departments, state governments, local governments, school houses, are some of the organizations that we're encouraging to participate. Every time we sit down, we think of another group that could be involved. For example, the service academies, National Association of Carillons, which are bell towers across the nation. Everyone can register on our website, and there, you'll be able to see ideas and receive updates about how this idea is spreading across the nation.
Theo Mayer: Well, I know it's on a Sunday, but if I were Mrs. Smith's School in Oshkosh, you know, can I participate?
Betsy Anderson: Of course. You can participate by organizing a ceremony in your community, and we have ideas on our website for what to include in such ceremonies. We've downloaded links to poems and songs from the period of time around World War I. We also have links to performances of Taps, we have bagpipe suggestions, we have suggestions for readings, in either a sacred or a secular kind of ceremony.
Theo Mayer: You mentioned you have a bunch of tools for them. Are they on the website?
Betsy Anderson: All those tools are on the website, and yes, we are going to be reaching out as far as we can to national coordinators of organizations across the country. We're asking our state coordinators to reach out in their states and counties also, and we're already starting to pick up a few types of organizations that are very enthusiastic about this program.

Read more: Commission News: Bells of Peace with Betsy Anderson

Hollywood and WWI -- The Adventures of Merian Cooper 

By Aaron Rosenthal
Staff Writer

Merian Cooper began his service with his admittance into the Naval Academy in 1911. Unfortunately for himself, he was known to champion the value of air power, a view the Navy frowned upon at the time. His outspoken view would ultimately lead to his expulsion from the academy.¹

Merian Cooper Photo: American Polish Cooperation SocietyStill thirsty for adventure, however, he proceeded to join up with the Georgia National Guard in 1916 and found himself a member of General Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force, tasked with the capture of the Infamous Mexican Revolutionary, Pancho Villa. Following the Mexican Revolt, the US entered World War I. Merian followed Pershing again, this time to Europe, where he finally received the opportunity to practice what he preached at the Naval Academy, air power.²

DH-4 aircraft such as Cooper flew for the AEF.Merian Cooper became a pilot in the US Army Air Service in 1917, where he flew a DH-4 Bomber. He was sent to France, and saw combat soon after arrival. In 1918, Cooper was shot down over Germany and captured. Cooper would spend the last two months of the war in a Prisoner of War camp.

Upon his release, the future film maker appears to have found himself dissatisfied with his service, for he proceeded to join Herbert Hoover’s American Relief Administration, the successor to his United States Food Administration. This government agency was responsible for distributing aid to war torn Europe. During his service, Poland, a country that received a particularly large amount of US Aid, was put to the test with the onset of the Polish-Soviet War, as Vladimir Lenin’s Red Army launched a full-scale invasion of the newly reborn state.³

Read more: Hollywood and WWI -- The Adventures of Merian Cooper

Getting to Know A WWI Serviceman 

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

He wanted to tell his own story of the war: that much we know. And he also went to great lengths to do so. What is less certain is precisely what that story would have encompassed, had he come to write his memoirs in later life. What all would it have said, and in what form?

Arthur Clifford Kimber (Courtesy of the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs.)Instead, that task fell to a complete stranger. One who was older and a continent and a century distant; one who was writing alongside this serviceman’s niece in her later years, a woman he would never live to meet.

Arthur Clifford Kimber was 21 when he set off for France in 1917 and just 22 when he died. Leaving behind his final year studies at Stanford University, he volunteered for a war he felt was justified. One in which he had to do his bit. Although even then there was also the prospect of some adventure, a young man’s excitement at getting involved in a conflict he had read so much about 6000 miles away.

Whatever happened, he wanted to keep a record of his adventures for use in later life. To that end he agreed to write letters from the moment he left home, as often and as detailed as he could manage. He would number them lest any got lost in transit, so he would know, if necessary what blanks needed to be filled in. Whichever letters arrived back home in Palo Alto would be typed up by his mother and two brothers. He wrote 160 in all and remarkably all survived.

Although he did not.

What lived on give a valuable glimpse of the war at first hand. Around the edges of his personal story we can glean some of the wider shape of the United States’ developing role in Europe as the months of the war wore on. The letters were written at a rate of two or three per week every week, mirroring 18 of the 19 months of America’s participation. They begin in the springtime sunshine of California, April 1917, and end in the rain of north-eastern France in the autumn of 1918, the night before his death.Patrick Gregory

They chart Kimber’s progress from the moment he boards the first of many trains, boats and vehicles to the Western Front, carrying a precious cargo, an American flag, after a grand leave-taking ceremony in San Francisco. We trace his progress across the United States to New York and a parade down the packed streets of Fifth Avenue. We follow him by armed steamship across the Atlantic and travel with him through England and France – his first impressions of war-time London and Paris – and on to the flag’s presentation on the front south of Verdun.

But more importantly, there is the business of war; and it is here that we really get to know Kimber. He serves first as an ambulancier: a volunteer driver for the American Field Service, a corps which seconded its sections to French military forces.

From there, it is on to full military service as he began training, one of the early recruits to the nascent US Air Service. He would fly as a fighter pilot with new squadrons: escadrille SPA. 85 of the French Air Service and with the US 22d Aero.

Throughout, his voice comes across to us brightly and remains clear over the intervening century. It is war in all its guises: the danger, the excitement, absurdity, the fun, the petty, the everyday concerns, boredom, the mundane, the heroic; and with sudden death never far away. It is a window on 1917 and 1918, as we take a peep at wartime Europe.

Read more: Getting to Know A WWI Serviceman

German POWs are gathered by US and Australian troops, after being captured during the Battle of Hamel

Illinois State Military Museum marks centennial of Battle of Hamel 

By John Reynolds
via the Illinois State Journal-Register web site

One hundred years ago last week, members of the Illinois National Guard’s 33rd Division were fighting side by side with Australian troops in the Battle of Hamel.

The fight in northern France was the 33rd’s first offensive in World War I, and the combination of eager Guardsmen and experienced Australians proved to be a winning combination.

″(The Australian soldiers) gave our troops a little bit of extra confidence going in because they had some people with them who had experienced trench warfare,” said Paul Fanning, director of the Illinois State Military Museum, in Springfield. “They proved their metal in that battle. They were successful. They reached the objective. We proved that our soldiers didn’t run from the artillery fire. They stood, they fought, they advanced and they held ground.”

They United States and Australian connection was front and center Saturday at the Illinois State Military Museum, 1301 N. MacArthur Blvd. Springfield, IL, as it held an educational event on the Battle of Hamel and World War I. There were military re-enactors and a talk on the battle complete with historic pictures.

Jo Christopherson, an Australian deputy consul-general based in Chicago, attended the event.

“We came down to make that connection, to recognize and honor the efforts made by both Australia and America and the ongoing relationship we have,” Christopherson said.

Read more: Illinois State Military Museum marks centennial of Battle of Hamel

Australians celebrating “‘100 years of Mateship”’ between Australia and the United States at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on June 20 are (left to right): Jeremy Bowles; Wing Commander Andrew State of the Royal Australian Air Force; and Joseph Otmar. Bowles and Otmar are dressed in period uniforms like those worn during the Battle of Hamel on July 4, 1918. (U.S. Air Force photo/Glenn DeBerry)

‘100 Years of Mateship’ event at celebrates U.S.-Australian bond 

via the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Public Affairs Office

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- A Nieuport 23 replica World War I aircraft and a display of World War I equipment and weaponry were the highlights of a commemoration and celebration of “100 years of Mateship” between Australia and the United States. The celebratory event took place June 20 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Wing Cmdr. Andrew State, Royal Australian Air Force, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, outlined the importance of the celebration to about 120 guests at Twin Base golf course clubhouse. State serves as his country’s supply liaison officer to the U.S. Air Force; senior national representative for Australia, assisting his countrymen who come to Wright-Patterson AFB to work at such entities as the National Air and Space Intelligence Center; and chairman of the 21-nation foreign liaison officers community on base.

The centenary marks the first time Australian and American troops served side by side during the Battle of Hamel. For the next century Australian and American troops have had each other’s backs, and that special relationship continues to this day.

“The Battle of Hamel on July 4, 1918, was the first time Australian and U.S. troops fought side by side ... Since then our troops have served alongside each other in every major conflict,” State said. “Mateship is defined as an embodiment of equality, loyalty and friendship, and mateship formed under fire is even more enduring.”

State honored all U.S. service personnel and welcomed special guests who had a connection with the Australian military, including Ken Saunders, whose mother served with the Australian Army during WWII; and Joseph Otmar, whose great uncle fought at the battle of Hamel.

 Suresnes American Cemetery is one of nine World War I cemeteries managed by ABMC.

ABMC Releases New Video about Suresnes American Cemetery 

By Sarah Hermann
American Battle Monuments Commission

Suresnes American Cemetery, located just outside of Paris, is one of nine World War I cemeteries managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Created due to its proximity to American Expeditionary Forces’ hospital centers in and near the Paris area, Suresnes American Cemetery includes the remains of many Americans who died from injury or illness during the war.

Originally a World War I cemetery, the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial now shelters the remains of U.S. dead of both wars. The 7.5-acre cemetery contains the remains of 1,541 Americans who died in World War I and 24 unknown dead of World War II. Bronze tablets on the walls of the chapel record the names of 974 World War I missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

The World War I memorial chapel was enlarged by the addition of two loggias dedicated to the dead of World War I and World War II, respectively. In the rooms at the ends of the loggias are white marble figures in memory of those who lost their lives in the two wars. Inscribed on the loggia walls is a summary of the loss of life in our armed forces in each war, together with the location of the overseas commemorative cemeteries where our war dead are buried.

Read more: ABMC Releases New Video about Suresnes American Cemetery

Doughboys celebrating the 4th of July in 1918 on the battlefield.

How Doughboys Celebrated Independence Day in France 

By Joseph Vesper
Staff Writer

July 4th, 1917: Imagine yourself, an American, on the streets of Paris. Crowds bustle and cheer in excitement as you march past them. Even though you have yet to fight you feel triumphant, as if the battle has already been won. The American and French flags fly in unison high above you and in the air the scent of American food cooking smells delicious. A French child gives you a flower as you march by, a symbol of gratitude for fighting as an ally. Back home it is Independence Day, but in this foreign land you are joined in celebration.

In June 1917 only 14,000 American soldiers had arrived in France. These first 14,000 U.S. infantry troops landed at the port of Saint Nazaire and were quickly organized into training camps by General Pershing. Though their numbers were still low in July that did not stop General Pershing nor his soldiers from celebrating America’s Independence Day with the local population.

Leave was not granted to American troops until after the close of the Fourth of July celebrations. If you were there as a Doughboy you would have marched in a massive parade down the streets of Paris with General Pershing. After the parade there were numerous events in which to participate. Baseball, boxing, and other athletic sports were at the forefront. In addition, the Young Men’s Christian Association took soldiers on sight-seeing tours throughout Paris using motor trucks.

Read more: How Doughboys Celebrated Independence Day in France

The John J. Harvey Fireboat in New York Harbor (Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery. Image by Nicholas Knight, courtesy Public Art Fund, NY)

Historic fireboat in NYC turned into Floating Work of WWI-inspired Art 

By Cindy Hsu
via the CBS News, New York web site

NEW YORK – A historic fireboat docked along the Hudson River has been turned into a floating work of art. The boat is covered in a wild plant design that likely saved lives during World War I.

You can’t miss the John J. Harvey Fireboat, painted in bright red and white, in a new art exhibition co-commissioned by the Public Art Fund and 14-18 NOW.

“It was an incredible process from start to finish,” aid Emma Enderby, of the Public Art Fund.

An American World War I battleship bearing dazzle paint markings (U.S. National Archives)The painting technique is called “dazzle,” developed in WWI to protect thousands of war ships and passenger vessels with a unique camouflage.

“It wasn’t to actually hide but to confuse the people looking at it, to confuse the German U-boats, because it created these very sort of strange patterns and angles that they didn’t quite know what direction the boat was going, or the speed of it or where the hull necessarily was,” Enderby said.

At the height of WWI, about eight ships a day were being sunk.

Artist Tauba Auerbach designed the contemporary dazzle camouflage to be painted on the John J. Harvey. The fireboat was commissioned in 1931, but decommissioned in the 1990s and saved by a group of volunteers who turned it into a floating museum. But it was called back into action during 9/11, when all the water mains were crushed near the World Trade Center.

“This boat and a couple of active duty fireboats pumped water for about 80 hours,” first mate David Grill said. “Hoses were run from the boats to the land companies, and that’s what fed water into the pit when they were trying to put the fires out.”

The exhibition is called Flow Separation, and the hope is that it becomes an eye-catching way to connect New Yorkers to history.

Two Commissioners from the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, Dr. Libby O'Connell and Dr. Matthew Naylor, were present for the artwork's premiere. Dr. O'Connell expressed her enthusiasm "It is an incredible work of art, plus it is an ingenious way for people to learn about World War I, and about our city".

Read more: Historic fireboat in NYC turned into Floating Work of Art

100-year-old Harley-Davidson returns from France to honor U.S. WWI vets 

By Emilie Ikeda
via the Fox News web site

MOBILE, Ala. – Christophe de Goulaine presses a small button to prime the carburetor, then gives the starter a kick. It doesn't work. Again, he thrusts his body up and down, foot on the lever. Third time is the charm — the 100-year old Harley-Davidson 1000 18-J motorcycle starts.

Pierre Lauvergeat (left) and Christophe de Goulaine with their 100-year old Harley-Davidson 1000 18-J motorcycle. Their WW1CC Partner Project will travel 5,000 miles across the U.S., honoring Americans who laid down their lives in WWI to assist France.“This is a time machine,” de Goulaine told Fox News. No, not in the literal sense, but the WWI-era motorcycle paints an accurate picture of life in the early 20th century.

It was one of an estimated 20,000 olive green Harley-Davidson motorcycles used by American soldiers in the Great War.

French motorcycle enthusiasts de Goulaine and Pierre Lauvergeat spent the past year renovating it. Still, the bike largely holds true to its origins with the same engine, frame and seat it left the factory with.

“It was a non-runner, it was in terrible condition,” de Goulaine said, while showing pictures of bike parts in boxes. “Now the bike is on the road, and we’ll have a little road test for about 5,000 miles.”

5,000 miles — not a typo.

The Model J and its sidecar rolled onto American soil for the first time in a century, kick-starting a nationwide repatriation tour this week.

The pair of Frenchmen are riding from Alabama to Florida, up to Wisconsin, and west to California in the refurbished antique.

Read more: 100-year-old Harley-Davidson returns from France to honor American WWI vets

The Sacred Twenty -- the first twenty nurses accepted as a part of the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908.

Navy Cross Nurses: Inspiring Heroism During the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 

By Miranda Halpin
Staff Writer

On the front lines during World War One women often were seen as the ultimate caretakers, that allowed men to continue to fight after being wounded. The army was the first branch of the military to allow women to serve as nurses and receive proper recognition for their service. On May 13, 1908 the US Navy followed suit after the United States Congress passed the Naval Appropriations Bill. On that fateful day the “Sacred Twenty” became the first official female nurses of the United States Navy.

The “Sacred Twenty” refers to the first twenty nurses who originally had begun taking exams in order to be a part of the Navy Nurse Corps at the time. Two women, Ester Hasson and Leanah H. Sutcliffe Higbee, were the first two official members of the corps and continued to be the core of the organization throughout World War One. Hasson was the first chief and Higbee was the second superintendent.

These women would eventually lead over 1,500 women as active duty nurses during World War One. Only four of these women were ever awarded the Navy Cross for their courageous service; only a startling number of eight recipients in total during the war.

Read more: Navy Cross Nurses: Inspiring Heroism During the Influenza Epidemic of 1918