On 3 November 1917, Corporal James Gresham, and Privates Thomas Enright and Merle Hay, were killed in action during a German trench raid near the little village of Bathelémont, France. These soldiers -- all members of F Company, 16th Infantry -- were the first three American soldiers killed in combat in World War I. The 16th Infantry Regiment Association will honor Gresham with the dedication of a plaque at his mother’s home in Evansville, Indiana, at 10:00 am, on 3 November 2017.  We spoke to the Association's President, Steven E. Clay, about about the First Three and the remembrance of all the 16th Infantry's soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Earlier this month, the city of Versailles France rededicated a pair of major memorial statues in their city -- one to WWI American General John Pershing, and the other to American Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de La Fayette. These statues were conceived and started after the close of World War I, as a thank-you and remembrance of the fraternity between the U.S. and France. However, the peace after World War I was imperfect, and the permanent statues were not completed -- until this month. Our Commissioner Monique Seefried attended the re-dedication ceremony at Versailles, and she talked to us from France about the event, the statues, and what they mean.

Sculptor Sabin Howard has published an absorbing meditation on art, his own art, and the evolution of the design for the new National World War I Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington, DC. Through a series of personal vignettes, Howard details the intertwining of classical and historical themes and technology from which the Memorial bas-relief sculpture is emerging. Read all about Howard's personal journey toward "creating a sacred art of re-humanization" as he "left behind that realm of esoteric creation and moved into the realm of artistic creation that is in service of many."

When President Woodrow Wilson issued the declaration of war against Germany April 6, 1917, he told the American people that "the supreme test of the nation has come. We must all speak, act, and serve together." While American troops fought in the trenches of Europe, United States Marshals protected the home front against enemy aliens, spies, saboteurs, and slackers. Read more about the responsibilities and activities of U.S. Marshals during World War I here.

Robert "Fightin' Bob" La Follette was one of the most hated men in America when he took the U.S. Senate floor on October 6, 1917. Vicious caricatures depicted the Wisconsin senator receiving the German Iron Cross medal and holding a German spiked helmet. Theodore Roosevelt, La Follette’s old rival in the Progressive movement, called La Follette “the most sinister foe of democracy in this country” and told an audience that he wished “we could make him a gift to the Kaiser for use in his Reichstag.” His transgression? Opposing the United States’ entry into World War I. Read the entire La Follette story here.

As Europe was ravaged by fighting in World War I, German immigrants in the US suffered harassment, internment, lynchings - and even the humiliation of being tarred and feathered. Although a little-remembered part of history today, America was completely wracked by the fear and paranoia that swept from coast to coast during the Great War. The United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 and helped lead the Allies to victory. But before victory came, many Americans were terrified of the potential home-grown German threat .A fascinating collection of photos have resurfaced showing the hardships faced by German-Americans at the brutal height of the First World War. Read the entire Daily Mail article about the plight of Germans in the U.S.

Do you like learning about World War I in new and exciting ways? If you said yes, then it’s time to check out ww1cc.org/video! The Video Library on the World War One Centennial Commission Website is a collection of videos created by the Commission and produced by other organizations.  The videos vary in length but all of the videos provide interesting facts and figures about the Great War. Many of the videos provide information about the Commission and the forthcoming World War I Memorial in Pershing Park. Other videos serve as educational tools that trace the events during and people of World War I.   One of the videos to check out is a commemorative ceremony in Kansas City from April 2017. The moving ceremony uses music, anecdotes, and narrations to show how the Great War sparked “The American Century.”  Another video to explore is a presentation called the “Impact on the Nursing Profession.” In this video, several Army Medical Historians discuss the how World War I generated an incredible growth in the number of nurses. This video even includes some incredible World War I photography!   There are many different videos to watch in the Video Library. Visit ww1cc.org/video to discover and learn about World War I today.  

The WW1 Centennial News Podcast is about WW1 THEN: 100 years ago this week, and it's about WW1 NOW: News and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.   

Available on our web site, iTunes, Google Play, and TuneIn.

Episode 42
Highlights:

Trading With The Enemy Act |@01:15

Mata Hari is executes - Mike Shuster |@06:10

Little companies big ideas - War in the Sky |@09:50

Gilder Lehrman Institute program - Tim Bailey |@14:30

Speaking WWI: “Short Hairs” |@ 21:20

100 Cities / 100 Memorials genesis and future - Ken Clarke |@22:40

100 Cities / 100 Memorials profile - Memorial to US Air Service - Michael O’neal and Robert Kasprzak |@30:35

Kiwis Commemorate Passchendaele |@37:00

Michigan sign WWI Centennial Commission into law |@39:00

Madame Curie in WWI |@39:40

Are war wives war poets, too? 

Can we consider those women who write about the contortions on domestic life and feminine sensibility wrought by war as veteran writers?

Author, veteran, and teacher, Peter Molin, explores the question this week in a post about poet Aline Murray Kilmer, wife of well-known American WWI poet, Joyce Kilmer, who was killed during the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918. 

Throughout Joyce's deployment and then after his death, the words of Aline's poetry, in ambiguous ways, convey the urgency and nuance of a war wife's uncertainty as she finds her tranquility and self-worth vexingly dependent on her husband, even in his permanent absence. 

Don't miss this rich, insightful post about the often-overlooked and, yes, war poet, Aline Kilmer!

“Liberty Bond Poster"  Buying it is your DUTY! $12.50

100 years ago this month, the Wilson Administration was in the midst of their second Liberty Bond Drive. 

By this week, a century ago, they had sold over $2 Billion of bonds - by convincing Americans that it was their DUTY to support the war effort through buying Liberty Bonds.

Well, we want to convince YOU that it is YOUR duty to support the commemoration of WWI by buying this liberty bond theme poster.

We don't need $2 billion - but we do need your help which you can do by buying really cool Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

THANK YOU.