While radio and telephone were becoming more and more a part of the battlefield, these communication technologies also had weaknesses on the World War I battlefield.  A secure, reliable, low tech communication option was needed. Armies on both sides turned to Homing Pigeons to provide this vital link.  We sat down with Dr. Frank Blazich, Curator of Modern Military History at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History, to discuss the U.S. Army's pigeon service and how these birds contributed to the war effort.Follow us:   Twitter: @MacArthur1880    Amanda Williams on Twitter:  @AEWilliamsClark   Facebook/Instagram: @MacArthurMemorial   www.macarthurmemorial.org 

The Pigeon Service

World War I created many of the political, cultural, and economic fault lines of the world today. Produced by the MacArthur Memorial, this podcast explores a wide variety of topics related to World War I.&nbsp;

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How does World War I poetry help us understand the complexity of the experience of the war? Why was poetry so important then? Why does the poetry of World War I continue to have such resonance? To answer these questions, the World War I Podcast hosted two subject matter experts: Dr. Connie Ruzich, Professor of English at Robert Morris University and editor of International Poetry of the First World War: An Anthology of Lost Voices, and Dr. Jennifer Orth-Veillon, a professor at Georgia Tech - Metz and editor of Beyond Their Limits of Longing: Contemporary Writers and Veterans on the Lingering Stories of WWI. Follow us:   Twitter: @MacArthur1880    Amanda Williams on Twitter:  @AEWilliamsClark   Facebook/Instagram: @MacArthurMemorial   www.macarthurmemorial.org 

World War I Poetry: Lost Voices and New Voices

When most people think of World War I on the Western Front, they probably think of trenches. Trench systems were present along most of the 475 miles from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps. It wasn’t just one straight continuous line, however. The system had many layers that supported the daily life and movement of millions of soldiers. If laid end to end, the trench systems would have stretched an estimated 35,000 miles.  Trenches play a prominent role in most WWI movies. They are often depicted as sites of suffering, terror, and boredom. But what was day to day life really like in the trenches? How do the movies get this right or wrong? To explore this topic, the World War I Podcast welcomed Andrew Robertshaw, a historian, archaeologist, and a film advisor, to the podcast.  Follow us:   Twitter: @MacArthur1880    Amanda Williams on Twitter:  @AEWilliamsClark   Facebook/Instagram: @MacArthurMemorial   www.macarthurmemorial.org 

The Trenches: Reality vs Movies

Part II
In early October 1918, several companies of the US 77th Division found themselves surrounded in the Argonne Forest during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  Led by Major Charles Whittlesey, the Lost Battalion, as it came to be known, survived a hellish six days. It’s a story many are aware of – but like most such stories – it’s likely that the popular version we are familiar with doesn’t have the richness or nuance of what actually happened. To explore the story of the Lost Battalion, the World War I Podcast hosted Robert J. Laplander, author of Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legend of America’s WWI Epic.  Follow us:   Twitter: @MacArthur1880    Amanda Williams on Twitter:  @AEWilliamsClark   Facebook/Instagram: @MacArthurMemorial   www.macarthurmemorial.org 

The Lost Battalion - Part II

Part I
In early October 1918, several companies of the US 77th Division found themselves surrounded in the Argonne Forest during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  Led by Major Charles Whittlesey, the Lost Battalion, as it came to be known, survived a hellish six days. It’s a story many are aware of – but like most such stories – it’s likely that the popular version we are familiar with doesn’t have the richness or nuance of what actually happened. To explore the story of the Lost Battalion, the World War I Podcast hosted Robert J. Laplander, author of Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legend of America’s WWI Epic.  Follow us:   Twitter: @MacArthur1880    Amanda Williams on Twitter:  @AEWilliamsClark   Facebook/Instagram: @MacArthurMemorial   www.macarthurmemorial.org 

The Lost Battalion - Part I

Between September 1814 and June 1815, against the backdrop of Napoleon’s exile to Elba and his brief return, the Congress of Vienna worked out a new way to balance the power of the Great Powers and avoid future conflict. This system was called the Concert of Europe. It was supposed to keep the peace, and indeed, on the eve of World War I, many people in Europe were celebrating a century of relative peace on the continent – a golden age of European power and civilization. There had been regional conflicts in Europe and colonial wars, but nothing on the scale of the Napoleonic Wars. And yet, what started as a small regional conflict in 1914 spiraled quickly into world war. WWI was a war with a long fuse. Was the Congress of Vienna and the system it set up a long-term root cause of the war? Was a system designed to keep the peace the instrument that disrupted the peace? To discuss these questions, the World War I Podcast sat down with Professor Greg Jackson, creator, host, and head writer of the US history podcast, History That Doesn't Suck and star of the live tour THE UNLIKELY UNION.

Tour Dates — History That Doesn't Suck (htdspodcast.com) Follow us:   Twitter: @MacArthur1880    Amanda Williams on Twitter:  @AEWilliamsClark   Facebook/Instagram: @MacArthurMemorial   www.macarthurmemorial.org 

The Pigeon Service

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