Sync Call for Wednesday November 09, at 12pm EDT
News at a Glance
1. Joe Curtin from the VA Provides update for Veteran support activities for Friday's Veterans Day
2. Last week's Central Region Meeting update
3. The close presidential election ---- 100 years ago!
4. Unknown Soldier video on C-span this weekend (preview on the site)
5. Memorial Hunter are Awesome - Update
Read more below - Watch the video above
Sync Call Minutes
November 9, 2016
Special Guest
Joe Curtin- Ex Officio Member from the Dept of Veterans Affairs
On today’s call, we have Joe Curtin, our Ex-Officio member from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Joe has been a great friend and ally to the Commission. He joins us to talk a little bit about the VA’s efforts for honoring vets this Veterans Day.
We have several handouts from the VA in the handout section of this call - i encourage you to check them out.
Joe, are you on?
Update from the States
Central Region Meeting Recap:
I attended the kickoff meeting of the Central Region and the National WWI Museum’s 2016 symposium this past weekend. Both events went very well. I was able to meet many great people and I think the Central Region has a great opportunity for collaboration as we move into the centennial. I encourage everyone who attended the state meeting to feel free to reach out to me.-
Central Region? Email Andrew McGreal: andrew.mcgreal@worldwar1centennial.org
New York- Veterans Day Parade
On Friday , the Doughboys will gather for the annual NYC Veterans Day parade on 5th Ave and 25th St between 10 and 1030 am. They will march behind the New York Fire Department and the Port Authority Police Department.
Georgia
The Georgia WWI Centennial Commission met on November 2 in Atlanta, GA. The Commission discussed several goals of the Georgia Commission including: public art, honoring the role of women and African-Americans in WWI, events, local engagement, and educational programming. If you’re in Georgia and interested in getting involved, email me and I’ll introduce you.
Georgia WWICC? Email Andrew McGreal: andrew.mcgreal@worldwar1centennial.org
State Outreach Collaboration Call
Thank you to everyone who joined last week’s state outreach call about engaging veterans service organizations in your state. Our panelists from the American Legion, DAV, and VFW shared a lot of great information. If you missed it, we’re including a link to the call materials - including a write-up, the slideshow, and recording in the chat. We’re also sending out a followup email to registrants with this information.
November SOCC: Engaging VSOs in YOUR State: -----------
We hope you’ll join us next month on December 1 when talk about commemorating the centennial of America’s declaration of war on April 6. We’re going to have some suggestions and templates for states and organizations looking for something to do.
Please register for this call ahead of time - the link is in the chatroom and will be in the minutes.
Register for the State Outreach Call here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5156713208829555970
Questions about State Outreach? Please email Andrew McGreal at andrew.mcgreal@worldwar1centennial.org
News and Announcements
Presidential Election:
100 Years ago- Show image from Instagram- saved in image folder
The Great War was one of the most contentious issues of the 1916 US election 100 years ago. Public opinion in the US had already started to shift in favor of the Entente after hearing of atrocities committed by German troops in France and Belgium and the sinking of the Lusitania.
In spite of this, the majority of Americans wished to continue to stay neutral in the conflict. Wilson’s political campaign was centred around him being the one who kept America out of the war in the first place.
His opponent, the Republican Charles Hughes, criticised Wilson and said America should do more to prepare at least for the possibility of being dragged into the war.
This helped solidify Wilson’s image as the keeper of peace. Woodrow Wilson marginally won the election as a result.
Countdown to Veterans Day 2016 - http://countdowntoveteransday.org/
We’re in the final week of our Countdown to Veterans Day campaign. We encourage everyone to get out and make Veterans Day a day on for community service rather than just a day off. Tweet pictures of you Veterans Day using #CountdownToVeteransDay and share pictures on Facebook.
“The Unknown Soldier” on C-SPAN 3
On Veterans Day at 10am and later at 10pm, C-SPAN3’s American History TV series “Reel America” will debut a documentary titled "The Unknown Soldier" featuring commentary by our own Mitch Yokelson and Allison Finkelstein. The video will rerun over the weekend on Saturday at 10pm ET and Sunday at 4pm ET.
We invite you to watch a 4 minute preview in our video library at ww1cc.org/video
Our video library, where you can view a preview of “The Unknown Soldier”:
http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/2015-12-28-18-24-34/video-library/1551
CDTVD OpEds
A big THANK YOU! to everyone who has written and submitted an OpEd for veterans day. So far, we’ve heard about submissions from Blair Tarr of the Kansas WWI Centennial Committee, from Derek Sansone in Buffalo, NY, and from Sal Compagno in San Francisco, CA. Let us know if you’ve submitted an Op Ed and Thank you all!
- Op Ed from Blair Tarr, member of the Kansas WW1CC
http://cjonline.com/opinion/2016-11-06/letter-never-forget-world-war-i
- From Derek M. Sansone in Buffalo, NY
http://buffalonews.com/2016/11/04/letter-lets-do-our-part-to-make-wwi-memorial-a-reality/
DC WWI Memorial Veterans Day Flag Planting https://www.facebook.com/events/531522317055471/
The U.S. World War 1 Centennial Commission will plant 499 American flags to honor the 499 fallen DC area World War One veterans. Flags will be on display from 8:00am to 5:30pm with a special commemoration at 8:30am. Come out and support our veterans from the First World War and all the men and women who gave their lives in defense of our great nation.
Find out more information about this event on facebook. The link to the event will be in the chat and the minutes.
100 Cities / 100 Memorials
Sign up for our Blog Post
http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/100-cities-100-memorials-blog.html
1. Memorial Hunters Club UPDATE: www.ww1cc.org/hunter
So far, our memorial hunters are AWESOME!- In this first week they found memorials in over a dozen places including: Trafford, PA - Milford, CT - Morton Grove, IL - Elkhart, IL - Etowah, TN - Hardwick, MA - Hollywood, CA - Los Angeles, CA - Glendale, CA - St. Mary's, KS - Milltown, NJ - Newark , DE - Riverhead, NY - Morton Grove, IL - New Haven , CT - Uxbridge, MA - Williamsville, IL and Lindenhurst, NY
See the article in the 100 C/ 100 M blog and sign up to keep tabs on the program
Memorial hunting is also a great for this Friday as a Veterans Day activity. Many of these lost memorials are in you local parks, universities and towns. It’s a great way to get students, scouts, and youth groups involved in the centennial and a really fun way to make a record of WWI memorials across the country. Go out and find them!
Read more at ww1cc.org/hunter.
More Upcoming Events:
Check out our website for events! www.ww1cc.org/events
Email halsey.hughes@worldwar1centennial.org to add your event to the calendar.
National WWI Memorial at Pershing Park - www.ww1cc.org/memorial
Media Coverage:
Sculptor Sabin Howard's ongoing development of the sculptural elements of the National World War One Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington DC is attracting continuing media coverage.
This week the national Epoch Times newspaper published a lengthy article on Howard's efforts to "conceptualize a horrific slice of history and then translate it into sculptural form" in his New York studio. We’ll have a link in the chat and the minutes
Epoch Times article “Sculptor Sabin Howard in Service of Something Bigger”:
http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/1545
Sabin Howard also appears in a News 12 Bronx segment called “Best of the Bronx: Artist Sabin Howard” - A local TV interview with an extended section where Sabin explains the wall sculpture in conceptual detail. It’s a great piece. You can see this segment in our video library: ww1cc.org/video
The Great War Channel https://www.youtube.com/TheGreatWar
Alright, as always, The Great War Channel on youtube has several great new videos up this week. Check them out at www.youtube.com/TheGreatWar
History sections are off today
So that all for today, remember to check out our minutes at ww1cc.org/sync-call