World War I

Heroines Under Fire

On July 29, 1918, field nurse Linnie Leckrone jumped on a truck headed for the front as part of Gas and Shock Team 134 in the battle of Chateau-Thierry northeast of Paris during the Great War. As German artillery rained down, she tended the wounded. For her “conspicuous gallantry in action,” Leckrone was awarded what was then called the Citation Star in a certificate signed by Gen. John (Black Jack) Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force.

The Lost Battalion

Military Myths and Legends, World War I

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the final push of World War I on the Western Front, lasting from Sept. 28, 1918, until the end of the war, Nov. 11, 1918. The allied forces of Britain, France, and the United States advanced all along the front, making the largest offensive in U.S. military history, involving more than 1.2 million troops. It was also the deadliest, inflicting 350,000 casualties in less than seven weeks. The allies made relatively major gains, considering the course of the war until that point, but it was not without errors – and one of those errors meant the loss of a battalion-sized force. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive: Advance into Argonne Forest The men of that battalion came from the 77th Division, made up mostly of men from New York City. During the allied push, they fought their way into the dense Argonne Forest, where a counterattack soon left them surrounded and cut off from friendly lines. Thinking the unit had been lost, allied artillery shelled their position...

SgtMaj Daniel J. Daly, U.S. Marine Corps (1899–1929)

Profiles in Courage, World War I

Only two Marines have received the Medal of Honor for two separate actions: Maj. Gen Smedley Butler and SgtMaj. Daniel J. Daly. And you know it has to mean something when Butler called Daly "the fightingest Marine I ever knew." SgtMaj Daniel J. Daly and the Boxer Rebellion Daly served in the Marine Corps for 30 years, seeing every major Marine Corps campaign between 1899 and 1929. Growing up in New York City as a slender youth, he had to be tough; he even became a semi-pro boxer before joining the Marines at age 25. His first assignment took him halfway around the world aboard the USS Newark, then a cruiser assigned to the U.S. Asiatic Fleet – and it was about to take him to his first Medal of Honor action. Not long after Daly joined up, China was in upheaval. Anti-foreigner and anti-Christian sentiment boiled over into open rebellion against outsiders interfering with life in China. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese peasants, known as Boxers, rose up and began murdering missionaries,...

How Armistice Day Became Veterans Day

Military Myths and Legends, World War I

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the belligerent armies fighting World War I finally laid down their arms and stopped killing each other for the same pieces of blown-up mud they'd been fighting over since 1914. The Origins of Veterans Day The First World War killed as many as 22 million people worldwide and left some 23 million more wounded. An estimated 53,000 of those killed were American service members. Another 204,000 Americans would return home wounded. World War I ushered in a new age of warfare: industrial and mechanical innovations killed, wounded, and maimed troops on the battlefield in ways previously unimaginable. Tanks, machine guns, and poison gas forever scarred the men in the trenches in ways they could never forget - and Americans back home took notice. On the anniversary of the armistice, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first commemoration of Armistice Day, saying: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice...

WW1 – The Angels of Mons

Military Myths and Legends, World War I

The World War I Battle of Mons was famous for a number of notable firsts. It was the first test of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the first time Mons switched hands during the war, and probably the first time ghosts reinforced a living army to cover their retreat; ghosts who absolutely slaughtered the enemy – or so the legend goes. The First Battle of Mons took place on August 23, 1914, one of the earliest battles on the Western Front of World War I and the first time the British operated jointly with the French against the German invasion. The British were trying to protect the French left flank from an advance by the German 1st Army, and they held their ground well. For 48 hours, they fought outnumbered three to one, yet they inflicted an incredibly disproportionate number of casualties, with estimates as high as three German casualties for every British one. It was a good start to the war. It would have been a great start, but the French lines began to break, and the...

WWI Military Technologies Still in Use Today

Lt. Eddie Rickenbacker, U.S. Army Air Force (1917-1919)

Profiles in Courage, World War I

The American Ace of Aces, Eddie Rickenbacker, was a successful race car driver, fighter pilot, an airline executive, wartime advisor, and elder statesman. Few aces achieved so much in so many different lifetime roles. His twenty-six aerial victories came after only two months of combat flying, a spectacular achievement. Eddie Rickenbacker Set a Speed Record in a Blitzen Benz His family name was originally spelled "Reichenbacher," anglicized to its more familiar form when the U.S. entered World War One. His father died when Eddie was twelve, and the youngster quit school to help support his mother. He found a job with the Frayer Miller Air-cooled Car Company, one of the thousands of automobile companies that emerged in the early 1900's. From his job road-testing cars for Frayer-Miller, he made his way into automobile racing, racing for Fred Duesenberg, among others. He raced three times in the Indianapolis 500 and set a speed record of 134 MPH in a Blitzen Benz. He became one of the...

The Loss Of Coast Guard Cutter USS Tampa

Military Myths and Legends, World War I

USS Tampa's short story began on August 9, 1912, when the U.S. Revenue Service Cutter (UCRC) Miami, built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp, was commissioned at Arundel Cove, MD. The ship was named for the Miami Indian tribe rather than for the then little settlement in South Florida. At the time, several revenue cutters were named after Indian tribes. The Miami was 190 ft long, with a 14.6-ft draft and a displacement of 1,181 tons. Her normal crew complement was 70 Officers and men, she carried three quick-firing six-pounders and various small arms, and she could do 13 knots. The Miami's first duty was with the International Ice Patrol, operating out of Halifax and looking for icebergs. Subsequently, she was based in Tampa, Florida, and developed a relationship with the city. In January 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service were merged and renamed the U.S. Coast Guard. It was then decided that the Indian tribal names were to be phased out, so in...

SM2 Humphrey Bogart, U.S. Navy (1918-1919)

Celebrities Who Served, World War I

While Humphrey Bogart is primarily celebrated for his legendary performances on the silver screen, his contributions off-camera during World War I remain a lesser-known yet significant aspect of his life. Beyond the glitz of Hollywood, Bogart served his country with honor and distinction, embodying courage and resilience. From Privilege to the Stage: The Early Dramas of Humphrey Bogart Humphrey Bogart, born on December 25, 1899, in New York City, had a childhood marked by privilege. His father, Belmont DeForest Bogart, was a prominent cardiopulmonary surgeon, and his mother, Maud Humphrey, was a successful commercial illustrator. However, his parents' marriage was troubled, and they divorced when Bogart was young. Bogart had been poised to enroll at Yale, but his plans were abruptly derailed when he was expelled from Phillips Academy before completing his transfer. Though the specifics surrounding his departure remain ambiguous, Bogart was left with an education cut short and limited...

WW1 – The First Battle of the Somme (1916)

Battlefield Chronicles, World War I

In the annals of military history, few battles evoke the same sense of sacrifice, tragedy, and valor as the First Battle of the Somme. Fought during the First World War, this monumental clash took place between July 1st and November 18th, 1916, primarily along the banks of the River Somme in France. It remains one of the most significant engagements of the Great War, characterized by its staggering casualties and strategic significance. The First Battle of the Somme is famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops (one third of them killed) on the first day of the battle, July 1, 1916, which to this day remains a one-day record The First Battle of the Somme: The Ill-Fated Bombardment The attack was preceded by an eight-day preliminary bombardment of the German lines, with expectations that the ferocity of the bombardment would entirely destroy all forward German defenses, enabling the attacking British troops to practically walk across No Man's Land and take...

Frank Buckles, the Last Surviving American Veteran of World War I

Military Myths and Legends, World War I

Though legendary American veterans may live forever in our hearts, no one truly lives forever. There will always be a last survivor, and of the estimated 4.7 million Americans who served in the First World War, West Virginia's Frank Buckles was the last American witness to the horrors of the Western Front. Buckles died on February 27, 2011, but it was after a long, extraordinarily eventful life – and World War I was just the beginning. The Last Survivor of World War I: Frank Buckles' Journey Buckles was born into a long line of veterans on February 1, 1901. He said his ancestors had served in the American Revolution and the Civil War. So, it should have been no surprise that a young Frank Buckles attempted to enlist to go to war just a few months after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917. He was rejected by the Marine Corps and the Navy for physical issues, but the Army felt so good about the young man that they accepted the lie that he was older than 16. Anxious to...

WW1 – The Christmas Truce of 1914

Battlefield Chronicles, World War I

During World War I, in the bitter winter of 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders, one of the most unusual events in all of human history took place. The Germans had been in a fierce battle with the British and French. Both sides were dug in, safe in muddy, man-made trenches six to eight feet deep that seemed to stretch forever. The Sudden Christmas Truce During World War I All of a sudden, German troops began to put small Christmas trees, lit with candles, outside of their trenches. Then, they began to sing songs. Across the way, in the "no man's land" between them came songs from the British and French troops. Incredibly, many of the Germans, who had worked in England before the war, were able to speak good enough English to propose a "Christmas" truce. A spontaneous truce resulted. Soldiers left their trenches, meeting in the middle in fortified trenches to shake hands. The first order of business was to bury the dead who had been previously unreachable because of the conflict....

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World War I

Heroines Under Fire

The Lost Battalion

SgtMaj Daniel J. Daly, U.S. Marine Corps (1899–1929)

How Armistice Day Became Veterans Day

WW1 – The Angels of Mons

WWI Military Technologies Still in Use Today

Lt. Eddie Rickenbacker, U.S. Army Air Force (1917-1919)

The Loss Of Coast Guard Cutter USS Tampa

SM2 Humphrey Bogart, U.S. Navy (1918-1919)

WW1 – The First Battle of the Somme (1916)

Frank Buckles, the Last Surviving American Veteran of World War I

WW1 – The Christmas Truce of 1914

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