On August 5th, 2018, the U.S. Army Center for Military History, and the Army National Guard, conducted a remembrance ceremony at the Flanders Field American Cemetery in Belgium to honor America’s war dead from World War I. Several United States World War 1 Centennial Commission commissioners attended the event. Of the ceremony, General Kadavy said "It was overwhelming to host a memorial ceremony for our fallen Soldiers at Flanders Field American Cemetery. We owe it to those who have made the last full measure of devotion. Humbled by those who have led before us." Read more about this solemn and beautiful ceremony here.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has issued a proclamation calling for bells to be tolled in Maryland on November 11, 2018 at 11:00 am in remembrance of veterans of World War I. The proclamation coincides with a call by the United States World War I Centennial Commission for all Americans to participate in a national tolling of bells. Read the entire Maryland Bells of Peace proclamation here. Want to know more about Bells of Peace taking place November 11, 2018?  Click here to find out how you and your church, school, community organization, veterans group, firehouse, or anyone else with a bell to ring can participate in this growing national commemoration event.

United States World War I Centennial Commission Veterans Service Organizations & Military Director David Hamon was on hand to assist last week as Purple Hearts Reunited presented the Purple Heart Medal earned by Private First Class Joseph Hish, who was wounded by mustard gas during World War I, to his son and grandson during a ceremony in Washington, DC. Read more about Purple Hearts Reunited and this moving ceremony here.

The Boston Globe newspaper has put the spotlight on one of the awardees in the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials program, sponsored by the United States World War I Centennial Commission  and and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago. A shining light atop Mount Greylock, the state’s highest peak, the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Tower received one of 100 grants to assist in refurbishing memorials during the WWI Centennial Commemoration in the United States. Read the entire Boston Globe article here. The local Berkshire Eagle newspaper also covered the award ceremony at the Mount Greylock Memorial which featured remarks by Commissioner Jack Monahan (left) and Colonel Jennifer Pritzker of PMML.  Read the entire Berkshire Eagle article here.  Though the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials competition has ended, the Commission is still looking for WWI Memorials across the nation to be listed in the US WW1 Memorial Register. Is there a WWI Memorial in your state, county, city, or local area that is not in the Register? You can add it to the Register through the Memorial Hunters Club--click here for more information.

Free-lance writer Doug Bigelow was perusing the historical newspaper files on microfiche in the local library in Oswego, NY years ago when he came across a photograph of the 1915 Oswego Shakespeares. "The what?" Doug (just like you) asked himself, but moved on to other things. Years later, another chance encounter led him back to a remarkable story of football on the Great Lakes during World War I. As America enters the 100th football season since World War I, Doug's book Gridiron On The Great Lake – The 1918 Fort Ontario Army Football Team offers a timely and fascinating look not only at "an unbeaten, unscored upon powerhouse" football team, but also how Americans and American sports managed and adjusted during the Great War. Click here to read more about how this book came to be written.

In August 3rd's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 83, Bill Jackson, an archivist for Harley Davidson, joined host Theo Mayer to tell the story of this iconic company and its motorcycles in the Great War, including how the very first American to set foot on German soil on November 12 of 1918, the day after the Armistice, was a corporal named Roy Holtz of the US Army who actually entered Germany riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and sidecar. To get your motor running, click here to read a transcript of the interview.

In August 3rd's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 83, Tracy Robinson from the Daughters of the American Revolution joined host Theo Mayer to discuss the contributions of the DAR during the Great War, including the aptly named "re-chickenization" of France, part of the work that the DAR took on for post-war Europe. And the work was something to crow about!  (We're just trying to egg you on to click here to read a transcript of the interview.)

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.  Spotify  listen on Youtube. New - Comment and ask questions via twitter @TheWW1podcast

Episode #84

Highlights:
Japan In WWI

Japan in WWI - Dr. Frederick Dickinson | @02:15

Chaos on the Eastern Front - Mike Shuster | @10:05

The 28th Division: Pennsylvania National Guard doughboys fight - Dr. Edward Lengel | @13:50

Great War Channel three month retrospective - Indy Neidell | @20:05

Battle of Amiens Commemoration - Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge & others | @21:50

WW1 War Tech: Dazzle Camouflage | @24:40

Special Report: 1418NOW Dazzle Ship Series - Tamsin Dillon & Emma Enderby | @30:05

100 Cities / 100 Memorials: Iowa - Timothy Lane | @38:00

Speaking WWI: The Third Light | @43:50

Dispatch Newsletter: Highlights and Headlines | @45:05

The Buzz: The Commemoration in Social Media - Katherine Akey | @48:20

The Debt of WWII French Resistance Writers to WWI Veterans

Many French writers who took part in the  WWII Resistance, known as "The Army of Shadows," did so because they felt they owed a debt to the veterans of WWI. The fighters of the Great War included Jews, Communists, and men from the colonies, all of whom became victims of Nazism in the France they had defended just twenty years prior. This week, WWrite takes a look at WWII writer-resisters like Victor Basch, Albert Camus, Jean Moulin, and Louis Aragon, and the ways their written work and their battle against the Nazis were inspired by the sacrifices of WWI soldiers. Read this insightful post on the WWI origins of the French Resistance against the Nazis.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Monday's MIA this week is Corporal Charles W. Thompson. The son of John F. and Rose Thompson, Charles was born May 29th, 1887, in Sparksville, Indiana. Corporal Thompson was a farmer when he enlisted in the regular army on March 9th, 1915 at Brownstown, Indiana. Assigned to Company H of the 16th Infantry he went to El Paso, Texas during the border crisis. He then went to France with the first American combat contingent to go over in June, 1917. In France he was assigned to Company B, 2nd Machine Gun Battalion, 1st Division and with them was in the Lorraine Sector, Toul Sector, Picardy and the Battle of Cantigny. He was killed in action on July 19th, 1918 at Soissons. Nothing else is known of his case at this time.

Would you like to help us solve this case? 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.

U.S. Army “Doughboy” Window Decal

Featuring the iconic Doughboy silhouette flanked by barbed wire so prevalent during WWI, you can proudly display this poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by U.S. soldiers.  

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this item are designated to help build the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC. You can lend your support, and help promote the efforts, by showcasing this custom window decal.

A Certificate of Authenticity as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial is included.

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

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