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Innovative "Poppy Program" launched this week to support National World War I Memorial
The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission has launched its nationwide "WW1 Poppy Program" to enable groups across the country to support construction of the new National World War One Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington, DC, while also raising funds for their own organization. The “WW1 Poppy kits” neatly package 60 poppy seed packets, to be used in fund-raisers for veteran service organizations, state WW1 centennial organizations, 100 Cities / 100 Memorials projects, or even scout troops, school and churches. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is officially announcing and endorsing the Poppy Program to its membership this week, and other national, state, and local organizations will be joining the program as well. The red poppy is an internationally recognized symbol of remembrance for veteran sacrifice. Each seed packet sparks awareness and conversation about the Centennial of WW1, and helps honor the legacy of the 4.7 million American veterans who served during the Great War. Click here to get all the information about how your organization can become part of this terrific program.
WW1CC.org/poppy
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Colorado WW1 Centennial web site now live
Welcome Colorado! The Colorado World War One Centennial Commission's new website is now officially operational at ww1cc.org/colorado. It is the first Mountain state to go live. At the new "Colorado in World War I" web site you will find information and photos that tell the story of Colorado in the great war, as well as an event calendar and a growing map of the state’s World War One monuments, memorials, and historical sites. The CO development team will be joining us on the all new WW1 Centennial News Podcast show on Wednesday, February 22 or 28 to tell you more about their state program. We invite you to register for the WW1 Centennial News live show. Colorado joins a growing number of state sites hosted by the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission. To see the other states’ sites, click here.
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The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission is preparing for a major national event on April 6th, 2017, to mark the 100th anniversary of America's entry into the war. Titled “In Sacrifice for Liberty and Peace: Centennial Commemoration of the U.S. Entry into World War I,” the event will take place at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Matthew Naylor, President and CEO of the Museum, is a Commissioner on the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission. In an interview he talks with about the event, the significance of WW1, and why the Museum and Memorial is the right location for this commemorative event. Click here to read the whole interview.
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U.S. World War I Centennial Commission Diplomatic Advisory Board member Carol Mosley Braun (right, top) pens an inspiring Op-Ed this week for the Military Times publications about the 350,000 African-Americans who served in the U.S. armed forces during World War I. Soldiers like her own grandfather, Thomas Davie (right, bottom), attached to the Army’s 10th Calvary Regiment, served with honor and earned respect from American troops, Allied service members, and eventually the American public. The former Ambassador and Senator points out that the roots of the civil rights movement that swept America in the 1960s were planted through the heroic service of African-Americans 50 years earlier on the front lines of World War I. Read the entire thoughtful Op-Ed here.
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American Legion Post 196 in Brownwood, Texas submits their 100 C/ 100 M Matching Grant proposal.
The World War I Memorial was located behind a bush, and most people had forgotten about it. With the help of the Central Texas Veterans' Memorial committee, the original World War I Memorial was moved from its old location to a new Central Texas Veterans' Memorial location in the 36th Division Memorial Park in Brownwood.
Read about their great project and see the interesting photos on the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials blog.
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African American WW1 Veterans' Wives discover equality on the other side of the ocean.
This week, WWrite Blog Curator, Jennifer Orth-Veillon, offers her post entitled "On A Boat Alone," as she discusses the "Gold Star Pilgrimage," a U.S.-government sponsored program that brought wives to burial sites and battle grounds in Europe post WWI. She focuses on the African American women who took these trips and discovered equality, not in their own country, but on the other side of the ocean.
Read the article on the Commission's WWrite Blog
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Show your support for the WW1 veterans and the Centennial by proudly flying the official WW1 Centennial colors!
This is the new official WW1 Centennial Flag, now available in the Commission's Merchandise Shop. The flag made of durable nylon and measures 3'x5' showing the iconic Doughboy silhouette digitally screened onto it.
We learned last week that these colors are now flying at the American Legion's National Headquarters.
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A Story of Service from the Stories of Service section of ww1cc.org
Submitted by: Ethel Lee Douglas Lawson (niece)
Lee Roy "LeRoy" Appleton served in World War One with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 15 May 1917 - 23 Nov 1917.
My Uncle LeRoy Appleton served in WWI as a private in Co. G of the 144th U.S. Infantry. He was 25 years old when he enlisted May 15, 1917.
Many years ago my mother, Ethel Mae Appleton Douglas, told me an interesting story about my Uncle LeRoy and my father, John Albert Douglas.
My mother and her brother had been very close all of their lives, since the death of their mother at an early age. When my mother had not heard from her brother for a very long time, she became extremely worried for fear he had been killed or wounded so badly he could not write letters. After unsuccessfully trying to console my mother, my father decided to get on the train from Texas to New York. That’s where the troops came in from the European war zone and where war records were kept.
My father searched and searched, finally finding Uncle Leroy in a hospital so “doped up” that he had no awareness of what was going on around him. My father was told that Uncle LeRoy’s entire unit, troop (or whatever it was), had all died from disease or gas poisoning. My uncle was expected to die too, but hadn’t died yet, so he was just being kept “doped”, expected to die at any time.
My father checked Uncle LeRoy out of the hospital and took him home, where my family cared for him and got him off the drugs. Uncle LeRoy married one of my mother’s best friends and lived into his eighties.
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