First World War Archives - TogetherWeServed Blog

Service Reflections of RM3 Sidney Weinstein, U.S. Coast Guard (1942-1946)

I was in high school at the time of Pearl Harbor. I had never heard of Pearl Harbor and didn’t know where it was. That was true for many of my friends, but we sure found out quickly. We all became Gung Ho and were ready to enlist; however, we had a couple of months left before graduation, so I opted to finish school. Many of my friends did enlist, going into the US Army Air Corps to become pilots. That was my desire also, but my father said “NO.” He was in the First World War, captured by the Germans, and gassed. He was shot, and he lost three fingers on his left hand.

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...

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...

Eugene Bullard: World’s First Black Fighter Pilot

Military Myths and Legends, World War I

A largely unsung and non-known hero of the World War One was the fascinating Eugene James "Jacques" Bullard of the Lafayette Flying Corps. Biography Eugene Jacques Bullard Bullard was born in a three-room house in Columbus, Georgia, the seventh of ten children born to William (Octave) Bullard, a black man who was from Martinique, and Josephine ("Yokalee") Thomas, a Creek Indian. His father's ancestors had been slaves in Haiti to French refugees who fled during the Haitian Revolution. They...

Did a Scottish Soldier Really Play Bagpipes at Normandy?

Military Myths and Legends, World War II

On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces launched Operation Overlord, the largest and most complex amphibious landing in history until that point. Invading Hitler's Fortress Europe was no small matter, even with all the preparations and forethought Allied planners made in advance of the landings. In the years and decades that followed, D-Day became one of the most thoroughly studied and documented events of World War II. Still, it seems like more and more personal stories, fascinating accounts, and...

WW2 – The Wereth 11 – Murder in the Ardennes

Battlefield Chronicles, World War II

In the early hours of December 16, 1944, Adolf Hitler's army launched a massive surprise attack on Allied lines across the frozen, forested landscape of Belgium. Caught off-guard, the Americans fell back into defensive positions. For a few desperate days before Christmas, the outcome of the war in Europe hung in the balance. Desperate battles to stem the German advance were fought at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize, and Bastogne. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an...

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