Sync Call for Wednesday August 12 at Noon EDT
How You Can Help the WW1CC this Week:
- Consider making a donation to the Memorial Fund for the National WWI Memorial at Pershing Park.
- Help us get a WW1 series of stamps by sending in a letter to the US Post Office Stamp Committee using this template. Email Andrew McGreal with any questions.
- If you are interested in helping with state and regional organization, please let Andrew McGreal know and he will send you information on how to get involved.
- If you or someone you know is looking for an internship opportunity, head over to or send them to the WW1CC Internship page.
- Shop at SMILE.AMAZON.COM! Enter the "United States Foundation for the Commemoration of the World Wars" as your charitable organization. Amazon will donate .5% of your purchase to us!.
News and Announcements:
Operation Doorknock: Volunteer Follow-up
As you know, teams from the WW1CC met with over 30 members of the House and Senate during July and informational packets were dropped off at each member's offices. We conducted that outreach in an effort to raise awareness about the commemorative and educational activities the Commission will be conducting as we prepare for the 100th anniversary of the US entering the Great War, as well as to update them on the design competition for the national memorial site. We received very warm welcomes and almost all of the officials pledged to help the Commission.
During August members of Congress will return to their states and districts - this is a critical time for them to hear from you, their constituents, about your support of the WW1CC. We need you to use the following resources so you can contact your Representative and Senators.
Go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to get the contact information for your Senators' and members of Congress's local offices in your state.
Then call or e-mail those offices and ask them to become active supporters of the World War One Centennial Commission. Use these Talking Points and fill out and send to us this Form afterwards. You can be very helpful to the Commission by just spending 15 minutes of your time on a few e-mails and phone calls!
State Outreach Blitz
You can see from the map we have a lot of states whose activity seem to be unreported. We have other states where we need more help.
WE NEED YOUR HELP.
Tomorrow, Thursday August 13, from 12:00pm to 3:00pm EDT we will conduct a push to contact a long list of organizations and offices that may help us with our state outreach efforts. We NEED VOLUNTEERS to help us with this telethon. You don’t have to be from the states in question and we will provide talking points and a list of people and offices to contact. Please help us make these calls. Contact Andrew McGreal if you would like to help or would like more information.
American Legion Convention
We need volunteers who have some time to spend with us on Sep 1st and 2nd at the American Legion Conference in Baltimore, MD. Please email Chris Isleib if you have some time or are going to be there.
Update from the States
North Carolina
The North Carolina Dept. of Transportation with support of the Garden Club of NC has created a proposal to the NC WWI Centennial Committee to plant poppies in honor of the commemoration along North Carolina roadsides. They are happy to share their plan with other states- list of seed sources, best materials, best practices, etc. Encourage your state to consider this- we can put you in touch with the folks in North Carolina that prepared the plan. Additionally, you can check out the plan here.
Ohio
The Ohio Historical Center is making a state-wide call for war memorabilia from Ohio service men and women. The center is asking citizens to donate any items related to your or a family member's military service, such as mementos that carry personal significance, photographs, letters, objects used during service, etc. It does not have to be WW1. By donating your items, you can ensure that they will be known to future generation and not lost to time.
Kansas
The initial meeting of the Kansas WW 1 Centennial Commemoration Committee will take place at 10:00 a.m. Friday, August 14, 2015 in the Kansas Museum of History, 6425 SW Sixth Avenue Topeka, KS. The meeting is being chaired by Mary Madden, Director of the Kansas Museum of History and Kansas Historical Society. One of our early Kansas state outreach volunteer, James Patton will be in attendance, as will Commissioner Jim Whitfield. This meeting is a direct result of Chairman Dalessandro's letter to Governor Brownback- so we are excited about that. Stay tuned for more from Kansas!
Hawaii
Hawaii is in the process of setting up its very own commission, thanks in no small part to the efforts of our volunteer and Hawaii Committee Liaison Col. Arthur Tulak (Ret.). The Committee is forming with participation from the State Government, the Academic community, and Veterans organizations. Its kick-off meeting is tentatively set for September. It will initially focus on developing a Hawaii WWI timeline and a dedicated website to share that timeline. Congrats to everyone in Hawaii for making such quick progress! Check out a short news clip here.
California- Pershing Family Remembrance at the San Francisco Presidio
There will be a Centennial Pershing Family Remembrance held at 2 pm at Pershing Square and the former Officers Club at the San Francisco Presidio on 27 August 2015. The event will include a wreath laying ceremony at the site where Mrs. Frances Pershing and the three Pershing daughters perished in a fire on 27 August 1915, followed by an informational presentation on General Pershing's career and family, and the Presidio during the Great War. General Alfred Valenzuela will represent World War One Centennial Commission at the event. The public is invited. There is no charge for the event, but adjacent parking is metered.
Tennessee Great War Commission - First Annual Commemorative Events
Tennessee’s Great War Commission will kick-off their commemorative activities November 6-7 at six different venues in Nashville, TN. The focus of the events is on Tennessee and Tennesseans who were involved in the war before U.S. intervention in 1917. Stories of men and women, many of whom have long been forgotten, will be presented in a variety of ways.
Virginia
Next meeting of the VA WWI Centennial Committee will be on Monday, Aug 31, in Staunton, VA
Upper Midwest Regional Meeting - Save the Date
September 16th at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library
The Pritzker Museum and Military Library located in Chicago, Illinois would like to extend an invitation for the volunteer representatives in the Upper Midwest Region -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, South Dakota, and Wisconsin -- to a collaborative meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to increase contact and coordination between these states’ volunteers and to provide updates on the strides each state has made in the planning efforts for the centennial. Additional information will be announced in the near future.
Design Competition Update
The week before last, Phase 1 of our Design Competition ended. We posted the submitted memorial plans to our website, and since then they’ve gotten quite a bit of attention!There have been over 6,000 unique visits to the designs’ web page and 30,000 plus views of individual designs! In addition, we’ve received more than 1000 public comments on the submitted memorial layouts. You can see all of the submissions for yourself on the First Round Submission page of our website.
Please remember that even if we get the perfect design we can’t build it without donations. We encourage everyone on this call to consider donating. Every dollar counts double thanks to the generosity of our founding sponsor, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, which will match your donation. We will include a link in the minutes. Our Great War men and women deserve a memorial. We can build it.
You can make this memorial a reality by making a donation to the Memorial Fund. Share this link on social media and on your organization's website--however you can get the word out. We cannot do this without your support. Thank you!
Merchandise
We’re happy to announce that we will soon have WWI Centennial Commission merchandise available for sale on our website! C. Forbes, Inc. in Richmond, VA will be producing our products. They have a fantastic track record and will produce some really great stuff for use. Everything will be 100% made in America. We will include a link in subsequent Sync Calls once the online store is up and running.
Read more: Sync-Call Minutes 08-12-15
Sync Call for Wednesday August 05 at Noon EDT
News and Announcements:
Operation Doorknock: Volunteer Follow-up
As you know, teams from the WW1CC met with over 30 members of the House and Senate during July and informational packets were dropped off at each member's offices. We conducted that outreach in an effort to raise awareness about the commemorative and educational activities the Commission will be conducting as we prepare for the 100th anniversary of the US entering the Great War, as well as to update them on the design competition for the national memorial site. We received very warm welcomes and almost all of the officials pledged to help the Commission.
During August members of Congress will return to their states and districts, and that is a critical time for them to hear from you, their constituents, about your support of the WW1CC. We need you to use the following resources so you can contact your Representative and Senators.
Go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to get the contact information for your Senators' and members of Congress's local offices in your state.
Then call or e-mail those offices and ask them to become active supporters of the World War One Centennial Commission. Use these Talking Points and fill out and send to us this Form afterwards. You can be very helpful to the Commission by just spending 15 minutes of your time on a few e-mails and phone calls!
Update from the States
Maryland and Pennsylvania - Web Site Publishing Partners
The Maryland and Pennsylvania state website volunteers received training last week to start building their state sections on the Commission web site. So stay tuned for their websites’ debuts.
California- Pershing Family Remembrance at the San Francisco Presidio
There will be a Centennial Pershing Family Remembrance held at 2 pm at Pershing Square and the former Officers Club at the San Francisco Presidio on 27 August 2015. The event will include a wreath laying ceremony at the site where Mrs. Frances Pershing and the three Pershing daughters perished in a fire on 27 August 1915, followed by an informational presentation on General Pershing's career and family, and the Presidio during the Great War. General Alfred Valenzuela will represent World War One Centennial Commission at the event. The public is invited. There is no charge for the event, but adjacent parking is metered.
Tennessee Great War Commission - First Annual Commemorative Events
Tennessee’s Great War Commission will kick-off their commemorative activities November 6-7 at six different venues in Nashville, TN. The focus of the events is on Tennessee and Tennesseans who were involved in the war before U.S. intervention in 1917. Stories of men and women, many of whom have long been forgotten, will be presented in a variety of ways.
South Carolina
Commissioner Hester has been communicating with Gov. Haley’s office and has successfully identified the correct point of contact for WWI centennial activities from the Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Virginia
Next meeting of the VA WWI Centennial Committee will be on Monday, Aug 31, in Staunton, VA
State Outreach Blitz
You can see from the map we have a lot of states whose activity seem to be unreported. We have other states where we need more help.
Next week from 12:00pm to 3:00pm EDT on Thursday, August 13, we will conduct a push to contact a long list of organizations and offices that may help us with our state outreach efforts. We are asking for volunteers from across the U.S. to be available from 12:00pm to 3:00pm EDT as we host a telethon of sorts to complete this outreach in these hours. You don’t have to be from the states in question and we will provide talking points and a list of people and offices to contact. What we really need are people on the phone that can help make these calls with us. If you want to help, please contact Andrew McGreal.
St. Mihiel Trip-Wire - New Edition Now Available
Mike Hanlon of WorldWar1.com has just released the newest issue of his online publication - the St. Mihiel Trip-Wire. The Tripwire explores a whole range of topics related to the First World War. Check it out!
Announcement from Dr. Ed Furgol
The Naval History and Heritage Command is exploring new ideas to peak public interest in the commemoration of the centennial. A few of these ideas are a Naval "dining in", a cocktail program, viewings of a list of films put together by Dr. Furgol and his interns, paper dolls or coloring pages of the various naval uniforms for the War, period specific dances, and musical programs. Though they feel it is ambitious, Dr. Furgol and his team hope to have a play about women in the navy, Admiral Sims, and the introduction of convoys as well as a puppet pals show on Navy Ace David Ingalls.
An artistic volunteer could help Dr. Furgol by assisting in the creation of the paper dolls and coloring pages. To be put in touch with Dr. Furgol, please contact Andrew McGreal.
Operation Ink at the National World War 1 Museum
The National WWI Museum will host an event called Operation Ink tomorrow night. The event explores the evolution of tattoos in the 20th century and features the Tattoo Historian, Anna Friedman, and a photo gallery of tattoos collected in Kansas City. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a food/cocktail hour followed by the program at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited, but tickets are still available at the National WWI Museum website.
Centennial Countdown to the Great War - New Blog Entry
Dennis Cross, one of our fantastic Kansas state outreach volunteers, publishes a monthly blog called Centennial Countdown to the Great War. As the name suggests, this blog covers events that took place a hundred years ago this month. While the end of July 1915 marked the end of the first year of the war, the end of the war itself was nowhere in sight. The battles were more deadly and the fighting was more vicious than ever. Read the blog here.
Design Competition Update
The week before last, Phase 1 of our Design Competition ended. We posted the submitted memorial plans to our website, and since then they’ve gotten quite a bit of attention!There have been over 6,000 unique visits to the designs’ web page and 30,000 plus views of individual designs! In addition, we’ve received more than 1000 public comments on the submitted memorial layouts. You can see all of the submissions for yourself on the First Round Submission page of our website.
Please remember that even if we get the perfect design we can’t build it without donations. We encourage everyone on this call to consider donating. Every dollar counts double thanks to the generosity of our founding sponsor, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, which will match your donation. We will include a link in the minutes. Our Great War men and women deserve a memorial. We can build it.
You can make this memorial a reality by making a donation to the Memorial Fund. Share this link on social media and on your organization's website--however you can get the word out. We cannot do this without your support. Thank you!
Upper Midwest Regional Meeting - Save the Date
September 16th at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library
The Pritzker Museum and Military Library located in Chicago, Illinois would like to extend an invitation for the volunteer representatives in the Upper Midwest Region -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, South Dakota, and Wisconsin -- to a collaborative meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to increase contact and coordination between these states’ volunteers and to provide updates on the strides each state has made in the planning efforts for the centennial. Additional information will be announced in the near future.
Read more: Sync-Call Minutes 08-05-15
The Doughboy Podcast is about what happened 100 years ago during and after the War that changed the world --- and it is also about NOW - How WWI is still present in our daily lives - How it is remembered and discussed, learned and taught - but most importantly - the podcast is about why and how we will never let awareness of WWI fall back into the mists of obscurity.
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The National State Outreach Team holds a State Outreach Collaboration Call at noon Eastern time. Volunteers and commemorative bodies across the country dial in and talk about what is working in their respective states. It gives everyone an opportunity to network and to partner up.
The Pershing Family Remembrance event in San Francisco last Thursday went off without a hitch! A lovely wreath-laying ceremony at the Presidio was followed by a historical talk on the significance of the tragedy on General Pershing and the country as a whole. We’ve posted photos on our 
The Pritzker Museum and Military Library located in Chicago, Illinois would like to extend an invitation for the volunteer representatives in the Upper Midwest Region -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, South Dakota, and Wisconsin -- to a collaborative meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to increase contact and coordination between these states’ volunteers and to provide updates on t
