“Sgt Stubby: An American Hero” opens nationwide on April 13, 2018. The film, endorsed by the United States World War One Centennial Commission, is getting rave reviews from premiere screenings, and is putting the spotlight on efforts to memorialize the film's title character in its home state. The computer-animated biographical family adventure war drama film centers on Sergeant Stubby, a stray Boston Terrier who eventually becomes a hero during World War I for his keen instincts and fierce loyalty, and is still recognized as the most decorated canine in American history.  To hear how kids responded to the preview premiere of “Sgt Stubby: An American Hero” check out the March 30 edition of the WW1 Centennial News Podcast here.

Stubby's home town of Hartford, CT is holding a street fair on April 8 in Stubby’s honor, featuring a World War I-era ambulance, a 1916 Model T Ford, a 1914 French Renault tank, historical re-enactors, National Guard working dogs doing demonstrations and modern military equipment. It was in New Haven where the men of Connecticut’s 102nd Infantry Regiment, 26th division, were training on Yale Field. During the drills and exercises, a dock-tailed puppy wandered onto the field and took a liking to one soldier in particular, Robert Conroy,  who named his newfound friend Stubby, after the pup’s stubby tail. Conroy became so attached to Stubby that when the 102nd shipped out to Europe a few weeks later, he smuggled the pup onto the troop ship, concealing him in a long field coat and hiding him in the coal hold. Thus, a legend was born. Read more about how Hartford is commemorating the man, the dog, and their legend here.

In Middleton, CT,  the city’s tranquil park that honors 65 Connecticut heroes who lost their lives in service to the country will soon include a tribute to a very special service dog. Some 25 people gathered recently at Veterans Memorial Park to reveal plans for a bronze statue to be erected this spring in the entrance way area of the Connecticut Trees of Honor to memorialize Sgt. Stubby. It took more than 30 years for the Deane family find the perfect resting place for America’s best-known military working dog,   “It really is a fulfillment of promise I made to my grandfather back in the ‘80s," said Curt Deane, grandson of Robert Conroy. "When I realized it was the centennial (of the U.S. involvement in World War I), it was the right time to do it.” Read more here about the bronze memorial that will join tributes other Connecticut heroes.

Test your knowledge about the role of the United States in the First World War!   The U.S. National Archives recently created a new WWI quiz for the public. The 15 questions cover U.S. involvement, the battles fought, and how the public kept up the war effort on the home front.  The National Archives also recently created a pair of remarkable portals of WWI resources and research aids. They include some rare unusual items, like digitized imagery & celebrity draft cards.These great portals can be found here:  https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww1  -and- https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/ww1

Ronald Snip is the author of a new illustrated travel guide about World War I, which describes the area between the city Reims (Marne) to Saint-Mihiel (Meuse) as well as Moselle and Haut-Rhin. It is the only up-to-date, English travel guide that clearly describes the remnants of the First World War in these regions. Each topic covers two pages, with the GPS coordinates, address, location information and a detailed map in addition to images of the location, as well as a web page where additional information can be found. Find out more about this free guide to WWI battlefields here.

Midway Village Museum will host the 6th annual Great War event, a WWI military event that features over 225 re-enactors portraying soldiers and civilians from the United States and Europe in the museum’s historic village. Visitors engage in this unique historic, immersive experience with the opportunity to enter encampments, tour a reproduction 150 yard trench system, and watch large-scale narrated battle reenactments. For a complete listing of scheduled activities, log onto www.midwayvillage.com.

A new exhibition marking the centenary of the United States’ role in the Great War is opening this week at the American Museum in Bath. 'Side by Side: America and World War I' seeks to tell the stories of ordinary Americans as the country joined the conflict in Europe. Centenarynews.com reporter Patrick Gregory reports on the exhibition that is presenting a snapshot of the country and its people at the beginning of what was to become the American Century. Read more about the exhibit here.

A century after World War I ended, discarded munitions from that and other wars continue to make their way onto beaches around the country.Items ranging from tiny fuses to full-scale mines are displaced by beach replenishment projects, sucked from the ocean floor and pumped ashore, or by strong storms that uncover them. The most recent discovery came in March 2018 when seven WWI rifle grenades were found on the beach in Mantoloking, New Jersey, which is undergoing a beach replenishment project to undo damage from Superstorm Sandy more than five years ago. Read more about how these grim reminders of the Great War still end up on the beaches of New Jersey and other states 100 years after the war's end.

Easter Sunday, March 31, 1918, was a bittersweet observance, full of dark humor and gas masks on the front lines of World War I. Soldiers couldn’t help but compare their lives before the war and their current circumstances on the battlefield in a combination of hope and dread. Writing in the Temple Daily Telegram in Temple, TX, reporter Patricia Benoit gathers an assortment of reflections by American soldiers on the French battlefront on the occasion of Easter 1918, and the impending great battles. Read the thoughtful compilation here.

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, Podbean, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio on Demand. NEW Now listen on Spotify.

Episode #65
Highlights: Draftees Ship Out! 

Update on the Spring Offensive - Mike Shuster | @02:25

America Emerges: The Draftees Ship Out - Edward Lengel | @06:20

Don’t send the boys “Dainties” by parcel post! | @11:40

Remembering Veterans: The Women’s Overseas Service League - Cathleen Cordova | @16:45

Updates from the States: Idaho Commission - K.C.Piccard and Frank Krone | @21:55

Spotlight in the Media: Sgt. Stubby Premiere | @27:35

100C/100M: Glen Carbon IL - Linda Sinco | @32:45

100C/100M: Appleton, WI - Alexander Schultz | @38:35

Speaking WW1: Tommy | @44:45

WW1 War Tech: The Little Curie | @46:20

The Dispatch Newsletter | @48:05 

The Buzz - The Centennial in Social Media - Katherine Akey | @49:25

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Monday's MIA this week is Private Edwin C. Kitterman of New Middletown, Indiana. He entered the army in September, 1917, and went to Camp Taylor, Kentucky for training. Following his training, he was sent to Company K/120th Infantry/30th Division at Cap Sevier, South Carolina, with who he went to France in May of 1918. In France, the 30th Division was brigaded with the British Expeditionary Force up in the Somme River sector (along with the US 27th Division). Private Kitterman was killed in action at Bellecourt, France on September 29th, 1918 and had been initially buried in US Temporary Cemetery #636 at Bony, Department of the Aisne, France. What happened to him following is still a mystery. Doughboy MIA is awaiting paperwork to begin an investigation. 

Can you spare just ten dollars? Give 'Ten For Them' to Doughboy MIA and help us make a full accounting of the 4,423 American service personnel still listed as missing in action from WW1. Make your tax deductible donation now, with our thanks.

Poppy seed pack: $64.99

Plant a garden of poppies this spring. At just over $1.00 a seed packet, this is not only a fundraiser program, but actually a reasonably inexpensive poppy seed source for your own beds.

These WW1 Poppy Kits contain 60 Poppy seed packs each.

The red poppy has become the internationally recognized symbol of remembrance for veteran sacrifice. It all began on a war-torn battlefield during World War One, when the crimson petals caught the eye of a soldier named John McCrae, inspiring the poem – “In Flanders Field”.  The flower celebrates the service of more than 4.7 million Americans who served during WW1, and honors the 116,516 who died on the battlefields of Europe. 

When assembled, WW1 Poppy Kits are 4 x 4 x 5" and feature McCrae's poem, as well as an area where you can brand the kit to your organization for fundraising, with a label you can print yourself. 

Each poppy seed packet contains approximately 100mg of seeds.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

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