The Van Antwerp family with the Governors Special Tribute,
Michigan celebrates the life of Eugene I VanAntwerp during special event for Armistice Day Centennial in Detroit
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
The Michigan World War I Centennial Committee hosted a special commemorative ceremony last week, to honor a heroic native-son, and to dedicate this year's Veterans Day/Armistice Day to his memory. Our Centennial Commission was represented at the ceremony by Commissioner Debra Anderson.
Mayor Van AntwerpThat native-son was Eugene I. VanAntwerp, former mayor of Detroit from 1948-1959, and National Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars 1938-1939.
When World War I broke out, Eugene VanAntwerp was doing engineering work first for the Michigan Central Railroad and then for the Grand Trunk Railroad, connecting Canada with the United States.
He accepted a commission, and served as a captain in 16th Regiment of Engineers(Railway) from Detroit in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War I. With that unit, he was among the first members of the Allied Expeditionary Force to land in France, serving in 1917-1919, and using his unique skills, he helped to recreate the limited railroad system of France, in order to support the massive influx of American troops during the war.
VanAntwerp's military career was symbolic of a huge industrial effort by the United States -- and by Michigan -- to bring an end to the fighting in Europe.
Connecticut Fights, The Story of the 102nd Regiment
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
Our friends at the Connecticut State Library have released the limited first edition republished “Connecticut Fights: The Story of the 102nd Regiment” by Capt. Daniel Strickland. This book is a remarkable account of the World War I experiences of this legendary infantry regiment. Christine Pittsley, Project Director for the Connecticut State Library's "Remembering World War One: Sharing History/Preserving Memories" shared the announcement with us.
Connecticut Fights, The Story of the 102nd Regiment Limited Edition Now Available
Story by Christine Pittsley, Connecticut State Library
The Connecticut State Library, in collaboration with the Connecticut Heritage Foundation, is pleased to announce a limited edition republishing of Captain Daniel W. Strickland's Connecticut Fights: The Story of the 102nd Regiment, which was privately published in 1930 by Captain Strickland.
Connecticut Fights, as originally published in 1930 (left) and in the new limited edition volume republished by the Connecticut State Library to support the State Library's Remembering World War One Project.In 1937, the State Library purchased from Captain Strickland the unsold bound and unbound copies of the book. The unbound copies remained in the State Library until this year, when the decision was made to bind them and issue them as a limited edition commemorative volume to mark the centennial of World War I.
State Historian Walter Woodward has written a new foreword and Major General Francis Evon, Adjutant General, Connecticut National Guard, has written a new afterword which brings the story of the 102d up to the present. The limited edition of 275 copies is being offered on a first come, first served basis.
Read more: Connecticut Fights, The Story of the 102nd Regiment
Four Questions for Leroy Transfield
"I so wanted to create a great design!"
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
Author's note: We bring you this story as a repeat from November of last year. The U.S. Mint's 2018 World War I Commemorative Silver Dollar is a collectible coin that is only available for another four weeks. The coin makes a wonderful holiday present -- and it gives you the opportunity to directly participate in the creation of the new National World War I Memorial in Washington DC. A $10.00 surcharge from every coin sale will go to our Centennial Commission to help build the Memorial.
In October 2017, the U.S. Mint unveiled their design for the new 2018 World War I Centennial Silver Dollar. The coin is to honor the 4.7 million American men and women who served in the war, and a surcharge from the proceeds have been authorized to go to support the activities of our U.S. World War I Centennial Commission. The designer of the Centennial Silver Dollar is Leroy Transfield, He is an experienced sculptor from New Zealand. His design was picked through an open international competition, hosted by the U.S. Mint, and this is his first coin for them. We talked to him about the coin, the inspiration, and his own personal ties to World War I.
Congratulations! You have designed a coin for the U.S. Mint! What does it feel like? How did they let you know? It was an open design competition. How did you hear about it, and what was that process.
LeRoy TransfieldI heard about it through the Mint website. They did a good page on it that got me excited. I have always wanted to do a coin and a war theme is something I am familiar with.
Tell us about the coin you designed, and the symbolism in the artwork, the creative decisions you made,
I recently created a personal essay on that topic for the U.S. Mint, which I have included below, in whole.
-You have personal connection to World War I. And you also have an interesting background -- growing up in New Zealand, training as a sculptor. Tell us about yourself.
Yes, I have always loved 3-D sculpting. In New Zealand Maoris were prodigious wood carvers going back many centuries. I learnt to sculpt at Brigham Young University. They had a very good program there with students from the Pacific and US mainland. My teacher was Jan Fisher (1938 to 2016). He was a good example of hard work and inspiration. I actually came to Utah to go and get my graduate degree but was rejected from the program so decided to open my own studio and start taking on commissions and selling pieces in galleries. It was extremely challenging and we went through a lot of hard times but at the same time most rewarding and a great time in my life. On top of that I really improved as an artist which I attribute to going through the refiners fire.
My grandmothers brother Huriwhenua Taiaroa and her cousin Te Oti Taiaroa fought in World War I. They came back and died in the 1930’s. On my grandfather's side, they fought in World War II.
Read more: Four Questions for Leroy Transfield November 2018
"Veterans, Write Your Story"
By Dr. Matthew Naylor
via the Veterans Voices web site
“It’s taken a long time, four years and half of the sort of thing that France has been through is tremendous... I was talking last night with a [French] mother who gave her two boys and her husband and now is all alone who told me “Why should not I be glad? My two boys and my good man are gone it is true, but there are so many others. The war, it is finished, thanks to the good God.”
– November 11, 1918, Ned Henschel
As we approach the centennial of the armistice that helped end World War I, the writings of those men and women who lived and died during “the war to end all wars” continue to resonate among Americans. It is their written words and oral histories that not only inform the scholarship surrounding this important event, but also act as integral parts of the National WWI Museum and Memorial, which tells that global story.
As historians, we consider these accounts vital to our understanding of the past. Whether fiction, like Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms or Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, or nonfiction, like Ernst Junger’s Storm of Steel or Hervey Allen’s Toward the Flame, they provide their audience with a testament of the war experience. Such accounts are invaluable, as there are no longer any similar living connections to the Great War.
Although World War I has been cast as a “forgotten war,” recent scholarship attests to the fact that World War I veterans originally shared their stories on levels like that of other wars throughout the 20th century. The growing ambiguity regarding American involvement in the war, however, combined with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 and American entry into World War II in 1941, largely relegated the numerous volumes of poetry, prose, fiction, and nonfiction, to the sidelines of history. With the 50th anniversary of the country’s entry into the war coinciding with the height of the Vietnam War, the potential resurgence of war writings was greatly minimized.
Research also shows that sharing the veteran experience empowers the serviceperson and benefits their community. It informs our present understanding of both the military and the veteran experience, fostering a connection between the two while also deepening the connection between society and the military. This is important, given the visible presence of veterans in communities across the country and the continued U.S. military presence overseas. The need for and reliance on veteran writings will be no less important to future generations than those of the First World War are to us now.
From the World War I Centennial News Podcast
Historian Corner: David Pietrusza
In November 2nd's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 96, host Theo Mayer spoke with historian David Pietrusza about one of history's deadliest pandemics, the Spanish Flu. This virus wreaked havoc on the war-weary peoples of the world, killing an estimated 50 to 100 million. Despite its massive impact, the history of the Spanish Flu is largely forgotten or ignored in the broader discussion of WW1. Mr. Pietrusza answers questions about the origins and consequences of the Spanish Flu, and why so little attention is paid to it. The following is a transcript of the interview, edited for clarity:
Theo Mayer: 
David PietruszaThe Centennial of the Armistice looms large right now, but as the fighting on the Western Front came to an end November 11th, 100 years ago, one of the fiercest and deadliest enemies did not come to the table, did not sign the Armistice and went on killing without mercy. There was no Armistice to be had with the Spanish flu. Earlier this year in Episode 70 we spoke to Kenneth Davis, author of the book "More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War." Today we're going to take another look at the flu and its devastating effect on soldiers both during and after the fighting at the end of the war. Historian David Pietrusza has been on this show before, specifically in Episode number when we had a really illuminating interview about Teddy Roosevelt. David, welcome back to the podcast.
David Pietrusza: Good to be back.
Theo Mayer: David, you've been working on an article about World War I and the flu. Tell us about that.
David Pietrusza: Well, I was engaged to provide some material for an online course for students, younger kids, and one of the topics I got to pick from was the World War I Spanish flu. I knew a little bit about it. One of the advantages of doing an article is to learn more and I decided, "Hey, why don't I call the folks at the podcast and see if I could share this information and reach their listeners on it as well."
John Monahan, The American Legion's representative on the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission, reads Joyce Kilmer's poem "Rouge Bouquet" during a sacred service marking the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day at Washington National Cathedral on Nov. 11. (Photo by Eric Kruszewski/The American Legion)
Service at Washington National Cathedral on 11 November honors Americans' sacrifices in WWI
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
and
By Matt Grills
The American Legion
It was the day of commemoration that we had all looked forward to -- the Centennial of the Armistice.
Hundreds of people filled Washington National Cathedral on Sunday 11 November, to honor Americans' sacrifices in World War I.
In a sacred service that recalled the thousands of lives lost and the joy that followed news of the armistice, members of the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission and other officials paid tribute to a generation largely forgotten in the wake of later conflicts.
At 11 a.m. – exactly 100 years after hostilities ceased, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month -- the crowd fell silent and the cathedral's bourdon bell tolled 21 times.
Across the nation, communities joined in the tolling too, including American Legion posts, town halls, schools, cemeteries and places of worship. All U.S. military installations, as well as Navy and Coast Guard ships in port and at sea, tolled their bells. Individuals participated using the Bells of Peace smartphone app, which had been downloaded 20,500 times as of 11 a.m. that morning.
"'This was a happy day,'" said retired Army Maj. Gen. Alfred Valenzuela, quoting the Nov. 11, 1918, diary entry of Pvt. W.R. Phillips, Company D, 110th Engineers, 35th Division, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). "'The band played and our dear old flag flew proudly. That showed to us that peace was at hand. We are ready to leave this old world behind and set sail for America and live in peace under the dear old red, white and blue forever.'"
Chicago Bears founder George Halas (left) served in the United States Navy in World War I. At right, U.S. World War I Centennial Commission Commissioner (and U.S. Navy veteran) Zoe Dunning (left) and staff member Yael Rosen (right) present Halas' WWI-era draft card to Brian McCaskey, the current owner of the Chicago Bears, before the Bears' game against the Detroit Lions on 11 November at Soldier Field in Chicago..
National Football League teams honor World War I veterans
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
Sunday, 11 November, was a day of remembrance around the world, for those who served and were lost during World War I.
Among those who helped to mark the occasion were various teams from the National Football League. You see, Sunday 11 November was also NFL Gameday -- which served as a great public platform to tell the story of our veterans.
In Chicago, the Bears football team had special reason to mark the day, as the teams original founder and owner, George Halas, served in the Navy during World War I.
Prior to the Bears game against the rival Detroit Lions, the teams current owner, Brian McCaskey joined WW1CC Commissioner Zoe Dunning, and Commission staff member Yael Rosen out on the field for a special presentation. They WW1CC representatives gave McCaskey a copy of George Halas' World War I-era draft card. Of the presentation ceremony, Commissioner Dunning stated "It was an experience I will always remember. The Bears organization treated us so well, and it was such a unique opportunity to publicize our Doughboys to the NFL audience."
In Kansas City, the Chiefs unveiled a special poppy uniform patch as part of their Salute to Service. The unveiling took place in the days before the game, during a team member visit to the National World War I Museum and Memorial. The Chiefs team members were greeted by Museum/Memorial CEO Dr. Matthew Naylor, who is also a Commissioner with the WW1CC, and they were given a VIP tour of the museum and the striking memorial.
Read more: National Football League teams honor World War I veterans
McGrath family and extended family members gather for the unveiling of the plaque (inset right) honoring their kinsman Eugene Michael McGrath, who is still Missing in Action in World War I.
A special Armistice tribute in New London, Wisconsin
By Robert Laplander
Special to the United States World War One Centennial Commission web site
On November 11th, the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting in Europe in World War I, I had the humble prestige of being the guest of honor at the farm in New London, Wisconsin, where Eugene Michael McGrath was born.
Mike was Killed in Action (KIA) on October 5th, 1918 with Company C/308th Infantry/77th Division, while trapped in the Charlevaux Ravine with the Lost Battalion. His remains later went unidentified, and he is officially listed as Missing in Action (MIA) to this day.
It was his case that launched us on what has become the Doughboy MIA project when one of his dog tags turned up in the Pocket and came into my possession. Because of the 15 year research I've done into McGrath's case, the family decided to buy back the family farm, and have a plaque made to honor Mike's memory.
The family asked if I would come up, speak at the ceremony at the local American Legion post, and then help install the plaque. Of course I could not turn the invitation down. Therefore my son John and I drove the 2.5 hours up there and spent the day with the McGrath extended family who came in from all over the country.
Read more: A special Armistice tribute in New London, Wisconsin
The grand November 11th event at Honolulu's Natatorium included Bells of Peace using a U.S. Navy bell.
Bells of Peace Ring Across the United States on November 11, 2018
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
and
By Betsy Anderson
Program Coordinator, Bells of Peace, United States World War One Centennial Commission
Washington National CathedralBells
of Peace tolled all across America on Sunday, November 11, in solemn remembrance of the nation’s sacrifices in World War I, and in honor of all veterans.
Participating organizations and individuals numbered in the tens of thousands. Over 23,000 people downloaded the Bells of Peace Smartphone App. Among those who tolled bells were veterans’ organizations, houses of worship, veterans’ cemeteries, patriotic and civic associations, universities, national and state parks, museums, senior living homes, and restaurants.
The World War I Centennial Commission received proclamations from the states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia in support of Bells of Peace. Nationwide, 120 cities, counties, and towns also issued proclamations. Another 30 municipalities registered to join the effort, without having submitted proclamations. The full list of participating groups can be found at ww1cc.org/bells.
The experiences of those participants ranged in scale and scope. At the National Cathedral in Washington DC, over 2000 people attended the World War I Centennial Commission-hosted formal interfaith Sacred Service, in which the tolling of the Bells of Peace signaled the moment when the world transitioned from war to peace, and the hope of nations in that moment.
Read more: Bells of Peace Ring Across the United States on November 11, 2018
The 110 members of the Long Island Living History Association and East Coast Doughboys pose in NYC's Times Square, by the statue of famous WWI chaplain, Father Duffy.
Doughboys remembered, saluted in 2018 NYC Veterans Day Parade
By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission
Our friends, the East Coast Doughboys and the Long Island Living History Association, were out in force November 11 to participate in the 2018 NYC Veterans Day Parade.
The parade, produced every year by the United War Veterans Council, took on an important World War I theme, as it fell on the day of the Armistice Centennial.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, leader of the East Coast Doughboys, was able to help recruit some 110 living history reenactors for the parade -- to include people portraying Americans and Allies, to reach soldiers, generals, nurses, and even WWI-era civilians. They brought with them a variety of gear, to include cars, trucks, and bicycles.
All these efforts were in the name of telling the story of our World War I veterans. The photos below show some of the people who took part in the parade,
Read more: Doughboys remembered, saluted in 2018 NYC Veterans Day Parade
Jubilant Americans in Washington, D.C., show newspaper headlines which falsely announce Germany' surrender in World War I, fours days prematurely.
100 years ago - Breaking News of the 'False Armistice'
Four days before the actual end of World War I, a false report misled the country and set off wild celebrations
By James Smith
via the Centenary News web site
The 'real' Armistice agreement with Germany, signed on Monday 11 November 1918, finally ended the First World War with a cease-fire starting at 11 o’clock that morning. It was the last of the September-November 1918 armistices between the belligerents, and was celebrated with enormous joy and relief in the Allied countries.
Four days earlier, on Thursday 7 November, false news of an armistice agreement had provoked similar rejoicing by millions of people across the world. Celebrated in France, Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, and probably elsewhere, this was the so-called False Armistice.
The 7 November armistice news was not the cruel hoax some believed it to be, or a piece of fake news – disinformation – put together deliberately to deceive. It arose in France from information relating to the German armistice delegation then on its way to obtain the Allies' armistice terms from Marshal Foch. Specifically, from a German wireless message of 7 November declaring a 3:00 p.m. cease-fire.
An investigation by G-2, the American Army's Intelligence Service, found that a number of officers had "caught" the German message and wrongly taken it to mean that an armistice had been agreed and the war would end at 3 o'clock that afternoon.
The officers passed on their misconstrued information; it soon reached the American Embassy, military bases around the country and, eventually, the general public. The French censors in Paris ordered the newspapers not to report what, they rightly insisted, was unconfirmed war news, and instructed regional censors to block its transmission. The newspapers complied. Private telephones, military telegraph networks, and word-of-mouth, however, were beyond the censors' reach, and the false news continued to spread.
Read more: 100 years ago - Breaking News of the 'False Armistice'
The burial card of Private Michael Walsh, killed in action during World War I on Oct. 24, 1918. Walsh emigrated to the United States from rural Ireland in 1911.
100 years after his death, family of Irish immigrant WWI soldier receives his Purple Heart
By Elizabeth McLaughlin
via the ABC News web site
U.S. Army Pvt. Michael Walsh's family had waited over 100 years for this moment: the opportunity to honor their fallen hero.
Walsh, an immigrant from Ireland, served with the American Expeditionary Forces in France through some of the bloodiest fighting of World War I. He would be one of the last men in his company killed during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the fall of 1918 in which more than 26,000 Americans died.
It was just three days before his company was pulled back from the front lines.
"His Irish luck had just run out," Walsh's great-niece Finola O'Mahony wrote in a letter about his life, provided to ABC News by the non-profit group Purple Hearts Reunited which tracks down lost or stolen medals and returns them to families.
After Walsh's death, his family was never told details about what happened to him during the war. And although they did get a pension from the U.S. Army, they were never given the medals that Walsh so rightfully earned.
With the assistance of Purple Hearts Reunited, Walsh's nieces and nephews -- some now third generation -- gathered to receive his Purple Heart award in Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin on Friday. Though it was one of over 500 medals returned to veterans and their families in the organization's history, it was the first international reunification.
Todd Hinz, a period re-enactor wearing a WWI unif1orm, reads Laurence Binyon's poem "For the Fallen" during a "Bells of Peace" remembrance ceremony held at the University of Minnesota’s Northrup Auditorium in Minneapolis on November 11. The names of the 1,024 Minnesotans killed in combat were read aloud. This followed the ringing of a bell 21 times, and the playing of taps.
Bells of Peace Rang Out Across Nation November 11
By Betsy Anderson
Program Coordinator, Bells of Peace, United States World War One Centennial Commission
The nation tolled its bells on November 11 in honor of the service and sacrifice of its World War I veterans, and all who have served in its Armed Forces.
PEARL HARBOR (Nov. 11, 2018) Operations Specialist 2nd Class Dominique Cannon, from Dallas, Texas, tolls 21 bells during a World War I commemoration ceremony celebrating Armistice and Veterans Day at the Pacific Fleet Boathouse. Armistice Day is commemorated every year in honor of the temporary cease fire between the Allied nations and Germany which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month on November 11, 1918 seven months prior to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kenneth Rodriguez Santiago/Released)The Washington National Cathedral led the national bell tolling with 21 somber, muffled tolls. Also in Washington, D.C., the Netherlands Carillon near Arlington Cemetery, the Old Post Office bell on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Robert Taft Carillon on the U.S. Capitol participated in the toll.
The U.S. Navy tolled bells across the fleet: In Honolulu, the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona tolled ship’s bells.
In New York, the bells tolled on the USS Olympia, now a museum ship that brought the remains of the Unknown Soldier across the Atlantic in 1921 for interment in Arlington National Cemetery.
In La Porte, Texas, the USS. Texas tolled its bells: the ship served in World War I and also in World War II at the Battle of Normandy.
Read more: Bells of Peace Rang Out Across Nation November 11