Phil Eaton–The Coast Guard’s Winged Warrior of WWI

By William H. Thiesen, Ph.D.
Coast Guard Atlantic Area Historian
via the Coast Guard Compass web site

The first German submarine operations on U.S. waters took place not in World War II, but during World War I. With responsibility to guard the coast, the U.S. Coast Guard had several encounters with these early U-boat attacks, including those of U-156. Armed with 18 torpedoes, four deck guns and a supply of underwater mines, U-156 began its campaign against East Coast shipping in June 1918. During this cruise, the crew sank nearly 35 vessels including the armored cruiser USS San Diego, which was sunk by one of its mines on July 19 with the loss of six lives.

Second Lt. Philip Eaton photographed at the U.S. Navy’s flight training school in Pensacola, Florida. (Courtesy of the Coast Guard Aviation Association)The Coast Guard and its aviators played a vital role in the World War I war effort. In 1916, Congress authorized the Coast Guard to develop an aviation branch, including aircraft, air stations and pilots. Coast Guard officers began to train at the Navy’s Pensacola Naval Flight School. Lt. Philip Bentley Eaton was one of these officers.

Eaton’s early passion had focused on engineering and technology. He matriculated from the prestigious Webb Academy of Naval Architecture. After graduating from Webb in 1907, Eaton received an appointment as a cadet engineer in the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction, graduating with the class of 1908. Over the next six years, he saw service aboard cutters stationed in Baltimore, New York, Milwaukee, New London, Conn., San Juan, and Port Townsend, Wash. In 1915, Eaton was assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Bear and served there for two years before departing in 1917 for flight training at Pensacola.

On April 6, 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany and the Coast Guard was transferred from the Treasury Department to the U.S. Navy. After earning his wings as a naval aviator in October, the Navy assigned Eaton as executive officer of Naval Air Station Montauk (Long Island), New York, and eight months later received command of Naval Air Station Chatham on Cape Cod. Chatham supported two dirigibles and seven seaplanes with a complement of 245 officers and men. After two weeks on the job, Eaton received a field promotion, rising from second lieutenant to captain of engineers, the equivalent of the Navy’s rank of lieutenant commander.

Late in the morning on Sunday, July 21, U-156 emerged from the hazy waters of Cape Cod to prey on American coastal shipping. The U-boat crew located the towboat Perth Amboy and four wooden barges lined up in a towline. Rather than waste precious torpedoes on the slow-moving Perth Amboy and its consorts, U-156’s commander ordered his crew to shell the vessel and its barges with deck guns. Some of the long shots landed on Nauset Beach, the first foreign cannon fire to hit U.S. shores since the War of 1812 and the only enemy shells to hit American soil during World War I.

Read more: Phil Eaton–The Coast Guard’s Winged Warrior of WWI

Chambersburg WWI 'Doughboy' gets a face lift

By Jim Hook
via the Public Opinion web site

The Doughboy statue at the intersection of Lincoln Way East and Queen Street in Chambersburg, PA will soon get a facelift. The statue sits in the area also known as the "East Point."(Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)CHAMBERSBURG – One hundred fifty guardsmen camped at Wolf Lake this week 100 years ago.

They had answered the call to fight in the Great War, known later as World War I.

In less than a year Company C of the 8th Pennsylvania Infantry would lose soldiers for whom local veterans’ clubs are named. Before the “war to end all wars” was over, 116,000 members of the U.S. military would die. Nearly 100 of them were from the Chambersburg area.

The townspeople honored their war dead in 1923 with a plaque of 86 names and a Doughboy statue at the East Point of Lincoln Way East.

This week a preservationist is cleaning and sealing the bronze statue.

“The statute has been there a while,” said Eugene Hough, a field restoration specialist with Saving Hallowed Ground. “It’s extremely important that the monuments stand to tell the story of the past and to keep an open dialogue. We drive by them very quickly and don’t realize what they are.”

Hough, who often dresses in a WWI uniform, also is bringing a giant American flag for a ceremony on Friday afternoon to honor the soldiers and citizens who served in the Great War.

He said he hopes to reach students and veterans with the preservation work.

“We don’t have WWI veterans alive anymore,” he said. “It was a horrific engagement. There’s a lot to learn from it.”

About 10 million soldiers from all counties died in the global conflict (1914-18). The first modern war is recognized for machine guns, armored tanks, biplanes, mustard gas, “shell shock” and the stalemate of trench warfare.

Read more: Chambersburg WWI 'Doughboy' gets a face lift

World War I American Veterans Centennial silver dollar design unveiling set for Oct. 9

By Paul Gilkes
via the Coin World web site

Designs selected from a juried competition for the 2018 World War I American Veterans Centennial silver dollar will be unveiled Oct. 9 in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the Association of the United States Army annual meeting and exposition.

Approved designs for the 2018 World War I American Veterans Centennial silver dollar are expected to be unveiled Oct. 9 in Washington, D.C., nearly 10 months after they were originally scheduled to be released. On April 6, 1917, the U.S. joined its allies – Britain, France, and Russia – to fight in World War I. When the design competition was launched in February 2016, the contest calendar indicated release of the adopted designs would be announced in January 2017.

World War I Centennial Commission officials confirmed Aug. 29 the October unveiling date, but noted the event will not include release of the obverse and reverse designs for five American Armed Services 1-ounce .999 fine silver medals honoring the five branches of the U.S. military — United States Army, United States Navy, United States Marines, United States Air Force and United States Coast Guard.

While the commemorative silver dollar is congressionally authorized, the five silver medals are being produced separately by the U.S. Mint to augment the coin program. U.S. Mint officials have not announced details yet for the silver dollar release, although World War I Centennial Commission officials are anticipating a January issue.

Read more: World War I American Veterans Centennial silver dollar design unveiling set for Oct. 9

Council of National Defense: a little-known or appreciated WWI agency

Dr. Greg Bradsher
Senior Archivist, National Archives at College Park
via the Text Message Blog 

Among the wonderful sources at the National Archives for the study of World War I are the records of the Council of National Defense (Record Group 62). This Council touched the lives of every American, whether they realized it or not. The records, contained within one thousand boxes, provide a wealth of information about gearing up for war and about the home front during the war, particularly efforts for the mobilization of industries, resources, and the people of the United States for the effective conduct of the war.

Council of National Defense and Advisory Commission. Seated left to right, Secy. David F. Houston, (Agriculture) Secy. Josephus Daniels (Navy) Secy. Newton d. Baker, (War) Secy. Franklin K. Lane (Interior) Secy. Wm. B. Wilson (Labor), Standing: Grosvenor B. Clarkson, Secy, Julius Rosenwald, Bernard N. Baruch, Daniel Willard, Dr. F.H. Martin, Dr. Hollis Godfrey, Howard E. Coffin and W. S. Gifford, Director.The Council of National Defense was established by section 2 of the Army Appropriation Act of August 29, 1916 (39 Stat. 649), to coordinate industries and resources for the national security and welfare. The Council was to investigate and make recommendations regarding the availability, production, and increase of war supplies and transportation. It was the first of the large emergency Government agencies of World War I and became, in turn, the parent organization of most of the other special war agencies. The Council and an Advisory Commission, to be nominated later, were headed by a Chairman, and the administrative duties were exercised by a Director and a secretary.

The Council consisted of six Cabinet members: the Secretaries of Agriculture— David F. Houston, 1916-20, and Edwin T. Meredith, 1920-21; Commerce— William C. Redfield, 1916-19, and Joshua W. Alexander, 1919-21; the Interior— Franklin K. Lane, 1916-20, and John Barton Payne, 1920-21; Labor— William B. Wilson, 1916-21; the Navy— Josephus Daniels, 1916-21; and War— Newton Baker, 1916-21. Secretary of War Baker was Chairman of the Council.

The Council had its first meeting on December 6, 1916. The Council nominated to the President for appointment to an Advisory Commission seven persons, “each of whom shall have special knowledge of some industry, public utility, or the development of some natural resource, or be otherwise specifically qualified.” The Advisory Commission was to advise and assist the Council in the execution of its functions and to create relations that would render possible the immediate concentration and utilization of the resources of the Nation.

Read more: The Council of National Defense: Now a little-known or appreciated World War I Federal agency

How World War I was fought on the Hudson Valley Front 

One of the bloodiest conflicts in human history touched every part of New York State

By David Levine
via the Hudson Valley Magazine web site

In 1916, the US was gearing up for its entry into the war. Here the USS Arizona returns to New York City after initial sea trials.It was called the Great War, but it wasn’t. World War I was terrible — one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history, responsible for more than 17 million dead and 20 million wounded soldiers and civilians.

It was called the War to End All Wars, but it didn’t — it destroyed the old world order and set the stage for the even more devastating Second World War, along with the Russian revolution, and the Cold War.

When the United States entered the war 100 years ago, the country was a relatively minor player on the world stage. The war turned it into a world power. New York State, and the Hudson Valley, played a big part. The state provided the most men, money, and materiel, says Aaron Noble, senior historian and curator of political and military history, at the New York State Museum in Albany. “One in 10 soldiers was from New York State. Fourteen thousand New Yorkers died. Twenty-five New Yorkers got the Medal of Honor,” he says, all far more than any other state. New York was the wealthiest and most populous state, it had the most developed industrial base, and it was the financial capital of the world. “The war touched every part of the state,” Noble says. Here are some of the ways it touched the Hudson Valley.

Read more: How World War I was fought on the Hudson Valley Front

“Building an Army” – Missouri general developed system of military conscription used in WWI

By Jeremy Amick
via the War History Online web site

A Missouri native, Major General Enoch Crowder served his country for fifty years but has garnered greatest recognition for his implementation and administration of the military draft in WWI. Courtesy Museum of Missouri Military History.General John J. Pershing was a Missourian who gained notoriety during World War I for leading the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. His fame, however, has over the years eclipsed that of a fellow Missourian whose distinguished career was defined by his role in establishing a system of registering and classifying more than four million Americans for military service during WWI.

A native of Grundy County, Enoch Herbert Crowder was born on April 11, 1859, in the farming community of Edinburg near Trenton, Mo. As noted in David Lockmiller’s book aptly titled “Enoch H. Crowder: Soldier, Lawyer and Statesman,” during his boyhood, Crowder “preferred reading to plowing and found from experience that a combination of the two produced crooked rows.”

Crowder completed a course of study at a local college at the age of 16 and later taught at a rural school near Chillicothe. At the urging of his mother, he took the examination for the United States Military Academy at West Point and, as luck would have it, earned appointment to the academy in the fall of 1877 after the first nominee resigned his appointment.

For the next four years, he received a well-rounded education and in his senior year “studied civil and military engineering, Spanish law, military tactics, ordnance and gunnery,” Lockmiller wrote. Crowder “enjoyed listening to addresses and debates but disliked speaking in public,” the author further explained, but in the time leading up to his graduation from the academy in 1881, he “gradually overcame his shyness…”

The young officer was soon assigned to the 8th Cavalry at Fort Yates, N.D., with whom he remained until April 19, 1891, noted the 1890-1900 edition of the “Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy.”

He was briefly reassigned to serve as the professor of military science at the University of Missouri in Columbia. While serving in this capacity, he chose to continue his education and earned his bachelor’s degree in law, which would prove beneficial in later military appointments. 

Read more: “Building an Army” – Missouri general developed system of military conscription used in WWI

Commissioner Monahan addresses American Legion National Convention

"We owe Doughboys and our founders a debt"

By Jeff Stoffer
American Legion Media & Communication Director, and Editor of American Legion Magazine

United States World War One Centennial Commissioner Jack MonahanU.S. entry into World War I a little over a century ago, in April 1917, was the first step in what would become known as “the American century,” United States World War One Centennial Commissioner Jack Monahan of Connecticut told thousands of veterans gathered Wednesday in Reno, Nev., for the 99th National Convention of The American Legion.

“The cataclysm of the First World War changed everything,” said Monahan, The American Legion’s representative on the national commission. “Empires fell. The social and moral fabric of Europe was torn asunder. War was systematized and mechanized, resulting in death and destruction on an unprecedented scale.” He noted that of the 4.7 million Americans who served during the war, some 200,000 were wounded and more than 116,000 were killed or went missing.

The Great War, as it was then known, also brought into existence The American Legion, which quickly grew to become the nation’s largest veterans organization, a rank it continues to hold. That is why the World War I centennial and The American Legion legacy are tightly intertwined, Monahan explained.

“Why is this important to The American Legion? The spirit of the Doughboy – his courage, character, values and ideals, was the spirit, tempered in the crucible of combat, which formed the values of The American Legion. We Legionnaires stand on the shoulders of the giants who were our founders, all World War I veterans.”

The commission and The American Legion have been working together on multiple fronts, Monahan said, including:

• Read more: WW1CC Commissioner Monahan addresses American Legion National Convention

In defense of their new home: Indian Americans who fought for the United States in WWI

By Tanveer Kalo
Former World War One Centennial Commission intern, via American Bazaar Magazine

Bhagat Singh Thind in US ArmyVery few know that Indian Americans — or Asian Indians, as they have been officially called for decades — served in the United States military during World War I. Perhaps some Indian American history buffs might have read the story of the legendary Bhagat Singh Thind, whose legal battle to obtain citizenship for Indians is well documented.

Thind, who came to the United States for higher education in 1913 from the then-undivided Indian province of Punjab, was recruited by the US Army five years later. He obtained the US citizenship twice, but each time it was rescinded by the Immigration and Naturalization Service because he was not a “free white man.” Thind did eventually become a US citizen after an 18-year legal battle.

During a recent internship at the US World War One Centennial Commission in Washington, DC, I unearthed the stories of eight other Indian Americans who fought for the United States in World War 1, a truly a global war that had a diverse group of participants. Those eight soldiers are:

• Private Raghunath N. Banawalkar, who was born in Bombay, and arrived in the United States when he was 20;
• Ladli Prasada (L.P.) Varman, who was born in Saharanpur, which is now in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and came to the Washington state in 1913, at age of 23;
• Kekee H. Patell, who was born in Bombay, and immigrated to the United States before 1918;
• Ramchandra Dhondurao (R. D.) Shelke, who was born in Kolhapur (now in Maharashtra) and came to New York in 1914 to pursue higher education;
• Amulla M. Mukerji, who immigrated to the United States in 1915;
• Karm Chandra (K. C.) Kerwell, who was born in Lahore and came to the United States to study medicine.
• Devi Singh, who was born in Kharodi, near Bombay and immigrated to the United States before 1917; and
• Manganlall K. Pandit, who was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and came to the United States prior to 1917.

All the nine men came to the United States prior to the American entry to the war. They came from all walks of life and for different reasons. Some came for education, while others came for work. When the United States entered the war, some enlisted and others were drafted.

My interest in the Indian American soldiers was piqued during the internship at the Centennial Commission. Until then I knew only one Indian American who enlisted to serve in the US military: Thind.

At the Centennial Commission, I had a conversation with my supervisor Chris Christopher. When I told him that I knew of an Indian that served in the U.S. Army during World War I, Mr. Christopher encouraged me to find out more about him.

Read more: In defense of their new home: Indian Americans who fought for the United States in World War I

World War I veteran American Legion founder remembered in Reno

By Jeff Stoffer
American Legion Media & Communication Director, and Editor of American Legion Magazine

Lt. Col. Thomas W. Miller did not have a gavel when he assumed chairmanship of the Paris Caucus on March 17, 1919. So the former congressman from Delaware pulled from his pocket an 1873 silver dollar that he always carried and rapped it on the table. The final day of the first gathering of what would become The American Legion was under his command.

100th Anniversary Observance Committee Chairman and Past National Commander David Rehbein trims the grass and scours the bronze marker of American Legion Founder Thomas W. Miller. (Photo by Holly K. Soria/The American Legion)Ninety-eight years later, at the Masonic Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Reno, Nev., Miller’s grave was trimmed, cleaned and presented a U.S. flag, an American Legion flag, a United States World War I Centennial Commission coin and an American Legion 100th Anniversary coin.

“I think this is something that needs to be a regular tradition,” American Legion Department of Nevada Commander Yvette Weigold said at a Saturday graveside ceremony to remember Miller. “We need to pay him that honor.”

“This should be a place of pilgrimage for The American Legion and the Department of Nevada,” agreed Jack Monahan of Connecticut, a member of the United States World War I Centennial Commission. “This is one of the most historically significant American Legion sites in the state.”

Monahan, American Legion 100th Anniversary Observance Committee Chairman and Past National Commander David K. Rehbein of Iowa and Denise Rohan of Wisconsin, leading candidate to serve as the next national commander of The American Legion, were among many dignitaries of the organization who participated in the commemoration.

“I met Thomas Miller and knew who he was,” said G. Michael Schlee, chairman of The American Legion’s National Security Commission. “I remember that he was a presence, every time he entered a room.”

Lt. Col. Miller was no ordinary doughboy.

A Yale graduate who took his military training at the Plattsburgh, N.Y., camp for college-educated men during the Preparedness Movement at the same time he was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1915, Miller was the son of a Delaware governor and had served as secretary of state there. Defeated in 1916 by 153 votes in his bid for a second term in Congress, Miller enlisted in the Army after the United States declared war in April 1917. Miller started out as a private in an infantry company but was swiftly made a corporal thanks to his earlier training. Initially passed up for combat service due to his eyesight, Miller persisted and was later commissioned as a signal corps captain. He made his way to France with the 79th Division in 1918 and fought in the Meuse-Argonne battle where he a received a Purple Heart and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

In March 1919, Miller was among the American Expeditionary Forces personnel still occupying Europe after the armistice that ended the Great War four months earlier. He heard about a gathering of troops in Paris who were talking about a new veterans organization and decided to check it out.

Read more: World War I veteran American Legion founder remembered in Reno

An interview with Samantha Marie Ensenat

My internship with the World War One Centennial Commission

By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, U.S. World War One Centennial Commission

At the World War I Centennial Commission, we have an amazing team of volunteers. Among them are the college- and graduate-level interns. They come to us every semester, and during the summer, as well, from all over the Unites States, and even places beyond -- China, South Korea, and Northern Ireland, to name a few. They spend their workdays with us, getting hands-on experience with our public affairs, fundraising, legislative affairs, operations, and administrative efforts. Our professional staff is very small, so the contributions that these remarkable people make toward our mission has a major impact on our success.  Find out more about being a Commission intern here. Find out more about becoming a volunteer here.

One of our outstanding interns was Samantha Marie Ensenat, who came to us from Florida International University, in Miami, FL. She was a Fundraising intern, and worked as part of the team of interns that led a legislative outreach on Capitol Hill before Congress adjourned for the summer. Samantha recently wrote a story about her experience for the web site at FIU, which we re-publish below.

"It’s the best job I’ve ever had."

Name: Samantha Marie Ensenat

Major: Interdisciplinary Studies

Where were you interning? World War One Centennial Commission

What was your title? Fundraising Intern – Development Team

How did you get your internship? I was referred to it as an option to apply to through The Washington Center, which is how I was housed for the summer and was also part of a professional development program withSamantha Marie Ensenat.

What projects have you worked on? I was part of the team of interns that led a legislative outreach on Capitol Hill before they adjourned for the summer. We compiled facts surrounding each states’ involvement in the first world war and wrote letters for each representative using those facts to generate interest and support for the commission and our push for funding a national memorial in Pershing Park by 2019.

It resulted in us getting language supporting donations for the commission in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. I also tracked down the genealogical history of several VIP’s key to getting donations in the $50,000 to $4 million range.

How does your internship connect to your current coursework? As a recent graduate, I have a background in education. Preservation of national history and aggregation of knowledge for educational purposes is a pretty natural fit, although I had never heard of the commission prior to my Washington Center acceptance. I hadn’t considered an internship like this at any time in my search.

What was the coolest thing that has happened thus far in your internship? The freedom I had to follow my ideas to fruition. Interns outnumbered staffers by more than double so essentially we were running the show independently a lot of the time. Anytime I came up with something to check out as a possible lead, I was given time to pursue that idea.

I went to the Library of Congress and worked with a genealogy librarian to help move along the process of finding draft cards of our potential supporters’ ancestors. We were all privy to important meetings in addition to the daily staff meeting and encouraged to voice our thoughts and developments in our assignments. We got exclusive presentations about how airplanes shaped the war and all wars that followed. It was amazing.

Read more: An interview with Samantha Marie Ensenat