WW1 Centennial News

• POWs in WW1 | @01:30

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Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is November 8th, 2017. We have a big lineup of guests for you this week… 9 in all! including:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

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This week 100 years ago in both the Official Bulletin, the US government's daily war gazette and the New York Times,  there are stories about the first American Prisoners-of-war captured by the Germans.

This got us thinking about the subject of POWs in WWI.

What were the rules? I mean, the Geneva convention that we usually think of, when we think of prisoner of war “treatment” today generally refers to treaties from 1949 after WWII. Those were updates from 2 treaties pulled together in 1929 -

And prior to the 20th century, the treatment and rights for combatants was pretty harsh - There were attempts to develop some kind of humanitarian standards through much of the second half of the 1800’s after the Crimena war.

What WAS the story with POWs in WWI? How many were there? Did the Red Cross play a role? What about American POWs?

So that’s the theme we are going to explore in today’s WW1 Centennial News THEN…   what was happening this week 100 years ago..

in the war that changed the world.

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It’s the first week of November, 1917. The Europeans have been at war for over three years, but early this week, as they are training in a relatively quiet area of the western front, a company of American Soldiers gets raided by a German force. 3 are killed , 5 are wounded and 12 Americans get captured by the enemy.

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Dateline Sunday November 4, 1917

The headline in the New York Times reads:

Attack Before Daylight

Forces in Training Held Small Salient of the Front Line Trenches

Pershing tells of loss

And the story reads:

Armed forces under the American flag have had their first clash with German soldiers---  in an attack which the Germans made on first line trenches, which the United States troops had taken for instruction ---

The Germans respond to the incident with a taunting article in Berlin’s Lokal Anzeiger newspaper

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Dateline Sunday November 4, 1917

Another headline in the New York Times reads:

Berlin Rejoices Over American Prisoners; Lokal Anzeiger newspaper extends a “Welcome”

The story goes on to read:

The Berlin newspaper played up the capture of the Americans in their headlines under the captions:

“Good Morning Boys” and goes on to include:

Three Cheers for the Americans. Clever chaps they are! It cannot be denied. Scarcely have they touched the soil of this putrified Europe when they are already forcing their way into Germany!

It is our good fortune that we are equipped to receive and entertain numerous guests and that we shall be able to provide quarters for these gentlemen. However, we cannot promise them doughnuts and jam, and to this extent they will be obliged to receed from their former standard of living.

Above all they will find comfort in the thought that they are rendering their almighty president, Mr. Wilson, valuable services in as much as it is asserted that he is anxious to obtain reliable information concerning conditions and sentiments in belligerent countries.

As Americans are accustomed to travel in luxury and comfort, we assume that these advance arrivals merely represent couriers for larger numbers to come. We are sure the latter will come and be gathered in by us.

And the propaganda war is in full swing from all sides as exemplified in an article published in the US Government’s Official Bulletin.

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Dateline Tuesday November 6, 1917

Headline:

German Soldiers, Forced to murder their helpless foes and prisoners. Germans tell terrifying details in letters

In the story it reads:

The Committee on Public Information makes public herewith three letters taken from one of its forthcoming pamphlets “ German War Practices”

Here is the protest of a German soldier, an eye-witness to the slaughter of Russian soldiers in the Masurian lakes and swamps:

“ It was frightful, heart-rending, as those masses of human beings were

driven to destruction.

Above the terrible thunder of the cannon could be heard the heart-rending cries of the Russians…

But there was no mercy. Our captain had ordered: ‘The whole lot must die; so rapid fire.’

As I have heard…. five men and one officer on our side went mad from those heart-wrenching  cries. But most of my comrades and the officers joked as

helpless Russians shrieked for mercy while they were being suffocated in the swamps and shot down.

The order was: ‘ Close up and at it harder!’

For days afterwards those yells followed me, and I dare not think of them or I shall go mad.

There is no God; there is no morality and' no ethics any more. There are no human beings any more, but only beasts. I say Down with militarism.

This was from a letter by a Prussian soldier as reported by the US government.

From a wikipedia entry entitled: World War I prisoners of war in Germany, it states

From the beginning of the war, the German authorities find themselves confronted with an unexpected influx of prisoners. In September 1914, at the beginning of the war, 125,000 French soldiers and 94,000 Russians are made captive.

Early the following year in, 1915, the number of prisoners being held captive in Germany reaches 652,000 and then rises even more quickly. From February to August 1915, it goes from 652,000 to 1,045,000. One year later, in August 1916, it reaches 1.6 million, and then reaches just over 2.4 million prisoners of war by October 1918.

This experience gives Germany a strong foundation in the implementation, operation and exploitation of large POW and labor camps, know-how they will employ again in the future.

Preparing to deal with American POWs, the US government makes plans with the US Red Cross to help care for our captured doughboys.

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Dateline: Wednesday November 7, 1917

The headline of the Official Bulletin reads:

RED CROSS PLANS TO FEED U. S. PRISONERS lN GERMANY

The story reads:

Arrangements for supplying food and clothing to American prisoners of war in Germany have been worked out in detail by the War and Navy Departments and the American Red Cross. Since the beginning of the war, England and France have met Germany’s inadequate care of its prisoners by sending supplies of their own, and in the main the system has operated successfully.

To support American soldiers and sailors who may be captured and confined in German prison camps, the disbursing agent of the Red Cross at Berne, Switzerland, will be supplied with 4,500 tons of food immediately. This will comprise 1,800,000 individual rations, or enough to feed 10,000 men adequately for six months.

Now… Surprisingly, these preparations are over specified. The fact is, that the US POW count winds up being pretty low at just above 4,100 soldiers - even with over 2 million soldiers in the field. This may speak to the nature of the American Expeditionary Force’s campaign style and few battles where the forces are captured wholesale.

Contrast this with the currently on-going Battle of Caporetto - where 265,000 italian soldiers are captured by the Prussians.

And speaking of the Battle of Caporetto -

Two names pop up connected to that battle --- that  our listeners may be familiar with.

Supporting the Austrians is a young German Captain - who will emerge in WWII as a major military strategist - Field Marshal Erwin Rommel - the Desert Fox.

On the US side, there is a young ambulance driver who will emerge after the war as one of the giant figures of literature - Ernest Hemingway, who was wounded in this battle and used his experiences as a basis for his 1929 novel, A Farewell to Arms.

These notes on the battle of Caporetto were sent in to me by my cousin Michael who is a military cryptologist  and who wanted to point out that the use of SIGINT or signal intelligence - strategic decoding of battlefield radio communications - played a key part in Caporetto - used by the Austrians to wipe out and capture Italy’s artillery!

Links: www.ww1cc.org/bulletin

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/educate/history/official-bulletin/2883-ww1-official-bulletin-volume-1-issue-153-november-7-1917.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/educate/history/official-bulletin/2882-ww1-official-bulletin-volume-1-issue-152-november-6-1917.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/educate/history/official-bulletin/2881-ww1-official-bulletin-volume-1-issue-151-november-5-1917.html

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9401EEDB123FE433A25756C0A9679D946696D6CF

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D00EEDB123FE433A25756C0A9679D946696D6CF

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But perhaps the biggest and most impactful story 100 years ago this week is the end of the war on the eastern front --- as Russia formally drops out of the fight!

Mike Shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War Project blog is here to tell us about it.

Welcome Mike.

[Mike Shuster]

Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog.

LINK:

http://greatwarproject.org/2017/11/05/the-bolsheviks-seize-power-in-russia/

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If you need a little WWI video action - we recommend the Great War Channel on Youtube hosted by Indy Neidell.  

This week’s new episodes are:

Battle of Beersheba and Canadian Frustration

Breakthroughs and Setbacks - Fall 1917

And as we covered last week -  Zionism during WW1

Follow the link in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

Now we are going to fast forward into the present to WW1 Centennial News NOW - and explore what is happening to commemorate the centennial of the War that changed the world!

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Events: Veterans Day

Interview with Gavin McIlvenna - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On this veterans day weekend, we are going to start with a special guest, Retired Sergeant Major Gavin Mcilvenna, President of the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

One of the most iconic images of remembrance during any Memorial or Veterans Day is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, guards at attention, rain or shine, honoring our fallen with the serious, heartfelt solemnity and devotion to the duty that they are performing.

Gavin has been one of those guards and it is our privilege to have him here today to give us some insight into those men and women, that life and the job they do.

Welcome Gavin!

[greetings]

[Gavin, how did the tradition of honoring an Unknown Soldier begin - and what is the idea behind it? ]

[For those who stand guard over the unknown soldier - what does it mean to them?]

[Are there unknowns from multiple conflicts, or just World War One?]

[So You’re the president of the Society of the Honor Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What is the Society’s mission?]

[The Society is preparing for the centennial of the very first Unknown Soldier selected in 1921 -- can you tell us a bit about what those commemoration plans look like?]

Thank you so much for being here with us today!

[goodbyes/thanks]

Gavin McIlvenna is the President of the Society of the Honor Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We have links for you in the podcast notes to learn more...

Link: http://tombguard.org/

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Tomb-of-the-Unknown-Soldier

And now for our feature “Speaking World War 1 - Where we explore the words & phrases that are rooted in the war  ---

In ww1, Australian soldiers earned an outstanding reputation. They fought in many of the great theatres of war: Gallipoli, Damascus, Gaza, the Somme, Ypres and Passchendaele.

Right from the beginning, though, they were seen as trouble by the English Officers… They were brash, boisterous, undisciplined, they dressed improperly -- some didn't even shave everyday. But they fought like tasmanian devils and if you ever hung out with australians you’ll know that they were just being their very cool and very natural Aussie selves - considering the English officers as uptight arses.

The Australians were also masters of slang, in their gruff-but-goofy style,

so it’s no surprise that they came up with a wonderfully nonsensical yet descriptive term for an uptight arse: A dingbat! A bit of an insult: A bit of a description…

The word itself - Dingbat - has earlier origins, being used since the early 19th century much like the word thingamajig, a placeholder for when you don’t quite know what to call something.

Today, the word’s main use is

as a computer type font filled not with letters but with symbols, shapes and objects - So if you always thought of Dingbat as a fancy asterisk...

in world war 1 it was simply a different kind of arse... Terisk.

See the podcast notes to learn more!

link: https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Doughboy-Fritz-Soldier-Slang/dp/144563

7839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508848013&sr=8-1&keywords=tommy+doughboy+fritz

http://mentalfloss.com/article/58233/21-slang-terms-world-war-i

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Wheaton IL 100 cities

Moving on to our 100 Cities / 100 Memorials segment

about the $200,000 matching grant challenge

to rescue and focus on our local WWI memorials.

To start -  we just have to plug the fact that we are taking grant applications for the second round - we have matching grants to give away but you need to submit the application before January 15, 2018 - go to ww1cc.org/100Memorials to learn all about it.’

Now this week we are profiling the WWI Obelisk in Wheaton Illinois-- one of the first 50 awardees of the 100 available grants ---

with us tell us about their project are Nancy Flannery, Chair of the City of Wheaton Historic Commission, and Rob Sperl, Director of Parks and Planning, Wheaton Park District.

Welcome to both of you!

[exchange greetings]

[Nancy, in your grant application for 100 Cities / 100 memorials you said - Quote” The US participation in World War I not only changed the population of Wheaton, Illinois; it defined

Wheaton as a community willing to fight for its beliefs.Unquote

What did you mean by that?]

[Nancy - how did the obelisk come about?]

[Rob, I noted that your project is scaled well over $50,000 - and that the park board of commissioners committed to covering the rest - how did the city decide evolve?]

[ Is the project finished? Do you have plans for a rededication?]

[exchange thanks]

Nancy Flannery, is the Chair of the City of Wheaton Historic Commission, and Rob Sperl, is the Director of Parks and Planning Wheaton Park District.

We are going to continue to profile 100 Cities / 100 Memorials projects - not only awardees but also teams that are continuing on to round #2 which is now open for submissions. We are very proud of this program that is stimulating communities all over America to rediscover and re-address their heritage. A HUGE thank you to all participants!

You can go to ww1cc.org/100 memorials or follow the link in the podcast notes to learn more about participating in this program!

Link: www.ww1cc.org/100memorials

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Marc Wortman - The Millionaire’s Unit

Today, we are combining our Spotlight in the Media and our War in the Sky segments by speaking with Dr. Marc Wortman, historian, journalist and author, about his book The Millionaires' Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power.

The book inspired a recently released award winning documentary.

Welcome, Marc!

[greetings]

[So Marc, The Millionaire’s Unit recounts the history of the First Yale Unit. Can you give us an introduction to who this unit was and what they did during the war?]

[Katherine wanted to put in this question --- How did this group end up in the Navy Air Service rather than in the Army Air Service?]

[We’ve provided a link for our listeners to learn more about your books and your audiobook on audible… but let’s talk about the documentary, tell us about it…]

[here is a clip from the film’s trailer that just came out last week]

[Marc - it’s a fascinating story about young men who used their privileged position in life to do - what they clearly believed - was the right thing - their duty - and they had an impact that still echoes today.

Thanks so much for bringing us the story! ]

[goodbyes/thanks]

Dr. Marc Wortman is a historian, journalist and author. The Millionaire’s Unit and accompanying documentary are linked in the podcast notes.

Links: marcwortmanbooks.com

http://www.millionairesunit.org/home.php

https://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_hp_tseft?advsearchKeywords=the%20millionaire%27s%20unit&filterby=field-keywords

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nceHuM0oZCM&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nceHuM0oZCM&feature=youtu.be

North Dakota WW1 Centennial Committee

This week in our Updates from the States, We want to congratulate the WWI Centennial Committee from the Roughrider State, North Dakota. They have just launched their website at ww1cc.org/northdakota  all on word and lower case!

We invited North Dakota WWI Centennial Committee chairman Darrell Dorgan to join us.

Welcome, Darrell!

[greetings]

[Darrell, tell us about your state WWI Committee. How did it get established in North Dakota?]

[Because as chief technologist, I helped support the process, I was interested to learn that the North Dakota website was built by a Microsoft website hackathon -- that’s unique among our state publishing partners - how did that come about? ]

[What was the North Dakotan WWI experience? How did the war affect the state? ]

[What are some of the Committee key projects in the coming year?]

[Thank you Darrell!]

[goodbye/thanks]

Darrell Dorgan is the Chairman of the North Dakota World War One Centennial Committee. Follow the North Dakota Committee by heading over to ww1cc.org/northdakota or follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/northdakota

Warriors in Khaki

For our next story, we are going to stay in the Dakotas…  and look more into the service of the state, and specifically the WWI service by the Native American population.

Michael J. Knudson and Ann G. Knudson are a husband and wife writing team, and authors of multiple books on local World War 1 history in North Dakota.

[Welcome Knudsons!!]

[Michael, how did you two end up writing books about the service of North Dakotans in World War One? ]

[Ann, how does your latest book, Warriors in Khaki, differ from your earlier book, Ransom County’s Loyal Defenders?]

[Did you attend the UTTC Powow? How were you welcomed by the different tribal nations?]

[What kinds of challenges do you encounter when doing this kind of very detailed, very local research?]

[Do you have any upcoming work? [this lets them plug their upcoming book on South Dakota]

[Michael, Ann -- thank you for your time, and your books!]

[goodbye/thanks]

Michael J. Knudson and Ann G. Knudson write books about the Dakotas and the history of the region. You can find links to their website as well as their books in the links in the podcast notes.

link:http://www.rp-author.com/knudson/

https://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Khaki-Michael-J-Knudson/dp/1611701015/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510063689&sr=8-1&keywords=warriors+in+khaki

Shout out to the Bi-Centennial of WW1

As we were prepping this week’s section on articles and posts, I decided to take a quick look to see HOW MANY articles and posts we now have on our website at ww1cc.org - and just at that very moment, one of our interns, Eric Squazzin hit enter on article number 3 thousand 6 hundred!!!

Now everything that is published on our website is mandated to be preserved in perpetuity by the US Government as a document of interest to the American People - and I am proud to report - we got a LOT OF STUFF ABOUT WW1 gathered there!!!

And since we travel freely in time and space on this show - a little shout out to our friend in the future who are going to be running the bi-centennial of WWI - from all of us here in 2017 and 2018 - who have been contributing to the website - You are welcome!

In our WWRITE blog, which explores WWI’s Influence on contemporary writing and scholarship, this week  the post title is “Pierre Lemaître's The Great Swindle: A Prize-Winning WWI Novel Hits the Screen During France's Great War Centennial”

The book, with the english title “the great swindle”, is not only about a post-war traumatic experience; it is also about the art, and, yes, the money that could be made by making a business out of the millions of dead bodies that had a hard time finding proper graves after the combat ended.

French director, Albert Dupontel, released the film adaptation of Lemaître’s pathbreaking book early in 2017. Read more about the award winning book and its accompanying film adaptation by visiting the Wwrite blog at ww1cc.org/wwrite or by following the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/wwrite

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/articles-posts/3533-the-great-swindle.html

That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine, what’s going on in the world of social media this week?

[Hi Theo!

Native American History Month

It’s Native American History Month and this week we started to see a swell in posts and articles about the service of Native Americans in the war. I wanted to highlight a few really great facebook pages to follow if you’re interested in learning more about the history and commemorations of Native American service.

The Facebook page “WW1 Native American Warriors” is a fabulous resource, connecting tribes from all across the country and sharing their events, articles and the stories of individuals all in one place.

Additionally, the Choctaw Code Talkers Association has a great facebook page, and you can follow the progress of the Muskogee Doughboy statue restoration at the statue’s official facebook page too.

There’s also the Native American Indian Veterans Page, and of course the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is sharing a ton of amazing stories, photographs and resources over the month.

Check the podcast notes for links to all of these pages, and that’s it this week for the Buzz! ]

link:https://www.facebook.com/NativeAmericanWarriorsWWI/

https://www.facebook.com/choctawcodetalkers

https://www.facebook.com/RevJohnRobinson

https://www.facebook.com/NAIV-National-American-Indian-Veterans-311444758503

https://www.facebook.com/NationalMuseumoftheAmericanIndian

And that’s WW1 Centennial News for November 8, 1917 and 2017

Our guests this week were:

• Mike Shuster with a look at Russia’s revolution 100 years ago this week

Thanks to Eric Marr for his help on our story research.

And I am Theo Mayer - your host.

The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1.

Our programs are to--

inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; This program is a part of that….

We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms;

We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country;

and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

This week’s featured web page is ww1cc.org/memorial - check it out! Big news there.

We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support.

The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn  

on  iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News, and on Amazon Echo or other Alexa enabled devices. Just say: Alexa: Play W W One Centennial News Podcast.

Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial.

Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget

to share the stories

you are hearing here today

about the war that changed the world!

[music]

Right mate - That’s a fair dinkum show this week - time to belt up and crack a tinnie - ya dingbat!

(with apologies to my Aussie buds for my truly terrible accent)

So long!

• POWs in WW1 | @01:30

More...

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is November 8th, 2017. We have a big lineup of guests for you this week… 9 in all! including:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

[MUSIC]

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

This week 100 years ago in both the Official Bulletin, the US government's daily war gazette and the New York Times,  there are stories about the first American Prisoners-of-war captured by the Germans.

This got us thinking about the subject of POWs in WWI.

What were the rules? I mean, the Geneva convention that we usually think of, when we think of prisoner of war “treatment” today generally refers to treaties from 1949 after WWII. Those were updates from 2 treaties pulled together in 1929 -

• The US naval war of 1917 | @01:10

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is November 1st, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Steve Bunker of the Friends of Mallows Bay and Carrie Villar curator for the Ghosts of Mallows Bay exhibit at Woodrow Wilson House

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

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[MUSIC TRANSITION]

Today, we are looking at the war on the water.

The Atlantic Ocean was a major factor in the war 100 years ago. It wasn’t just a military battleground but an important strategic pivot.

Ships and mastery of the seas had been key factors in national strength for centuries. Fleets and armadas the stuff of legends...

but the conflict on the seas during WW1 is unique and comes down to a life and death struggle between the need to move goods, materiel and men versus the threat of small, stealthy and deadly raiders - the U-boats of WWI.

Like a small virus that can fell giants - the German U-boats are not just a threat to ships on the seas, but a deadly noose closing to choke the life out of nations.

So Let’s jump into our wayback machine and head back to 1917 to see how all this lays out and plays out.

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We’ve gone back in time 100 years and we are looking back across the waters of the year of 1917.

In just the first four months of 1917, U-boat raids reduce the British grain supply to just six weeks by sinking 1,365 ships. The Kaiser’s Navy believes that by using unrestricted submarine warfare on all shipping, it can blockade England into surrender whether the U.S. intervenes in the war or not.

They are killing transports faster that replacements can be built and they know they are hurting the brits - a lot!

England imperial economy is hugely dependent on imports of food and raw materials,  and at the current rate of sinking it’s supply lines, it is quite possible the England and then the allies might lose the war…

not to the millions of poor souls slugging it out in the trenches - but to an effective fleet of just a few hundred submarines... each typically only 214 feet long, carrying 35 men, 12 torpedoes, mines and capable of traveling underwater for two hours at a stretch.

As America enters the war in April of 1917, the US Navy strategy is not focused on this threat at all.

It's strategic focus is on building a POWER navy headed by giant battle cruisers and dreadnaughts…

The Naval Act of 1916 authorizes the building of ten battleships and six battle cruisers -- 32 thousand and 42 thousand ton behemoths sporting massive 16" guns, supported by scores of cruisers, destroyers and new submarines. This is a big iron --- power strategy -- based on what is known as Capital Ships - ready to fight in the atlantic, caribbean and Pacific  - perhaps all at once… a prophetic vision for a quarter century later.

But the real challenge and the task for the US navy just entering the war is protecting shipping lanes from the deadly stings of little raiders just under the surface. It’s an issue we need to address - not just for Brittain - but as our only way to move millions of men, equipment and supplies across the Atlantic in order to join the fight!

This is made very clear to Rear Admiral William Sims. he’s the president of the Naval War College and goes to Britain on the eve of America’s entry into the war to meet with the British Admiralty about strategy.

In point of fact, the ship he travels to England on, the American Line's New York, is damaged by a submarine-laid mine as it approaches Liverpool.

The Admiralty, pleads its case and makes clear that is is implementing a convoy system - something the US naval command does not believe in.

This strategy requires lots of smaller ships -- primarily destroyers - to work as escorts. The British campaign for the US to refocus it’s shipbuilding on ships suited to that task of convoying.

Sims, who is subsequently named commander of U.S. naval forces in European waters, becomes an early convert for convoys.

On 14 April, just days after America enters the war - he cables Washington with his recommendations that the maximum number of American destroyers be made available immediately.

He argues that the timely arrival of even a small number of escorts at this critical moment can have an immediate and strategically important impact on the war --  right now!! --- given the fact that it’s gonna take some time for the US to mobilize enough military land resources to have any other actual impact.

There is pushback on this from Admiral William Benson -- Chief of Naval Operations and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels who argue for putting more emphasis on armed merchant ships sailing independently, with navy patrolled sea lanes.

However, Sims advocacy and additional diplomatic admiralty visits to Washington succeeds in getting twenty-eight American destroyers escorting convoys by the end of june and thirty five by end August 1917, rather than the Navy simply conducting patrols as had been the original plan.  

Well, it turns out that the convoy system works - and works well - The positive results bring the Americans around - especially admiral Benson who reportedly "goes to the mat," with the American naval building priorities This ties into what we told you about in Episode 28,

On Friday July 18th, 1917- President Wilson announced in the Official Bulletin that:

Because of their varied contracts for shipbuilding, the yards can not carry out our program without the help of the Government; it has, therefore, been decided that the shipbuilding industry of the Nation shall be federalized.

The administration appointed United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation is put in charge.

Three days later - on the 21st. July 1917, Secretary Daniels orders construction of new battleships to cease. Priority is to be given to destroyers and other anti-submarine craft. He authorized construction of what would eventually total 266 destroyers.

Links:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-u-boat-campaign-that-almost-broke-britain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat_Campaign_(World_War_I)

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-unleash-u-boats

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/04/world-war-i-in-photos-war-at-sea/507332/

http://www.worldwar1.com/tgws/usnwwone.htm

[SOUND EFFECT]

Mallows Bay

A huge push for ship building in the US - with many built so fast and a maybe a little shoddy  -- that over 200 of them - having served their purpose - were scuttled and sunk right after the war -- which leads us to our next story… We are going to slide into the present for just a moment to talk about The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay -   a small bay on the Maryland side of the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland.

It’s considered the "largest shipwreck graveyard in the Western Hemisphere… and now being advocated for and being considered by NOAA to become one of the most interesting national marine sanctuary in the united states.

With us here in 2017 are Steve Bunker from the Friends of Mallows Bay, and Carrie Villar, who served as interim director of Woodrow Wilson House in washington DC a national trust for historic preservation historic site and carrie is also the curator for the Ghosts of Mallows Bay exhibit,.

Welcome to both of you….

[exchange greetings]

[Steve, can you tell us a bit about how, why and who sunk all those ships in Mallows Bay?]

[I understand that the bay was salvaged for steel and other metals - tell us about that?]

[Since I’ve learned about it - Mallows Bay is on my list of places I want to see.. What is the visitor experience like?]

[The Woodrow Wilson house just opened an exhibit on this - and with us is Carrie Villar the curator for the exhibit - Carrie, how and why did the Woodrow Wilson House get involved? ]

[Carrie - Can you tell us a bit  about the opening?]

Thank you both for coming on the show!

That was Steve Bunker from the Friends of Mallow bay, and Carrie Villar, the curator of the Ghosts of Mallows Bay exhibit at Woodrow Wilson House.

Links: http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/event/exhibit-opening-ghost-fleet

https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/mallows-bay/

Whipping back to 100 years ago this week --- Boy are we breaking format today  - but --- we found one more quick story that we just HAVE to slip in…

[SOUND EFFECT]

Dateline October 29th, 1917

The Headline of the NY times reads:

Names of New Yorkers Who Have Failed to Respond to the Draft Call

1490 of draft age ignore summons - men classed as deserters - reward of $50 for each!!

WOW -- This article put out by Roger B Wood, director of the draft in New York City lists the names AND ADDRESSES of nearly 1500 young men - known at the time as SLACKERS (our Speaking WWI word from our early August episode #32)

They are naming names - they are giving addresses - and they are offering rewards - and god help any one of those young men with a German sounding last name.

But the reason we HAD to slip in the story - and give you the link to the article is because - when Katherine Akey - our line producer - who found the article looked through the list - well - let me have her tell you herself

[Katherine tells us how she found an old apartment address in NYC that SHE lived in and challenges listeners who have done stints in NYC to check out their old addresses to see if they are SLACKER refuges!!! - fun Sam Berry, on St Mark’s Place]

This very important link is in the podcast notes...

link:http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D0CE3DD113AE433A2575AC2A9669D946696D6CF

[SOUND EFFECT]

The war that changed the world is connected to the roots of many of our modern conflicts and here to tell us one of the stories is Mike shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project blog. Hi Mike!

[Mike Shuster]

Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog.

LINK:

http://greatwarproject.org/2017/10/29/the-struggle-for-palestine-begins/

[SOUND EFFECT]

For weekly informative videos about WW1 from the European perspective, we recommend the Great War Channel on Youtube -

This week - two new episodes focus on Caporetto which we introduced to you last week :

• FIrst == The Battle of La Malmaison [mal-may-zon] -- Breakthrough at Caporetto

Follow the link in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

[SOUND EFFECT]

We have moved forward in time to the present…

Welcome to WW1 Centennial News NOW  - This part of the program is not about history but how the centennial of

the War that changed the world

is being commemorated today.

As we continue our countdown to veterans day, let’s take a moment to look back at its origins and the variations of it around the world.

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day”, first celebrated on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of fighting during World War I.

It became a national holiday in 1938 and in 1954 President EIsenhower officially changed the name to Veterans day incorporate the ideas beyond WWI.

Memorial Day - that you probably think of it as the start of the summer season - focuses on veterans who paid the ultimate price, while Veterans Day - with its roots as a salute to our doughboys -  is a tribute to any American veterans—living or dead. It is our national salute to service.

Great Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate the veterans of World War I and World War II on or near November 11th: Canada has Remembrance Day, while Britain has Remembrance Sunday.

Each country honors its veterans, and the armistice of WW1, in a slightly different way. France expelled an invader from its territory, and the tenor of commemoration there reflects that.

Even the symbol of remembrance differs from place to place. The red poppy of flanders fields is common in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, Canada and America -- The French use the blue cornflower, whic – like the poppy – continued to grow in land devastated by war.

No matter how our commemorations may differ, citizens from all across the globe will take pause on or around November 11th to remember the sacrifice of men and women in who serve their nations in the military.

As we countdown to Veterans Day 2018, here are some things for you to participate in.

Ceremonial Groundbreaking for America’s WWI Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington DC

Start on November 9, at 11am eastern with the ceremonial groundbreaking for the National World War One memorial at Pershing Park in Washington DC. We will be streaming it on Facebook live. We are on facebook @ww-the number 1- centennial…  or follow the link in the podcast notes.

LINK: http://Facebook.com/ww1Centennial

Next be sure to tag all your related posts and photos on social media using the hashtag #countdowntoveteransday.

Link: https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp

http://www.military.com/veterans-day/history-of-veterans-day.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleuet_de_France#/media/File:CPA_Bleuet_de_France_1914-1918.jpg

We suggest you visit the U.S. National WW1 Centennial Events Register at WW1CC.org/events to look for Veterans Day events near you.

Many WWI related organizations have posted events in the national register.

We have picked a few of them to tell you about...

NYC

In the Big Apple, the famous New York City Veterans Day Parade is the largest Veterans Day event in the nation. The Parade takes place every November 11, rain or shine with activities commencing at 10am.  Over 300 units and tens of thousands of marchers assemble near Madison Square Park, including veterans of all eras, military units, civic & youth groups, businesses, and high school bands from across America.

Also in New York, on Thursday evening the 9th of November the annual Flanders Remembers Concert will present Distortion, a Hymn to Liberty on at the Kaufman Music Center in New York.  Commissioned by the Government of Flanders, the piece commemorates the Centennial of World War I, and the concert will benefit the United War Veterans Council.

Washington DC area

Also on November 11th, Arlington National Cemetery will host its annual commemorations on Veterans Day. A prelude concert will begin in the Memorial Amphitheater at 10:30 a.m followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at 11 a.m.

Commemoration ceremonies are being held all over the country! Not just in major metros. For example...

Wilberforce Ohio

In Wilberforce Ohio, the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center is holding a Veterans Day Commemoration Event where award winning history teacher and Ohio World War I Committee member Paul LaRue will present a program that examine Ohio's African American World War I soldiers, their service and their sacrifice.

Saint Paul, Minnesota

The Minnesota History Center is hosting a lecture on November 11th where you can learn about the 34th “Red Bull” Infantry Division, a National Guard division from Minnesota, that went “over there” in WW1.

Louisville, Kentucky

In Louisville, Kentucky, a special WWI commemorative display will be set up with pictures and WWI military artifacts organized In conjunction with the annual Veterans Day program.

Rutherford NJ

And finally, The Rutherford NJ World War I Centennial Committee will hold a centennial remembrance program at the base of their WWI memorial column, which was a recent awardee in our 100 Cities/100 Memorials program. There will be remarks by the Mayor and dignitaries and a reading of the names of Rutherford's dead as well as a ceremonial 20' x 30' flag folding with taps followed by a special exhibition on many Rutherford veterans of the war including one of a kind personal artifacts. Two films will also be shown, "The Lost Battalion" and "Dear Home-Letters from WWI"

So check the events register at ww1cc.org/events - and if your Veterans Day event is NOT posted in the register - click the big red button and submit it to get it into the national archival register of Veterans Day commemorations that happened during the centennial of the war that changed the world!

We have LOTS of links in the podcast notes!

Links: http://uwvc.org/vetsday2017/parade-details/

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3371-flanders-remembers-concert-commemorates-u-s-entry-into-wwi.html

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/News/Post/2954/Visiting-Arlington-National-Cemetery-on-Veterans-Day

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/eventdetail/10288/64th-veterans-day-observance.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/eventdetail/47040/veterans-day-commemoration-event.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/eventdetail/35980/forgotten-stories-of-ww1-34th-red-bull-infantry-division.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/eventdetail/42617/veterans-day-and-salute-to-wwi-observance.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/eventdetail/47821/ww1-veterans-day-remembrance.html

And now for our feature “Speaking World War 1 - Where we  explore today’s words & phrases that are rooted in the war  ---

Looking for things you needed was a near daily activity at the front; men hunted for supplies and for food, especially when units moved into new territory where the locals may have left goodies behind, or when their unit was cut off from a supply line.

So a new word for hunting around and scavenging for something grew in popularity during WW1, the word is Scrounge!

The war threw together a lot of cultures and classes who found themselves on common footing - equalized by the rigors of war - and as a result they traded ideas, ways and words!

We’ve introduced words and phrases in this segment that made their way into English language or slang from French, Romany, Urdu and German.

Srounge is a slang word that comes from a Northern British origin. It’s possibly an alteration of scrunge ("to search stealthily, rummage, pilfer") or  scringe ("to pry about"); or perhaps related to scrouge, to ("push, jostle").  

Whatever its initial origin, Scrounging something up -- made its way into common use in the war that changed the world.

See the podcast notes to learn more!

link: https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Doughboy-Fritz-Soldier-Slang/dp/1445637839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508848013&sr=8-1&keywords=tommy+doughboy+fritz

https://books.google.com/books?id=KKgHkD6O1-cC&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=scrounge+northern+england+slang&source=bl&ots=QlDYSFWI-o&sig=9iPLJUj-7rgG0rO8mSTXRfsLxF8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwji_cXX6prXAhUKOiYKHXolAN0Q6AEIQjAE#v=onepage&q=scrounge&f=false

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scrounge

[SOUND EFFECT

Gold Star Memorial at Guthrie Park in Riverside, IL

Moving to our 100 Cities / 100 Memorials segment about the $200,000 matching grant challenge to rescue and focus on our local WWI memorials.

This week we are profiling the Gold Star Memorial at Guthrie Park in Riverside, IL -- with us tell us about the project is Joseph Baar Topinka, Post Commander at American Legion Post 488 in Riverside, Illinois.

Welcome, Joseph!

[exchange greetings]

[Joseph, tell us a bit about the Gold Star Memorial at Guthrie Park-- what is its history?]

[You are one of the first 50 awardees for the program - how has this affected your community]

[What kinds of restorative work are you planning to do on the memorial? And how did the American Legion get involved?]

[do you have plans for a rededication?]

[exchange thanks]

That was Joseph Baar Topinka, Post Commander, American Legion Post 488 in Riverside, Illinois.

We are going to continue to profile 100 Cities / 100 Memorials projects - not only awardees but also teams that are continuing on to round #2 which is now open for submissions.

So as we talked about last week - this memorial day weekend - if you want to do something for the doughboys -it’s easy - take a walk!  - Look around your town and find your local WWI memorial.

I promise it’s there - or was.. Look near the your county or city court house, check your parks, if they are old - or even just have an old flagpole - look around your local school buildings, find your American Legion or the VFW post, or check markers of your local cemetery.

When you DO find your WWI memorial, and if it needs some TLC, please go to WW1CC.org/100Memorials and see how you can start the ball rolling to get that memorial and the doughboys it honors some support. Have a great veterans day - and do wear sunscreen!

You can follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/100memorials

[SOUND EFFECT]

Films at French Embassy/Notre Dame Projection Installation

In our International report this week, we head to Paris and the beautiful, iconic Notre Dame.  From November 7th to 11th, Notre Dame will be lit up by projections all over the building. The exhibit, called Dame De Coeur, is a tribute to the thousands of allied soldiers who fought and gave their lives for freedom. The piece is being done by director Bruno Seillier, who is very experienced at monumental projection mapping installations.

Each night before the light show, the new film “The American in Paris: The True Story of the American Hospital of Paris in WWI” will be screened. The film tells the story of the American Hospital in Paris, from its start as a 24-bed facility for the expatriate community of Paris in 1910, to its dramatic expansion to a more than 2000 beds during the first world war.

The projection show and film are expected to be seen by over 60,000 people, but there is a chance to see the film stateside: The Cultural Service French Embassy in Washington, DC is screening the film on November 6th, and tickets are still available. Follow the link in the podcast notes for details about both of these events.

link:https://www.damedecoeur.paris/en/the-show-queen-of-hearts/

http://frenchculture.org/events/6473-americans-paris

Daylight Savings Special

A special reminder this week to prepare yourself for Daylight Savings, Actually - it’s backward from what you think - we are just about to head into DAYLIGHT STANDARD time. But in any case - when you wake up Monday groggy and annoyed at the seemingly random one-hour shift we tolerate every year, we have someone for you to blame: the Kaiser!

Although some say it was Benjamin Franklin who first proposed the idea --- The Germans were among the first to institute Daylight Savings, and they did so in 1916, two years into World War One. The concept was meant to be a temporary measure during the war, a way of conserving energy and providing more usable hours of daylight by getting up later into the morning and going to bed earlier in the evening.

The British, French and many others quickly followed suit, and Daylight Savings remained a staple of wartime life. Most countries dropped it after World War I, and it wasn’t until the next World War that Daylight Savings Time made its return in most of Europe, and America too.

Read more about the war time application of daylight savings at the link in the podcast notes.  

Link: http://online.wsj.com/ww1/daylight-saving-time

https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html

North Carolina Scholar

As we move into our Articles and Posts -- this week at ww1cc.org/news there is an article courtesy of  the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the story of one North Carolinian who served in the war, but never fired a shot.

Instead, Wilmington native Charles Jastrow Mendelsohn served as a cryptographer during the war period —someone who specializes in encrypting and decrypting sensitive information—.

The entirety of his year-long military term was spent stateside at posts in Washington D.C. and New York City where Mendelsohn led at team tasked with decrypting intercepted German diplomatic correspondence. Read more about how a professor of ancient languages at the City College of New York helped the U.S. read the enemy's mail during WWI by following the link in the notes.

link:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3374-wilmingtonian-decodes-german-world-war-i-correspondence.html

That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine, what are your picks out of the great stories from social media this week?

Hi Theo!

Motorcycle Club

We have two really great articles to share today. We’ll start with a heartwarming story from Fort Wayne Indiana, which we shared on Facebook recently. Last Sunday, 75 trees were escorted by motorcade through Fort Wayne Saturday morning before being planted at Memorial Park.

Warrior Breed Motorcycle Club organized the effort and were joined by police, fire and military personnel along the route. Memorial Park had, according to the article, fallen into a bit of disrepair, and the group was worried it would be repurposed. Eventually, 125 new trees will be planted in Memorial park, each dedicated to a soldier who gave their life in WW1.

Warrior Breed Motorcycle club president Gary Perkey said, “A hundred years ago there was a committee, I’m sure, discussing Memorial Park and what they were going to do to memorialize these WWI vets and here were are 100 years later doing the exact same thing, having the same discussions and planting these trees one again.” It’s a great story about local remembrance of WW1 and how moving and impactful it can be. An official dedication is planned for this November 11th, so if you’re in the Fort Wayne area check the link in the podcast notes to learn more.

link:http://wane.com/2017/10/28/motorcycle-club-escorts-plants-trees-honoring-wwi-veterans/

Ships Ships Ships

Finally this week, we’re going to go back to the top of the show with an amazing collection of photos from the Atlantic all about the war at sea during WW1.

The Atlantic published a series of ten collections of photos back in 2014, at the very beginning of the centennial of the war and they are absolutely wonderful. The War at Sea series includes images of u-boats cresting over waves in the Atlantic, disabled ships in the Dardanelles being blown up, mines being dragged ashore in Heligoland, a delicate looking Curtiss AB-2 being catapulted off the deck of a warship, ship cats and lots of images of dazzle camouflage. There’s even a Paget Process image from Jaffa, Israel; a super early color photograph; though it’s mostly pinks and greens and looks a bit surreal, the Paget Process photos are super beautiful. Check out these incredible images at the link in the podcast notes.

And that’s it this week for the Buzz!

link:https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/04/world-war-i-in-photos-war-at-sea/507332/

And that all our stories for you this week on WW1 Centennial News - Now before you flick off your play button - remember - for those of you who listen to end - we always leave you with a special goody or two!

So in closing - we want to thank our guests:

• Steve Bunker and Carrie Villar telling us the story of the Ghosts of Mallows Bay

• Joseph Baar Topinka from the 100 Cities/100 Memorials project in Riverside, Illinois

• Katherine Akey the Commission’s social media director and also the line producer for the show.

Thanks to Eric Marr for his contributions to this episode - Eric has joined our editorial team as a researcher and writer.

And I am Theo Mayer - your host.

The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1.

Our programs are to--

inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; This program is a part of that….

We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms;

We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country;

and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support.

The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn  

on  iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News, and on Amazon Echo or other Alexa enabled devices. Just say: Alexa: Play W W One Centennial News Podcast.

Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial.

Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget

to share the stories

you are hearing here today with someone

about the war that changed the world!

[music]

Don’t forget - we want you to scrounge around your town to find your local WWI memorials.

And thank a vet for their service this Veterans day week!

So long!

• US troops quietly begin deployment to the western front | @01:15

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is October 25th, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

[MUSIC]

This was a big week 100 years ago in the War that changed the world.

Looking back - --- America declares war 6 months ago and the first American troops arrive in Europe 4 months ago.

This week 100 years ago, the Army’s 1st division quietly deploys to Sommervillier -  in france - a village near the western front almost directly between Belgium and Switzerland.

We put a link in the podcast notes to some National Archive footage showing the the soldiers of the 1st division moving their horse drawn wagons, mechanised trucks, artillery and men to the fighting front.

This is in the midst of a lots of controversy, conflicting agendas… opinions, and a very dire situation in the war “over there”.

So let’s jump into our wayback machine to see what going on and how things play out 100 years ago this week.

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

We are nearing the end of November 1917 and in the US, speculation is high about “Our Boys” getting into the fight.

The official bulletin says NOTHING about this, the Wilson administration is being obscure, but the public press is sensing that something is up.

[Sound Effect]

Dateline: October 22, 1917

The headline in the New York Times reads:

Hints Our Army is Near Action….

Secretary Baker’s guarded review is taken to mean that soldiers soon will be in the trenches.

In the story it reads:

In his review to press, Secretary of War Baker emphasized  the status of the Pershing expedition by giving it the most prominent position in his analysis of the military equation.

He declares that “our men in France, after three months of intensive training, are in splendid physical condition and efficient fighting trim” and that they “Now feel at home in the war zone”.

The Secretary had no comment to make on the statement, but the interpretation placed on his words, when carefully weighed here tonight, is that they mark the verge of the actual entrance of the American Troops into the fighting line.

Now Over in Europe, the situation is both complex and dire.

We are going to zoom out for an overview of the situation.

The troops on all sides are deeply war weary from the intense multi-year carnage of this unprecedented conflict.

The Russians are effectively falling out of the fight with internal revolution and mass mutinies within their ranks. Everyone is clear that Russia is dropping out.

This will free up a massive resources for the Germans for an expected major spring offensive.

Although the Americans have come to join the fight, and despite having been technically at war since April, the United States has just four infantry divisions in France. These are not seasoned troops. These are young civilians short on training, equipment, modern staff techniques and without combat experience. This raises a contentious concept called Amalgamation.

Amalgamation would have the United States insert its men directly into existing British and French units at the company level. This, argue the europeans, would compensate for the American officers and NCOs lack of familiarity with modern staff arrangements and technologies like aviation, armor, machine guns and heavy artillery.

American troops would thereby be commanded at the tactical level by American junior officers, but the operational and strategic direction of American forces would be handled by more experienced Europeans.

Though this sounds practical, many Americans including General Pershing look at the enormous casualty levels on the western front and recoil against the thought of our young men being used as cannon fodder by European generals.

Pershing believes that the Europeans have become too tied to trench warfare. He has a different concept embodied  in his "open warfare" doctrine, which, he argues, will restore mobility to warfare by emphasizing American aggressiveness and marksmanship.

Politically, Wilson and his advisors also recognized that amalgamation of American forces will not allow for a distinctive American presence on the western front.

Wilson believes that he will need to be able to point to an American contribution to victory if he is to represent American interests in any post-war peace conference.

Yet it is obvious that the Americans are not yet ready to fight on their own.

Americans have virtually no experience in this new modern warfare. They need time to learn about it, trench warfare and modern tactics. They also need time to build relationships with their French and British allies and to overcome the crazy inefficiencies of their own mobilization.

There is great confidence that we can do it. The question is whether we can be trained, blooded, and effective in time to stop the German spring offensive.

So on October 21, the first of the doughboys pack up, and General John J. Pershing leads the 1st Division to Sommervillier - a relatively quiet part of the western front to take the men of the American Expeditionary force to the fight 100 years ago this week!

We want to thank Michael s. Neiberg and Harold K. Johnson professors of Military history at the US Army War College for their great and insightful article on the subject.

That link and other sources are in the podcast notes.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfeHCj7yQa4

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A0CE5D6103AE433A25750C2A9669D946696D6CF

http://today-in-wwi.tumblr.com/post/166656659468/first-americans-enter-the-front-line

http://today-in-wwi.tumblr.com/post/162357733133/first-american-division-arrives-in-france

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ww1/aef-wwi.htm

[SOUND EFFECT]

From the Great War Project Blog - we are joined by Mike shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project.

The endless carnage, devastating conditions and futile progress at Passchendaele is taking its toll on men and morale - especially with the British troops under a seemingly uncaring British commander - General Douglas Haig. Discontent  is boiling up in the ranks. Mike - please tell us the story…

[Mike Shuster]

Thank you Mike. That was Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog.

LINK:

http://greatwarproject.org/2017/10/22/british-soldiers-threaten-mutiny/

This week in the great war in the sky we go to Bourbonne - les- bains - in France - interestingly not too far from Sommerviller where the 1st Division is heading.

The Associated press has a reporter that gets to see a intact captured german Zeppelin.

[Sound Effect]

Dateline: Sunday October 21, 1917

The Headline in the NY times reads:

“Americans Inspect Captive Zeppelin”

“French also throng to see the great airship that was brought down intact!

Germans Tried to wreck it… Prevented by victorious French Aviator who showed great pluck!”

In this illustrative story we learn many things about these giants of the sky what were sometimes referred to as Baby Killers or Pirates because of their bombing of civilian areas.

The story reads:

The crews of the Super-Zeppelins L49 and L50 have been interrogated and their replies confirm the supposition that they made up part of a single expedition against England.

The Pirate fleet numbered twelve and left their stations separately. The prisoners say that when they reached the English coast, they were much bothered by anti-aircraft guns and even more by searchlights.

L-50 quickly dropped its bombs and then rose to a height of three miles where they were caught by strong winds.

Zeppelin L-49 came down near Bourbonne-Les-Bains---  intact, as were its machinery and its instruments.

When the Zeppelin’s commander saw that it was impossible to save his ship, he destroyed the wireless apparatus and tried to explode the airship by firing his pistol into it.

An opportunity was given to some American Officers to inspect the craft with French flying men.

The whole body of the Zeppelin is painted black except the top, which is silvered. There is a small German Cross on each side amidships.

The German airmen seemed surprised to see the Americans who had an opportunity to talk with some of them, and also with the Zeppelin commander, a slight blonde Lieutenant, speaking excellent english.

A young French aviator told how he flew in pursuit of the Zeppelin to such an altitude that his cheeks froze and how he succeeded finally in forcing the craft down with his machine gun. When he saw they were about to land, he dived to earth. Other french aviators landed near. At the point of his pistol, the germans were prevented from damaging the craft further and were made prisoner.

This is from an Associated Press report and a  newspaper article published in the New York Times - and it is a story that unfold in the great war in the sky one hundred years ago this week.

The link to the original article in the New York Times is in the podcast notes.

link:http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A05E4D6103AE433A25750C2A9669D946696D6CF

[SOUND EFFECT]

We are really happy that you listen to our podcast  - but If you’d like to watch some videos about WW1, we’d like to recommend that you see our friends at the Great War Channel on Youtube -

New episodes for this week include:

• Operation Albion Concludes - Allied Failures in Belgium

Follow the link in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

[SOUND EFFECT]

We have moved forward in time to the present…

Welcome to WW1 Centennial News NOW  - This part of the program is not about history but how the centennial of

the War that changed the world

is being commemorated today.

Interview with Edwin Fountain

In Commission News we want to invite you to a very special live streaming event on November 9 at 11am Eastern.

You’ll be able to tune in to Facebook live to watch the ceremonial groundbreaking for the National World War I Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington DC.

It may surprise our listeners to learn that in Washington DC there is no national WWI memorial honoring our doughboys, their sacrifice and their victory in WWI. It’s true! There is a memorial for WWII, for Korea and for Vietnam but none for WWI.

With is today is a man who has passionately been addressing this issue for the better part of a decade - maybe longer. He is also the Vice Chair of the World War One Centennial Commission - Edwin Fountain. Edwin welcome to WW1 Centennial News!

[Edwin  - Why is it important that we build a national WW1 Memorial in our nation’s capital.]

[Edwin -  tell us about America’s WWI Memorial in Pershing Park what is it going to be like?]

[We will post a link to that sculpture design in the podcast notes.]

[How can our listeners help build this memorial for our doughboys?]

Thank you Commissioner Edwin Fountain.

That was Edwin Fountain - the vice-chair of the US World War One Centennial Commission.

[Sound Effect]

Junior Master Gardener Follow Up with Lisa Whittlesey

In Episode #28, we introduced you to the Junior Master Gardener Program a 4H project. It’s an international youth gardening program that engages children in novel, “hands-on” learning experiences that provide a love of gardening, develop an appreciation for the environment, and cultivates not just the earth but young minds.

This Fall, the Junior Master Gardener program partnered with the US World War One Centennial Commission’s Poppy Seed Program to raise money for the program and America’s World War I Memorial in Washington DC.

So as a reminder to our listeners, the WWI Poppy Program lets you Raise money for your organization, While helping us build the National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

The red poppy is an internationally recognized symbol of rememmbrance for veteran sacrifice.

It works like this...

for a donation of around 60 dollars, we send you a box of 60 Red Poppy seed packets in a kit. Your organization sells the poppy seed packets for $2 (or anything you want) and you keep the second dollar.

So you can raise money for your local veterans organization, school, church, scout troop or master junior gardener team - learn more about WWI and help us build the memorial in DC all at the same time -

With us to give us an update is Lisa Whittelsey,  Director of the International Junior Master Gardener Program. Hi Lisa - good to have you with us again!

[Say hello]

[Lisa: how are our gardeners doing?]

[Lisa, what are some of the reasons the kids and their schools should get involved with the poppy program?]

[some of your kids really got into it  -- even making their own video commercials. Let me play a clip from a group of enterprising junior master gardeners from the lone star state of Texas!]

[what are some of the stories you’ve heard about the program?]

[So flowers and poppy growing seems like a springtime activity - What happens now? Does the program go through the winter?]

Thank you Lisa! That was Lisa Whittlesey, Director of the International Junior Master Gardener Program. Learn more about the Program and the collaboration with the Commission by following the links in the podcast notes.

Update/Reminder on how the poppy program works

link:http://ww1cc.org/poppy

http://ww1cc.org/jmg

http://jmgkids.us

http://jmgkids.us/poppy/

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3115-junior-master-gardener-program-works-to-honor-world-war-i-veterans.html

[SOUND EFFECT]

And now for our feature “Speaking World War 1 - Where we  explore today’s words & phrases that are rooted in the war  ---

There were many things you didn’t want to be called in the trenches -- a coward, a deserter, a “client for Rouen”, aka a man with a venereal disease -- but one of the worst possible things to be called in the trenches was: a Nark!

Really… So was there a drug culture in the trenches and informants to the military narcotics vice squad?? - well no -

Contrary to popular belief, the word “nark” -- spelled n-a-r-k -- doesn’t come from the word “narcotics” at all. In fact, it’s origin comes from the word for nose, “Nak”, N-A-K in Romany, the language of the Romany or Gypsy people.

It’s original use in pre-war England was in relation to people who stick their nose in other people’s business - informers, or perhaps because they sniffed out trouble!

During the war, the word was brought into the trenches and spread into the American and ANZAC vocabularies. It came to mean a soldier who would reveal other private’s secrets, usually in order to improve his own standing.

Nark -- the last kind of soldier you want to be! And this weeks word for speaking World War One!

See the podcast notes to learn more!

link: https://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Doughboy-Fritz-Soldier-Slang/dp/1445637839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508848013&sr=8-1&keywords=tommy+doughboy+fritz

[SOUND EFFECT

Welcome to our 100 Cities / 100 Memorials segment about the $200,000 matching grant challenge to rescue and focus on our local WWI memorials.

Last month, we announced the first 50 “WWI Centennial Memorials”.

We’ll be awarding another 50 matching grants early next year.

If you live in a town that has a WWI memorial that might want a little attention… now is the time to go to ww1cc.org/100memorials and learn what you can do about it, what others have done and how to apply for the matching grants.

The 100 Cities / 100 Memorials project in Danville, Pennsylvania was one of the first 50 awardees - and here to tell us about the project is Jamie Shrawder, the Administrator of Governmental Affairs for the borough of Danville.  

Welcome, Jamie!

[exchange greetings]

[Jamie - Danville has a memorial park with several monuments - The four sided WWI monuments is really striking with an eagle atop a four sided granite base. When did it get erected?]

[How do you and how does Danville feel about being one of the awardees and your memorial getting designated as a WWI Centennial Memorial?]

[I saw in your proposal that you approached various veterans organizations to support the restoration - how did that work out?]

[Cleaning up one of these historic memorials isn’t done by grabbing a can of brasso and polishing up the brass (BTW - I just felt 1000 conservators cringe at once) - how do you go about it?]

[do you have plans for a rededication?]

[exchange thanks]

That was Jamie Shrawder, the Administrator of Governmental Affairs for the Borough of Danville.

We are going to continue to profile 100 Cities / 100 Memorials projects - not only awardees but also teams that are continuing on to round #2 which is now open for submissions.

So listeners - this weekend - if you are in the United States - take a few minutes look around your town and find your local WWI memorial.

There WILL be one.. And you’ve probably seen it but did not know what it was. You’ll find it near the county court house, in a municipal park, by the old high school building, at the American Legion or the VFW post, or in an area of your local cemetery.

When you DO find it, and if it needs some TLC, please go to WW1CC.org/100Memorials and see how you can start the ball rolling to get that memorial and the doughboys it honors some help.

You can follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/100memorials

[SOUND EFFECT]

Kobarid Museum: Commemorations in Slovenia

In our International report this week, we head to Slovenia, to the Kobarid [ko-bah-reed] Museum located near the eastern border of Slovenia and Italy - There, from October 20th to November 11th-- historians, soldiers and citizens will gather for a series of events commemorating the Battle of Caporetto, also known as the Battle of Kobarid or the Battle of Karfreit.

The Battle was so devastating for the combatant Italian forces that the word Caporetto gained a particular resonance in Italy. It is used to denote a terrible defeat – the failed General Strike of 1922 by the socialists was referred to by Mussolini as the "Caporetto of Italian Socialism".

In 1917 - the Italians lost 305,000 men, 265,000 of those as prisoners of war.

Though not as devastating, the German and Austro Hungarian lost 70,000 men in that battle.

Commemorations at the Kobarid Museum include a new exhibition with the title "Kobarid, Caporetto, Karfreit 1917"; there will also be a ceremony along the Walk of Peace from the Alps to the Adriatic, lighting candles at the memorials and cemeteries on the way.

Many more events are scheduled, including a cross country running event in the region that will join the former combatants as colleagues -

You can find out more by heading to the Kobarid Museum’s website and the Walk of Peace website. Follow the link in the podcast notes to learn more.

link:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/slovenia-official-commemoration-web-site.html

https://www.kobariski-muzej.si/exhibitions/permanent/

http://www.potmiru.si/eng/

16th Division

This week in our Articles and Posts segment - where we explore the World War One Centennial Commission’s rapidly growing website at ww1cc.org -

This week we are profiling a great article about the 16th Infantry division -- and how its service in WW1 is being commemorated.

On November 3rd 1917, Corporal James Gresham, and Privates Thomas Enright and Merle Hay, were killed in action during a German trench raid near the little village of Bathelémont (baa-tel-ay-mon) in France. These soldiers -- all members of F Company, 16th Infantry -- were the first three American combat casualties in World War I.

The 16th Infantry Regiment Association will honor Gresham with the dedication of a plaque at his mother’s home in Evansville, Indiana, at 10:00 am, on November 3rd this year.  

The article includes a conversation with the Association's President, Steven E. Clay, about about the 16th Infantry's soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. You can read that discussion by following the link in the podcast notes.

Link: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3271-four-questions-for-steven-clay-president-of-the-16th-infantry-regiment-association.html

Commissioner Seefried

Another article reflects on the rededication of the statues of General Pershing and the Marquis de Lafayette in Versailles that we reported over the past weeks . US WWI Centennial commissioner Monique Seefried attended the ceremony at Versailles.

This week at ww1cc.org/news -- she talked to us from France about the event, the statues, and what they mean for the future of the French-American legacy. Read this insightful and touching piece from Commissioner Seefried that illuminates the very special link between our two nations by following the link in the podcast news.

Link:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3270-four-questions-for-commissioner-monique-seefried.html

And now for an update on our WWRITE blog, which explores WWI’s Influence on contemporary writing and scholarship, this week's post is:

"Are war wives - war poets, too? "

Consider those women who write about the contortions on domestic life and feminine sensibility brought about by war...

Author, veteran, and teacher, Peter Molin, explores the idea this week in a post about poet Aline Murray Kilmer, wife of well-known American WWI poet, Joyce Kilmer, who was killed during the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918.

Aline's poetry conveys the urgency and nuance of a war wife's uncertainty as she finds her tranquility and self-worth vexingly dependent on her husband, even in his permanent absence.

Don't miss this rich, insightful post about the often-overlooked and, yes, war poet, Aline Kilmer! Read it by going to ww1c.org/w-w-r-i-t-e or following the link in the podcast notes.

link:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/articles-posts/3269-aline-kilmer-when-the-war-poet-s-wife-is-a-poet-too-by-peter-molin.html

That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine - Hi Katherine!--

Hi Theo!

Old Rhinebeck Aerodome

We’ll start with a Facebook post from the Old Rhinebeck Aerodome. They had a WW1 Airshow on October 15th, the last for their season this year, and someone in attendance shared a bunch of really great photos from the event on Facebook.

Pilots wore WW1 era uniforms, both Doughboy and German, and there was even an old Ambulance and stretcher bearers in case anyone got hurt. The afternoon included a hero, a heroine (Cheer!), the villainous Black Baron of Rhinebeck (Boo!), and pyrotechnics, as well as some really beautiful aircraft, including a Fokker Triplane and, my personal favorite, a reproduction 1910 Hanriot. See the photos, and visit the Aerodome website, at the links in the podcast notes.

link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldrhinebeckaerodrome/permalink/1746902505342287/

http://oldrhinebeck.org/

Unknown Soldier

Finally this week, I wanted to share an article from History.com that is yet another powerful story as we lead up to Veterans Day: the selection of the Unknown Soldier.

On October 24th, 96 years had passed since the first Unknown Soldier was selected by a US Officer in the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne.

According to the official records of the Army Graves Registration Service, four bodies were transported to Chalons from the cemeteries of Aisne-Marne, Somme, Meuse-Argonne and Saint-Mihiel.

French and American officials then underwent the ceremony of selecting one of the four caskets displayed, each draped with an American flag. Sergeant Edward Younger, the man given the task of making the selection, carried white roses to mark the chosen casket. According to the official account, Younger “entered the chamber in which the bodies of the four Unknown Soldiers lay, circled the caskets three times, then silently placed the flowers on the third casket from the left. He faced the body, stood at attention and saluted.”

The “Unknown Soldier” remains in Arlington National Cemetery to this day, honored among and for the approximately 77,000 United States servicemen killed on the Western Front during World War I.

And with that, we continue the countdown to veterans day. That’s it this week for the Buzz!

link:https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/unknown-soldier-is-selected

Thank you Katherine. And that all our stories for you this week on WW1 Centennial News - Now before you flick off your play button - remember - for those of you who listen to end - we always leave you with a special goody or two!

So in closing - we want to thank our guests:

• Mike Shuster and his report on discontent within the British Army

• Lisa Whittlesey, updating us on the Junior Master Gardener Poppy Competition

• Katherine Akey the Commission’s social media director and also the line producer for the show.

And I am Theo Mayer - your host.

The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1.

Our programs are to--

inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; This program is a part of that….

We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms;

We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country;

and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support.

The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn  

on  iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News, and on Amazon Echo or other Alexa enabled devices. Just say: Alexa: Play W W One Centennial News Podcast.

Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial.

Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget

to share the stories

you are hearing here today with someone

about the war that changed the world!

[music]

Hey man… get your nose outta my business dude - you nark!

So long!

• US troops quietly begin deployment to the western front | @01:15

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is October 25th, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

[MUSIC]

This was a big week 100 years ago in the War that changed the world.

Looking back - --- America declares war 6 months ago and the first American troops arrive in Europe 4 months ago.

This week 100 years ago, the Army’s 1st division quietly deploys to Sommervillier -  in france - a village near the western front almost directly between Belgium and Switzerland.

We put a link in the podcast notes to some National Archive footage showing the the soldiers of the 1st division moving their horse drawn wagons, mechanised trucks, artillery and men to the fighting front.

This i

• Trading With The Enemy Act |@01:15

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is October 18th, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

[MUSIC]

Our theme this week is about hunkering down in the midst of a threat. America has declared its martial intent on 1/2 of a world at war,

and now it must take both an offensive and defensive poster.

Though u-Boats are an endless threat on the seas, there is little chance that the kaiser would land an army in the Chesapeake bay. But there were plenty of threats to worry about… and the Wilson Administration did!

One hundred years ago this week, on October 14th, Wilson signs the “Trading with the enemy act” into law. Today, many aspects of this law would be unthinkable including the appointment of an Alien Property Custodian empowered to seize the assets of immigrant’s businesses and not just mom & Pop outfits but national brands.

So let’s jump into the wayback machine to see how this plays out starting 100 years ago this week.

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

Welcome to mid October 1917 - President Wilson has just signed the Trading with the Enemy Act into law giving him new broad powers relating to foreign trade. The intent is that no American trade aids can benefit Germany and its allies in any way. Those allies include Austria-hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey - even though America has not actually declared war with those allies.

Under the act, German-owned property in the US can be seized, and as enemy property German owned patents can be used without royalty including, for example, the German-owned Bayer company’s patented aspirin pills.

Treasury secretary McAdoo gets extensive power to control the exchange of Gold and securities between the US and foreign countries.

Meanwhile, the Postmaster General has total censorship over the non-english-language press as well as total control over international communications by telegraph.

Interestingly, unlike many of the other wartime acts, the trading with the enemy act will not be repealed after the war and will have lasting impact into the 21st century!

As one reads the law - it starts by defining who IS an enemy

in essence and simply put,  an Enemy is someone we have declared war on.

That is simple and makes sense.

But the President can also declare any other nation and the citizens of that nation enemies by proclamation. In other words, the friends of my enemy are also my enemy --

And the act reaches deep. For example, if you are a German immigrant living in the US for 20 years. You have built a life, a business and a family,  but you yourself are not an American citizen - well, you are an enemy.

Which leads to another expanded definition: “Allie of the Enemy” - which includes any individual, partnership or group of individuals of any nationality inside the enemy’s territories, or someone doing business with the enemy or an allie of the enemy, or company incorporated in enemy territory, or doing business within an allie of the enemy territory - you are an enemy.

Given that being declared an enemy allows the US Government to seize your property - both real property and intellectual property, the newly formed Office of Alien Property Custodian, headed by an appointee named Mitchell Palmer, gets busy. Within a year, Palmer will manage 30,000 trusts - or seized properties, businesses or assets - worth ½ a billion dollars.

Whole industries are affected - for example, the United States Brewers Association - and the rest of the overwhelmingly German liquor industry is proclaimed to harbor unpatriotic and pro-german sentiments and is effectively seized.

For history and law buffs interested in the details, we recommend that you read Mitchell Palmer’s report to President Wilson called:

A detailed Report by the Alien Property Custodian of all Proceedings Had by Him under the Trading with the Enemy Act during the Calendar Year of 1918

And the close of business on February 15, 1919.

It’s not exactly a page turner but if you skim the index for ideas of interest - like for me personally it is the patents they grabbed and the people they jailed.. Reading primary sources - instead of historian interpretations is really fun - and enlightening.

The link to the report and lots of other related articles are in the Podcast notes.

Links:

Trading with the enemy overview:

http://today-in-wwi.tumblr.com/post/166411955808/trading-with-the-enemy-act

Office of the Alien Property Custodian overview

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Alien_Property_Custodian

The spoils of war at home

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-confiscated-half-billion-dollars-private-property-during-wwi-180952144/

Annual Report of the Alien Property Custodian: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044090082678;view=1up;seq=7

Trading with the Enemy Act: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/t4cn8qf7s;view=1up;seq=45

OK let’s move from the business of war - interesting - but really - let’s get into something a little hotter, and steamier and maybe more exciting!

From the Great War Project Blog - we are joined by Mike shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project.

Mike’s post this week is about espionage agent H-21, better known at Mata Hari!

Tell us the story Mike!

[Mike Shuster]

Thank you Mike. That was Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog.

LINK:

http://greatwarproject.org/2017/10/14/a-spy-faces-the-firing-squad/

Today for our War in The sky segment, we are leafing through a current issue of the Aviation and Aeronautical engineering magazine.  Now it’s not the lead articles that draws attention - of course it sets the mood of the industry with excited  talk of the $640,000,0000 congressional appropriation aimed at aircraft manufacturing.

Instead, we are exploring the back end of the magazine where the ads are.

There is great stuff here!

Like the ⅓ page ad from the Kyle Smith Aircraft company from Wheeling West Virginia. They’ll sell you a two seater biplane - with a land model for $3,000 and for an extra $100 - pontoons for water.

Billy Brock and Al Boshek from the Flint Aircraft Company in Michigan will teach you to fly so you can qualify for military examinations as a pilot or as a mechanic.

Or the Foxboro Company of Massachusetts who offers a fine looking air speed indicator - noting in their sales pitch: Quote: accurately indicates the relative wind pressure, the force that holds the plane in the air. Hey -- you really gonna want one of those!!

Then I stumble across a genuine mystery  - The innovative and visionary Buck Aircraft and Munitions Company of Denver Colorado who places a ¼ page - editorial style ad - you know one of those that today has to have a little “advertising” flag on it so you don’t think it is part of the magazine editorial.

The headline reads:

The Automatic Aerial Torpedo

The story reads: Built on the Buck Aerial Torpedo patent - the aircraft is equipped with a 50 HP motor and designed to carry explosives in the air to any distance up to thirty miles.

A time controlled release drops the torpedo at any given distance. The entire equipment is automatic and is launched from a compressed air catapult mounted on a motor truck, the engine of which furnishes the air for the catapult.

The torpedo can be fired at any range and at any degree of the compass.

This almost sounds like a flying torpedo drone - well that doesn’t make sense for 1917 ---  So of course I chase down the patent they mention.

Sure enough… US Patent # 1,388,932 for an aerial torpedo was filed by Hugo Centerwall of Brooklyn New York on July 27, 1916 and here is the kicker. The patent talks about an electric automated guidance steering mechanism with a smart site. Well, I could have spent the rest of the night chasing this down both I, and this segment have run out of time!...

So we have to drop the mystery here about the Buck Aircraft and Munitions company of Denver Colorado -- with their catapult launched, maybe unmanned!? guided aerial missile torpedo from 1916---  which happens to pop up in an aerospace engineering magazine 100 years ago in the great war in the sky.

There are links in the podcast notes to the ad and to the patent. If any of our intrepid listeners learn more about these guys and their aerial torpedo - please get in touch with us through the contact link at ww1cc.org. There’s a fascinating story here somewhere!

Link:

Ad

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924060892019;view=1up;seq=436

Patent

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US1388932.pdf

[SOUND EFFECT]

Well - we love that you listen to us - but If you’d like to watch some videos about WW1, go see our friends at the Great War Channel on Youtube - Here is Indy Neidell the shows host:

“ Hello WW1 Centennial News Listeners - This is Indy Neidell, host of the Great War Channel on Youtube. American soldiers are dying in combat and the Bolsheviks seize control in Russia as autumn sets in across Europe. Join us for a new episode of The Great War every Thursday by subscribing to our Youtube channel and following us on Facebook. “

New episodes for this week include:

• Operation Albion -Passchendaele drowns in mud

Follow the link in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

[SOUND EFFECT]

We have moved forward in time to the present…

Welcome to WW1 Centennial News NOW  - This part of the program is not about history but how the centennial of

the War that changed the world

is being commemorated today.

[Sound Effect]

Education Symposia

This week we are leading off with our Education section  -- You know--- Bringing the lessons of WWI into the classroom is one of the Commission’s prime goals - and with the help of a generous $50,000 grant from the American Legion - we are kicking off a six city teaching tour called “Teaching Literacy Through History”.

The program is being produced by  the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation’s leading American history organization dedicated to K-12 education.

This exciting project is kicking off this month --- and with us today ---  to tell us more about it is Tim Bailey, Director of Education at the Gilder Lehrman Institute.

Welcome Tim!

[exchange greetings]

Tim - let’s start with the Gilder Lehrman Institute - can you tell us a bit more about it?

[Now about the WWI program - what cities are you going to?]

[If I am a teacher, what will my experience be… and what will I walk away with? ]

[Tim - As the folks that educate the educators - do you have a particular success story that comes to mind?]

[I know this is going to be popular with the teachers - what do they need to do to qualify and how do they sign up?]

Tim - thank you. Hopefully we can find additional funding to take this wonderful program to more cities and teachers around the country - We look forward to having you come back to tell us how the tour went.

[exchange closing]

That was Tim Bailey, Director of Education from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. We have links about the program and where to sign up in the podcast notes.

link:

http://ww1cc.org/events

http://wwiamerica.org/index.php

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3051-wwi-teaching-literacy-through-history-educator-development-sessions-in-six-cities-for-2017-18.html

Education Newsletter

And we have more news for teaching WWI - The newest education newsletter from the WW1 Centennial Commission and the National WW1 Museum and Memorial just came out! Issue #9 is “Americans All!” focuses on the diversity of those who served and participated in the war that changed the world.

This issue includes resources for teaching about Puerto Rican Laborers, the Harlem Hellfighters, Native Americans in the Red Cross, America’s Foreign born doughboys -- and how World War 1 sparked the gay rights movement.

Go to our new education website at ww1cc.org/edu all lower case where you can link to and sign up for the education newsletters and connect with the commission education program - or  follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: ww1cc.org/edu

[SOUND EFFECT]

And now for our feature “Speaking World War 1 - Where we  explore today’s words & phrases that are rooted in the war  ---

“ALRIGHT MAGGOT - What are you doing sitting on sorry butt. Get on your feet before I drag you up by the Short Hairs!”

Thank you Gunny - it’s good to have you back on the show.

What was Gunny actually saying? Is Short hairs - a vulgar phrase referring to the “nether regions”?

Well - Actually not!

It refers to an area of the body quite a bit north...  

The short hairs in question are those little hairs on the back of the neck. A phrase that seems to have first been used in the military with examples from the Brits dating back to the 1890’s with colonial occupation in india.

They were referred to in Rudyard Kilplings “Indian Tales”.

The phrase, popularized and spread during the first world war, but then took a turn SOUTH during the second world war, becoming “the short and curlies” and assuming its more vulgar variation.

By the short hairs-- not how you want to be caught!-- and this week’s phrase for speaking WW1.

See the podcast notes to learn more!

link: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/by-the-short-hairs.html

https://books.google.com/books?id=IAjyQdFwh4UC&pg=PA677&lpg=PA677&dq=by+the+short+hairs+ww1&source=bl&ots=_3JEgKpS5H&sig=0RJ46BiAmpi6KsD9QG2cQ64iChU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-sajU__fWAhWLPCYKHbgsCiMQ6AEIZDAO#v=onepage&q=by%20the%20short%20hairs&f=false

[SOUND EFFECT]

Welcome to our 100 Cities / 100 Memorials segment about our $200,000 matching grant challenge to rescue and focus on our local WWI memorials.

Last month, we announced the first 50 “WWI Centennial Memorials”.

Now we are full tilt into ROUND 2 - which includes all the projects that have not received a grant from round 1 and all the new projects that are joining the program.

Round 2 applications can be submitted until January 15th, 2018. Then the selection committee goes back into their VERY difficult process of selecting the second 50 awardees from the submissions.

Without exception - every project submitted is amazing -

Actually you already know that - You have been hearing project profiles on the podcast for months now - and not all of the projects you learned about were among the first 50 awardees!

But before we jump into this week’s profile from the League of WW 1 Aviation Historians about their project at National Museum of the United States Air Force - we have a special treat.

Kenneth Clarke section

Kenneth Clarke, the CEO and President of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library is joining us. This program is actually Ken’s brainchild and no one can articulate the value and meaning of 100 Cities / 100 Memorials like he can.

Ken and I recently had a chance to sit down in Washington DC and talk about the program.

[KEN CLARK SEGMENT]

[Ken - 100 Cities / 100 Memorials was a concept you initiated  - Talk to us about how this concept came to mind, germinated and grew into what it is today?]

[Ken - I happen to know that you personally read all the submissions   - what are some of the thoughts you’ve had as a result?]

[Ken, last month we announced the first 50 awardees - What are your thoughts about that ? ]

That was Ken Clarke - the President and CEO of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the spark that lit the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials program into being.

Joining us now to talk about THEIR 100 Cities / 100 Memorials project are Michael O'Neal, President of the League of WW 1 Aviation Historians and Robert A. Kasprzak (CASPERZAK), Major, USAF (Retired)  

Welcome, gentlemen!

[exchange greetings]

[Gentlemen: Your grant application opens with:

Even though the US Air Service of WW1 was the forerunner of today's Air Force and is a major part of USAF history, no monument dedicated to the World War I Airmen who served at the Front exists today at the National

Museum of the United States Air Force.]

[So Michael - as an aviation historian - can you give us a quick overview about how “air power” was organized “Over There” in WWI?]

[Robert - you have been the rally point and cheerleader for getting this memorial to the WWI aviators built - Why is this important?]

[Well gentlemen - your project is a perfect example of amazing, important and wonderful memorial projects that did not get selected in the first 50 grant awards but you are certainly still fully in the running.]

[You have a video on Youtube about the project that is pretty compelling - let me play a clip - ]

[You’ve been busy gathering support for your project - how has the response been?]

[Michael you have some project milestones coming up- can you tell us more about them…]

As you may know I am a big WWI aviation fan - and I am rooting for and supporting your project all the way! Thank for taking on the mission - I don’t mean it as a pun - but it IS a monumental task!

[exchange thanks]

That was Michael O'Neal and Robert A. Kasprzak talking about their project to commemorate the 75,000 that served in the US Air Service, US Naval and US Marine aviation in WWI - The precursors to the US Air Force. If you are into war birds, aviation history, and the roots of where it call comes from, support these gentlemen and their project - let them know their work matters and contribute to their memorial by following the link in the podcast notes.

We are going to continue to profile 100 Cities / 100 Memorials projects - not only awardees but also teams that are continuing on to round #2 which is now open for submissions. Learn more about the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials program at ww1cc.org/100memorials by following the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/100memorials

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h9OxRFzFI

https://overthefront.com/about/news/ww-i-monument-article

[SOUND EFFECT]

Kiwis commemorate Passchendaele with Haka at Menin Gate

In our International report this week, we head to Ypres, Belgium - There - at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing

on October 11th and again on the next day

at Tyne Cot Cemetery -- New Zealanders gathered to pay tribute to the Kiwi soldiers who fell at the Battle of Passchendaele.

October 12th marks the centenary of an attack remembered as the 'darkest day' in New Zealand post-1840’s history.

Within a matter of hours, 846 New Zealanders fell in the assault on

Bellevue Spur. They were part of repeated Allied attempts to capture the Passchendaele ridge.

Including those wounded and missing, New Zealand troops suffered about 2,700 casualties in this single episode.

This is a devastating number of young men for a country who,

in their 1916 census only counted 1,150,000 people.

Speaking during the commemorative event,

New Zealand government minister Dr Nick Smith said: "The losses at Passchendaele were so huge that most New Zealand families have a direct connection to a fallen soldier.”

The commemorations included a passionate haka, a traditional Maori war cry and dance.

[insert audio of Haka]

We keep mentioning the Battle of Passchendaele,

a battle remembered for its mud that swallowed guns, horses and men whole.

As the Third Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Passchendaele lasted from July 31st to November 10th 1917.

Two more Battles for this small piece of territory are yet to come. Follow the link in the podcast notes to learn more.

link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uHuqrbx890 - NOTE: See 02:30

http://www.centenarynews.com/article/new-zealand-commemorates-its-darkest-day-at-passchendaele

Michigan

An exciting Update from the States -

We are heading over to the Great Lakes State - as Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder and Michigan state Senator Rebekah Warren sign the Senate Public Act 97 of 2017 into law.

This created a new commission within the state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The new official Michigan State WW1 Centennial Commission is charged with planning, developing and executing programs and activities to commemorate the centennial of World War I.

Read more about the new Michigan Commission, and check out what else is going on in states across the nation, by following the link in the podcast notes or by visiting ww1cc.org/michigan - all lower case.

link:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3241-new-state-level-world-war-i-centennial-commission-signed-into-law-in-michigan.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/participate/state-organizations/state-websites/others-pending.html

www.ww1cc.org/michigan

This week in our Articles and Posts segment -

where we explore the World War One Centennial Commission’s rapidly growing website at ww1cc.org -

This week we are profiling a great article about Madame Marie Curie

and her X-ray vehicles - with their contribution to WWI battlefield medicine

Ask people to name the most famous historical woman of science and their answer will likely be: Madame Marie Curie. Push further and ask what she did, and they might say it was something related to radioactivity. (She actually discovered the radioisotopes radium and polonium.) Some might also know that she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. (She actually won two of them.)

But few will know that madame curie was also a major hero of World War I. In fact, a visitor to her Paris laboratory in October of 1917 – 100 years ago this month – would not have found her or her radium on the premises. At that time, Curie decided to redirect her scientific skills toward the war effort; not to make weapons, but to save lives by applying her science to battlefield medicine.

Follow the link in the podcast notes to learn more about how Curie started an emergency medical revolution that is still saving the lives of both soldiers and civilians even today.

Link: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3247-marie-curie-and-her-x-ray-vehicles-contribution-to-world-war-i-battlefield-medicine.html

That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine - You have a couple stories found using #countdowntoveterans day to share with us--

Hi Theo!

DeValles Elementary School

We’ll start with a story that dovetails all the amazing projects we hear about week to week coming out of the 100 Cities 100 Memorials program. In New Bedford, Massachusetts, an elementary school was recently rededicated to its namesake. John B DeValles elementary school installed a bronze relief of DeValles, which had been languishing in storage for decades. Massachusetts National Guardsmen, accompanied by a Black Hawk Helicopter, Humvees, the New Bedford High ROTC members and 200 elementary students took part in the ceremony. The city of New Bedford was also presented with the three medals DeValles was awarded: the Distinguished Service Cross, the WWI Victory Medal and the Croix de Guerre. DeValles was a chaplain, and was awarded these accolades for his bravery in rescuing men from no man’s land. You can read more about DeValles and the ceremony at the link in the podcast notes.

link:http://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20171011/devalles-elementary-rededicated-in-centenary-of-world-war-1

Native American Warriors

Finally this week, I wanted to share a post from the facebook page World War 1 Native American Warriors. They shared the story of Choctaw Private Simeon Cusher, who was killed in action in 1918. The post includes a moving anecdote from Cusher’s Great Grandson as he tells the story of the loss of his teenage son and his travel to visit Private Cusher’s grave at the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery and Memorial. The two losses, almost a hundred years apart, were brought together by this man and the birds that appeared in the sky above as he mourned these separate losses. I encourage you to visit the post via the link in the podcast notes to read the story.

I found these stories by following the #countdowntoveteransday tag on facebook. Tag your veteran’s story, whether historic or current, to share it with the countdowntoveteransday community as we approach November 11th. That’s it this week for the Buzz!

link:https://www.facebook.com/NativeAmericanWarriorsWWI/posts/915086041977669

Thank you Katherine. And that all our stories for you this week on WW1 Centennial News - Now before you flick off your play button - remember - for those of you who listen to end - we always leave you with a special goody or two!

So in closing - we want to thank our guests:

• Mike Shuster and his report on the demise of Mata Hari  

And I am Theo Mayer - your host.

The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1.

Our programs are to--

inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; This program is a part of that….

We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms;

We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country;

and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

If you like the work we are doing, please support it with a tax deductible donation at ww1cc.org/donate - all lower case.

We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support.

The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn  

on  iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News, and on Amazon Echo or other Alexa enabled devices. Just say: Alexa: Play W W One Centennial News Podcast.

Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial.

Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget

to share the stories

you are hearing here today with someone

about the war that changed the world!

[music]

ALL RIGHT - Listen up - you lilly livers - Gunny knows the difference between scruff of the neck and short hairs - and no gal darn pod--cast is gonna tell me any different - Now move out!

Yes sir! So long!

• America’s youth goes to war |@01:20

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is October 11th, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

Our theme this week is going to focus on the youth of America - how young people were folded into the war effort THEN - 100 years ago and we also want to tell you more about our current education initiatives about ‘The War That Changed The World” today in our WW1 Centennial News NOW section.

In an article "WWI: Support from the home front” written by Richard Zuber - a North Carolinian historian, Zuber helps to frame the issue:

When most people hear the word war they think of soldiers and sailors, guns and battles, death and destruction. Those are all part of war, but historians also study everything and everyone affected by conflicts. This is especially true of what military historians call a “total war”.

In discussing how women and even the elderly aided in the total war effort in 1917, Zuber notes:

Children worked just as hard as the adults and contributed a great deal. Boy Scouts participated in patriotic rallies and the Liberty Loan drives. The Woodcraft Girls distributed food pledge cards and enrolled as “Potatriots” entering a competition for growing the largest potato crop. The Camp Fire Girls baby-sat for women working in war plants and helped the Red Cross roll bandages and make dressings for wounds. Girl Scouts were involved in all those activities and sold war bonds, made scrapbooks for hospitals, and wrapped Christmas packages for soldiers.

With that as a setup,  let’s jump into the wayback machine to see what was happening for America’s youth and education 100 years ago this week.

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

Welcome to 1917 It’s the second week of October and the Wilson administration - offers several articles this week in it’s Official Bulletin - about education and teaching patriotism to the youth of America.

[SOUND EFFECT]

Dateline October 9, 1917

Headline: Influence of the War on Teaching History!

The article tries to frame America’s entry into the war in terms that teachers might impart. In the article -  which is speaking to the teachers - the US Bureau of Educations states:

The Nation has finally been drawn into the great War - a war that demands for its successful prosecution not only efficient and courageous service in the Army and Navy but also the loyal cooperation of millions of men and women who are not enrolled in the fighting forces nor directly responsible for the civil administration on which these forces depend.

Interestingly - the article goes on the frame the fight as being between free and democratic societies and hereditary monarchies.

Quote: We have as clear an interest in international law as individuals have in the laws of society.

That was said long before the steam ship, the submarine. and the wireless had broken down our ‘splendid isolation.” No one can take an intelligent part in a great conflict for the safety of democracy -- unless they are really interested in -- and know something about -- nations other than their own—about the difference between a republican government like our own or that of France or the scarcely less democratic constitution of Great Britain on the one side, and, in sharp contrast to all of these, a strongly monarchical government like that of the German Empire, in which the most important measures affecting the national welfare may be practically determined by a single hereditary sovereign or a small group of such sovereigns.

In the article there is no reference to the growing socialism in europe and Russia, nor of the powerful dictatorships that would be so prominent in the next generation.

[SOUND EFFECT]

Dateline Oct 13, 1917

Headline: Lesson leaflets on patriotism intended for permanent course in public schools

The story reads

The plan for Educational Administrators Is to Educate a Rising Generation

How to Conduct the Business of Living

A Wide Variety of Topics Treated in Pamphlets Prepared to Suit Pupils of the Various Grades Will Be Supplied.

The article goes on to read

In order to bring the lessons of patriotism and of national and international

relations within the comprehension of children, the instruction in conservation which is to be given in American schools this year at the insistence of President Wilson will begin with and emphasize

home and local problems.

A series of lesson leaflets will be issued monthly by the Food Administration and the Bureau of Education throughout the present

school year.

The plan is to educate a rising generation that will know better than its predecessors how to conduct the business of living.

Now - This “theme” for lessons about the “business of living” comes up a number of times, but is not elaborated on - leaving one to wonder what the Wilson Administration meant.

However a panoply of headlines do reveal a theme that the government is thinking about the Nations youth and their role in the war effort. Here is a whole bunch of them:

On October 2nd:

“American school children to be given lessons in community and natural life” in democracy” requested by president”

On October 6th:

“Leaflets as guides to school teachers sent by us commissions to teach children democracy's meaning”

On October 10th:

Work of american boy scouts commended in promoting sale of liberty loan bonds

And in earlier months:

“President appeals to school children of nation to enroll in red cross service”

“War topics at high school commencements recommended by commissioner claxton” may 28

“School Bells to ring out call for liberty loan subscriptions” june11

“Schools with shopwork depts urged to continue during summer to train skilled mechanics and high grade helpers” july 27

And finally

“Program of school activity during the war suggested to educational institutions” july 7

So as Richard Zuber points out at the top of the section  - WW1 is very much a part of daily life in America -  for the men called to service, for the mothers, wives and daughters and even for the children of the nation.

It is not some remote and distant foreign policy, everyone is in the fight - in some way -  the entire citizenry - and non-citizens alike - as we will discuss a bit later in the show.

[SOUND EFFECT]

From the Great War Project Blog - we are joined by Mike shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project. Mike is going to tell us about the collapsing eastern front as Russia stalls and Germany develops a new naval and Storm Trooper prowess in their baltic sea offensive.

Welcome Mike!

[Mike Shuster]

Thank you Mike. That was Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog.

LINK:

http://greatwarproject.org/2017/10/09/russia-collapsing-on-land-and-sea/

[SOUND EFFECT]

This week in the Great War in the sky, America begins to mass produce a two seater bomber!

Although through all of WWI, America never produced or or fielded a single American fighter plane, we did manufacture a bunch of them - and this week 100 years ago, the US Army Air Service put in an order for thousands of British designed DeHavilland DH-4 planes.

The version they ordered were to be delivered with the US made American Liberty 12 cylinder engine - rather than the Rolls Royce engine of the British version.

It was slow going at first, but in the end, the Dayton Wright company delivered over 3,100 of them, General Motors 1,600 of them and Standard Aircraft corporation another 160.

And it all started 100 years ago this week in the war in the sky.

You can follow the War in The sky by checking with our comprehensive timeline, curated by former fighter pilot, air force general and author RG head. Go to ww1cc.org/warinthesky - all lower case or follow the links in the podcast notes.

Link: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/1181-timeline-of-wwi-aviation-history-demo.htm#1917

[SOUND EFFECT]

To watch videos about WW1, we recommend our friend at the Great War Channel on Youtube - They offer well over 400 episodes about WW1

and from a more European perspective.

New episodes for this week include:

Sabotage in the Desert

Then - Indy Nydel takes viewers’ questions in a “Out of the Trenches” segment which is always popular with their regular viewers - this time: Electricity, the Wright Brothers and Hip Firing MGs --

And finally an episode called Evolution of British Battle Tanks in WW1

Follow the link in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

[SOUND EFFECT]

We have moved forward in time to the present…

Welcome to WW1 Centennial News NOW  - This part of the program is not about history but how the centennial of

the War that changed the world

is being commemorated today.

In this week’s in Commission news, a follow up on the US Mint’s unveiling of the 2018 WWI Centennial Silver Dollar. The unveiling happened on October 9 and was hosted by the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Army, Ryan McCarthy, during A-USA meeting in Washington DC also known as the National Meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army.

This was followed up on October 10 with the unveiling of the designs for five silver medals that will be issued in conjunction with the Centennial Silver Dollar.  Each medal, composed of 90 percent silver, pays homage to branches of the U.S. Armed Forces that were active in World War I.

We set up a website at ww1cc.org/coin where you’ll find press releases with detail information, the presentations and bios of the speakers, lots of links and images. The coins and medals will be available in early 1918. Follow the links in the podcast notes for more information.

Link:https://www.ww1cc.org/Coin

https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-unveils-winning-designs-to-be-featured-on-world-war-i-centennial-silver-dollar

https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/world-war-i-centennial

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3218-us-mint-unveils-design-for-new-congressionally-authorized-coin-honoring-america-s-veterans-of-world-war-i.html

[SOUND EFFECT]

Update for  #CountDownToVeteransDay

In an update for  #CountDownToVeteransDay we wanted to let you know about the official WW1 Centennial commemoration flags that honor the memory of our WWI doughboys.

There is a wonderful full-size 3 foot by 5 foot flag and also small 12” by 8” ground stake flag designed to make an ideal marker for veteran resting places. Both feature the centennial graphics and the doughboy icon.

The flags are manufactured out of high quality nylon materials, and of course made in the USA - They are available exclusively at the WWI Centennial Commission’s Official Merchandise shop which you will find under the Commemorate menu or by following the link in the podcast notes. But hurry - don’t wait - supplies are limited and orders are shipped in 7-10 days. Rush orders carry a 20% surcharge.

link:https://shop.worldwar1centennial.org/merchandise-gifts-awards/memorial-flag-world-war-1-one

https://shop.worldwar1centennial.org/merchandise-gifts-awards/flag

https://shop.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php

[SOUND EFFECT]

US Citizenship and Immigration Services

Many individual government agencies are commemorating the first world war and today we’d like to highlight the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Joining us are Allison Finkelstein FinkelSTEEN and Zack Wilske, Historians at the USCIS History Office and Library. Welcome to both of you!

[exchange greetings]

[Let’s start with you Zack - in 1914 how was this area of the government organized? ]

[Allison  - Stories abound - about immigrants - not even citizens yet that came to America and found themselves going “back over there” to fight in the countries they immigrated from - like Italy  - Are there any specific stories like that come to mind?]

[So to both of you - the USCIS has a new web page about the WWI Centennial - What will we find there and how about some of your other WWI Centennial activities ]

[Thank you both so much for being here!]

That was Allison Finkelstein and Zack Wilske, Historians at the USCIS History Office and Library. Learn more about the USCIS and WW1 by following the links in the podcast notes.

link:https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/agency-history/mass-immigration-and-wwi

https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/world-war-i

[Sound Effect]

World War 100 Symposium

Combining events and our Updates from the States - we are going to the Badger state - Wisconsin! Where they are holding The World War 100 Symposium at the University of Wisconsin on the Madison campus October 27th.

The symposium was put together by the University and the Wisconsin World War One Centennial Committee - It is a great example of how the State WWI centennial Commissions are nurturing and support WW1 Commemorative events!

The World War 100 Symposium will premiere the Documentary film “Dawn of the Red Arrow” which follows the Wisconsin National Guard in 1917 when the iconic 32nd "Red Arrow" Division was born and earned its place in history on the battlefields of France in World War I.

The program is filled with great events, experts, subjects and speakers including  including participation by Sir Hugh Strachan - considered by many as the pre-eminent historian on WWI and who joined us on here on the podcast In Episode #32.

Sir Hugh Strachan in Kansas

Then On  Nov. 2nd, Sir Hugh will be speaking at the National World War One Museum and Memorial in Kansas City at a free evening public event in advance of the Museum’s second international symposium on WWI

“1917: America Joins the Fight” featuring renowned scholars from across the world.

Follow the links in the podcast notes for information and access to these symposia and other great WWI commemoration events happening around the country.

As a reminder - we invite YOU to add your own event to the National U.S. WW1 Centennial Events Register. Go to ww1cc.org/events, click the big red button and post your WW1 commemoration event for all to discover.

And as we mentioned last week - we just added a new category for Social Media Events - so if you are planning a Facebook Live, livestream, WW1 Hackathon or other online WW1 commemoration event - get it posted and let our community of interest know!

link:

http://ww1cc.org/events

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-war-100-a-centennial-symposium-tickets-35793410053

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/eventdetail/47362/world-war-100-symposium.html

https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/2017-symposium

https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/2017-symposium/presentations

[SOUND EFFECT]

And now for our feature “Speaking World War 1 - Where we  explore today’s words & phrases that are rooted in the war  ---

English, is constantly absorbing new words from other languages. This week’s Word for Speaking WWI comes from working in close quarters with Urdu speaking soldiers from the British Colonial forces.

In Urdu kusi means pleasure or convenience and in WWI the word spread amongst soldiers in the trenches transforming as these words always do into a word that means “easy” or “comfortable” - Cushie!

And you thought that word came from Cushion…

Nawww - Cushion came from latin for hip or thigh...

In WWI the troops also used Cushie to describe a wound which was non-fatal but could potentially get them sent home or, at the least, away from the front line.

In 1915 an english physician wrote:

“When you are in the trenches a cushy wound... seems the most desirable thing in the world.”

Cushy, this week’s speaking WW1 word - “A most desirable way to get hit during the war”.

See the podcast notes to learn more!

link: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/oxford-english-dictionary/word-origins_b_4904467.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26277732

[SOUND EFFECT]

Andrew Capets 100 cities

It’s time for a 100 Cities / 100 Memorials project profile. Round #2 is open so you can apply for a matching grant to rescue, restore or build a WWI Memorial in your community -  but you have to submit the application before January 15th!

Last week, we profiled a project from Ridgewood, NJ. This week, we head to Trafford, PA.

Joining us is Andrew Capets, Member of the Trafford Veterans Memorial Renovation Committee and Author of a new book “Good War, Great Men” a commemoration to the 313th Machine Gun Battalion of World War I

Welcome, Andrew!

[exchange greetings]

[Andrew, in your application your moto was: Our Memorial, Our Community and Our Project

Who all came together to restore this memorial?]

[Your WWI Memorial was originally dedicated in 1919 - that is earlier than most - Tell us about its dedication?]

[I have seen the before and after images of the memorial and it is really beautiful! Do you have Veterans day plans there?]

[You produced a really nice video for the project - tell us about that?]

[Andrew congratulations on being a Round #1 awardee and for your group doing such a great job on behalf of our WWI Doughboys! We surely do speak for them!]

That was Andrew Capets, Member of the Trafford Veterans Memorial Renovation Committee and Author of the new book “Good War, Great Men” a commemoration to the 313th Machine Gun Battalion of World War I

We will continue to profile not only awardees but also teams that are continuing on to round #2 which is now open for submissions. Learn more about the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials program at ww1cc.org/100memorials or follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/100memorials

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3166-first-50-official-wwi-centennial-memorials-to-be-announced.html

TraffordHistory.org

https://www.amazon.com/Good-War-Great-Men-Battalion/dp/0692951024/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507647838&sr=1-1&keywords=good+men+great+war

[SOUND EFFECT]

Ahoy teachers and learners!

With education as our theme we are very happy to announce the launch of the commission’s new EDUCATION WEBSITE at ww1cc.org/edu all lower case.

The site is filled with resources for teachers and learners, access to our semi-monthly educator newsletter and more.

A brand new idea is that registered educators are eligible to submit information and images about the work they have done with students to teach and commemorate America’s involvement in the First World War.

Check out the new website and if you are an educator, register to submit your programs to share with others. We invite you to follow the link in the podcast notes.

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Interview with Rex Passion

In our “Remember the veterans” section, today we have with us Rex Passion, author of the book The Lost Sketchbooks: A Young Artist in the Great War.

Welcome, Rex!

[exchange greetings]

[Rex: What is the Lost Sketchbooks about?

How did you wind up writing The Lost Sketchbooks]

[Rex - it really sounds like a treasure trove of discovery --- the book is really beautiful and the art is amazing - so Is there one sketch that stands out for you in particular?]

[From the images I have seen, they really hit me harder than many of the photos I’ve seen!]

[You just completed and launched a new website on the WW1 centennial server at WW1CC.org/sketch to support the book -  What are we going to find there?]

[So we can follow his experience day by day - that’s really great.]

Rex - thank you so much for joining us!

That was Rex Passion, author of The Lost Sketchbooks and curator of the website at ww1cc.org/sketch. Follow the links in the podcast notes for the website, rex’s facebook page and to order the book.

Link: http://ww1cc.org/sketch

https://www.facebook.com/thelostsketchbooks/

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Sketchbooks-Young-Artist-Great/dp/0982821956

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Interview with Jerry Michaud: Roll of Honor

We have a second interview in our Remembering the Veterans segment  as we #countdowntoveteransday - With us is Jerry Michaud, Executive Director of the Roll of Honor Foundation.

Welcome Jerry!

[greetings]

[Jerry-  tell us a bit about the Roll of Honor foundation and what it does to help remember our veterans?]

[This year you set up a WWI section -

The World War 1 Centennial Commission and Roll of Honor are working on a unique collaboration; can you tell us about it?]

[So if I submit a Story of service on either website, it will be added to my veteran’s profile right?]

[When I get a tribute wreath for my veteran, how much money goes to Roll of Honor and how much goes to building the National WWI Memorial in Washington DC?]

Thank you so much for being here today and for the Roll of Honor’s great work in profiling those who served!

That was Jerry Michaud,  Executive Director of the Roll of Honor Foundation Roll of Honor. You can learn more about Roll of Honor and their collaboration with the Commission by following the links in the podcast notes and by going to www.rollofhonor.org/ww1

links:www.rollofhonor.org/ww1

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/commemorate/family-ties/stories-of-service/submit-a-story-of-service.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3187-five-questions-for-jerry-michaud.html

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This week in our Articles and Posts segment - where we explore the World War One Centennial Commission’s rapidly growing website at ww1cc.org - And the content really is pouring in! We have now published over 3,200 articles - If you read one article a day it would take you 8 years and 9 months to read the whole site as it sits now.

Anna Coleman Ladd

A new article this week under WW1cc.org/news, is about Anna Coleman Ladd and her unusual work with WW1 veterans.

Ladd was an American sculptor who studied sculpture in Paris and Rome before WWI. After the war broke out, she devoted her time to giving soldiers, whose faces  were disfigured by gas, or explosives, or other wounds -  artistic prosthetic masks. Cosmetic surgery as we know it today did not exist - but there was relief from disfigurement -

See the article featuring before and after photographs that show how WWI soldiers’ horrific facial injuries were surgically repaired, then covered with the sculpted prosthetics that Ladd developed. Follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3222-american-born-sculptor-built-facial-prosthetics-for-wwi-soldiers.html

And now for an update on our WWRITE blog, which explores WWI’s Influence on contemporary writing and scholarship, this week's post is: "God Armeth the Patriot."

These words come from Thomas Croft Neibaur NIGH-BOWER, the first Mormon to receive the Medal of Honor during WWI - for his heroism during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. This is know as one of the bloodiest battles in American military history.

Writer Benjamin Sonnenberg returns to the WWrite blog this week with another riveting short story, inspired by Neibaur's letters home. Delve into Neibaur's legendary experience in WWI with this captivating, well-researched, fictional narrative by visiting ww1cc.org/wwrite

Link: www.ww1cc.org.wwrite

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/articles-posts/3214-a-pretty-tame-one-thomas-croft-neibaur.html

That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine - You have a couple of stories to share with us today!

Thanks Theo!

Souvernir AEF En Haute Marne

Last week we mentioned the rededication of new sculptures of General Pershing and Lafayette in Versaille. The ceremony went very smoothly and now the statues are in their rightful places overlooking the Avenue Des Etats Unis. If you want to see images of the ceremony and the statues, you should check out the facebook page for the Souvenir AEF En Haute Marne, a French-based page commemorating the American Expeditionary Force’s time in the Haute Marne region of France. Find it and view many images and articles from the ceremony at Versaille by following the link in the podcast notes.

link:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004218645049&hc_ref=ARRl4MJwZFrnBS67Gn1YtMKpIJvb0xpP3abmRdPkTvN0hXYBWJr7El9Q2h4-XEUp0X0

Buster Keaton

Finally this week, we’ll close out by celebrating Buster Keaton, whose birthday was celebrated last week and commemorated by the National WW1 museum and Memorial with a little video clip and a story. Keaton served with the 40th infantry division, and carried his sense of humor and mischievousness with him throughout his service.

A little anecdote to close us out: While with his battalion in Camp Upton, Buster observed how the officers, who were allowed to come and go in and out of camp, dressed in just their uniform shirts and ties and saluted the sentries. Buster took off his tunic, hopped into the back of his girlfriend's Packard roadster, and drove past the military police, giving that lazy salute that had them convinced he was like any other officer. He returned that night after a fabulous dinner with his girl and the next day the unit left for France.

Learn more at the link in the podcast notes. And that’s it this week for the Buzz!

link:https://www.facebook.com/theworldwar/videos/10155710368571241/?hc_ref=ARRMFTxtTgXJEikfHtgnzTuzuZPt-fgfd1UKWKAkCAiEXxmmh2Ym47J2MQvoempnGkU

http://www.militarymuseum.org/Keaton.html

That’s a really funny story…. Thank you Katherine.

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And that is WW1 Centennial News for this week.

We want to thank our guests:

• Mike Shuster and his update on the situation in Russia

And I am Theo Mayer - your host.

The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1.

Our programs are to--

inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; This program is a part of that….

We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms;

We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country;

and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

If you like the work we are doing, please support it with a tax deductible donation at ww1cc.org/donate - all lower case

Or if you are on your smart phone text  the word: WW1 to 41444. that's the letters ww the number 1 texted to 41444. Any amount is appreciated.

We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support.

The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn  

on  iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News, and on Amazon Echo or other Ale xa enabled devices.

Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial.

Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget

to share the stories you are hearing here today with someone

about the war that changed the world!

[music]

Hey - I’m just here on my tushie sittin’ a cushie, cushie cushion listening to the WW1 Centennial News podcast…  life is good!

So long!

• America’s youth goes to war |@01:20

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is October 11th, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

Our theme this week is going to focus on the youth of America - how young people were folded into the war effort THEN - 100 years ago and we also want to tell you more about our current education initiatives about ‘The War That Changed The World” today in our WW1 Centennial News NOW section.

In an article "WWI: Support from the home front” written by Richard Zuber - a North Carolinian historian, Zuber helps to frame the issue:

When most people hear the word war they think of soldiers and sailors, guns and battles, death and destruction. Those are all part of war, but historians also study everything and everyone affected by conflicts. This is especially true of what military historians call a “total war”.

• America’s youth goes to war |@01:20

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is October 11th, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

Our theme this week is going to focus on the youth of America - how young people were folded into the war effort THEN - 100 years ago and we also want to tell you more about our current education initiatives about ‘The War That Changed The World” today in our WW1 Centennial News NOW section.

In an article "WWI: Support from the home front” written by Richard Zuber - a North Carolinian historian, Zuber helps to frame the issue:

When most people hear the word war they think of soldiers and sailors, guns and battles, death and destruction. Those are all part of war, but historians also study everything and everyone affected by conflicts. This is especially true of what military historians call a “total war”.

In discussing how women and even the elderly aided in the total war effort in 1917, Zuber notes:

Children worked just as hard as the adults and contributed a great deal. Boy Scouts participated in patriotic rallies and the Liberty Loan drives. The Woodcraft Girls distributed food pledge cards and enrolled as “Potatriots” entering a competition for growing the largest potato crop. The Camp Fire Girls baby-sat for women working in war plants and helped the Red Cross roll bandages and make dressings for wounds. Girl Scouts were involved in all those activities and sold war bonds, made scrapbooks for hospitals, and wrapped Christmas packages for soldiers.

With that as a setup,  let’s jump into the wayback machine to see what was happening for America’s youth and education 100 years ago this week.

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Welcome to 1917 It’s the second week of October and the Wilson administration - offers several articles this week in it’s Official Bulletin - about education and teaching patriotism to the youth of America.

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Dateline October 9, 1917

Headline: Influence of the War on Teaching History!

The article tries to frame America’s entry into the war in terms that teachers might impart. In the article -  which is speaking to the teachers - the US Bureau of Educations states:

The Nation has finally been drawn into the great War - a war that demands for its successful prosecution not only efficient and courageous service in the Army and Navy but also the loyal cooperation of millions of men and women who are not enrolled in the fighting forces nor directly responsible for the civil administration on which these forces depend.

Interestingly - the article goes on the frame the fight as being between free and democratic societies and hereditary monarchies.

Quote: We have as clear an interest in international law as individuals have in the laws of society.

That was said long before the steam ship, the submarine. and the wireless had broken down our ‘splendid isolation.” No one can take an intelligent part in a great conflict for the safety of democracy -- unless they are really interested in -- and know something about -- nations other than their own—about the difference between a republican government like our own or that of France or the scarcely less democratic constitution of Great Britain on the one side, and, in sharp contrast to all of these, a strongly monarchical government like that of the German Empire, in which the most important measures affecting the national welfare may be practically determined by a single hereditary sovereign or a small group of such sovereigns.

In the article there is no reference to the growing socialism in europe and Russia, nor of the powerful dictatorships that would be so prominent in the next generation.

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Dateline Oct 13, 1917

Headline: Lesson leaflets on patriotism intended for permanent course in public schools

The story reads

The plan for Educational Administrators Is to Educate a Rising Generation

How to Conduct the Business of Living

A Wide Variety of Topics Treated in Pamphlets Prepared to Suit Pupils of the Various Grades Will Be Supplied.

The article goes on to read

In order to bring the lessons of patriotism and of national and international

relations within the comprehension of children, the instruction in conservation which is to be given in American schools this year at the insistence of President Wilson will begin with and emphasize

home and local problems.

A series of lesson leaflets will be issued monthly by the Food Administration and the Bureau of Education throughout the present

school year.

The plan is to educate a rising generation that will know better than its predecessors how to conduct the business of living.

Now - This “theme” for lessons about the “business of living” comes up a number of times, but is not elaborated on - leaving one to wonder what the Wilson Administration meant.

However a panoply of headlines do reveal a theme that the government is thinking about the Nations youth and their role in the war effort. Here is a whole bunch of them:

On October 2nd:

“American school children to be given lessons in community and natural life” in democracy” requested by president”

On October 6th:

“Leaflets as guides to school teachers sent by us commissions to teach children democracy's meaning”

On October 10th:

Work of american boy scouts commended in promoting sale of liberty loan bonds

And in earlier months:

“President appeals to school children of nation to enroll in red cross service”

“War topics at high school commencements recommended by commissioner claxton” may 28

“School Bells to ring out call for liberty loan subscriptions” june11

“Schools with shopwork depts urged to continue during summer to train skilled mechanics and high grade helpers” july 27

And finally

“Program of school activity during the war suggested to educational institutions” july 7

So as Richard Zuber points out at the top of the section  - WW1 is very much a part of daily life in America -  for the men called to service, for the mothers, wives and daughters and even for the children of the nation.

It is not some remote and distant foreign policy, everyone is in the fight - in some way -  the entire citizenry - and non-citizens alike - as we will discuss a bit later in the show.

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From the Great War Project Blog - we are joined by Mike shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project. Mike is going to tell us about the collapsing eastern front as Russia stalls and Germany develops a new naval and Storm Trooper prowess in their baltic sea offensive.

Welcome Mike!

[Mike Shuster]

Thank you Mike. That was Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog.

LINK:

http://greatwarproject.org/2017/10/09/russia-collapsing-on-land-and-sea/

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This week in the Great War in the sky, America begins to mass produce a two seater bomber!

Although through all of WWI, America never produced or or fielded a single American fighter plane, we did manufacture a bunch of them - and this week 100 years ago, the US Army Air Service put in an order for thousands of British designed DeHavilland DH-4 planes.

The version they ordered were to be delivered with the US made American Liberty 12 cylinder engine - rather than the Rolls Royce engine of the British version.

It was slow going at first, but in the end, the Dayton Wright company delivered over 3,100 of them, General Motors 1,600 of them and Standard Aircraft corporation another 160.

And it all started 100 years ago this week in the war in the sky.

You can follow the War in The sky by checking with our comprehensive timeline, curated by former fighter pilot, air force general and author RG head. Go to ww1cc.org/warinthesky - all lower case or follow the links in the podcast notes.

Link: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/1181-timeline-of-wwi-aviation-history-demo.htm#1917

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To watch videos about WW1, we recommend our friend at the Great War Channel on Youtube - They offer well over 400 episodes about WW1

and from a more European perspective.

New episodes for this week include:

Sabotage in the Desert

Then - Indy Nydel takes viewers’ questions in a “Out of the Trenches” segment which is always popular with their regular viewers - this time: Electricity, the Wright Brothers and Hip Firing MGs --

And finally an episode called Evolution of British Battle Tanks in WW1

Follow the link in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

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We have moved forward in time to the present…

Welcome to WW1 Centennial News NOW  - This part of the program is not about history but how the centennial of

the War that changed the world

is being commemorated today.

In this week’s in Commission news, a follow up on the US Mint’s unveiling of the 2018 WWI Centennial Silver Dollar. The unveiling happened on October 9 and was hosted by the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Army, Ryan McCarthy, during A-USA meeting in Washington DC also known as the National Meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army.

This was followed up on October 10 with the unveiling of the designs for five silver medals that will be issued in conjunction with the Centennial Silver Dollar.  Each medal, composed of 90 percent silver, pays homage to branches of the U.S. Armed Forces that were active in World War I.

We set up a website at ww1cc.org/coin where you’ll find press releases with detail information, the presentations and bios of the speakers, lots of links and images. The coins and medals will be available in early 1918. Follow the links in the podcast notes for more information.

Link:https://www.ww1cc.org/Coin

https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-unveils-winning-designs-to-be-featured-on-world-war-i-centennial-silver-dollar

https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/world-war-i-centennial

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3218-us-mint-unveils-design-for-new-congressionally-authorized-coin-honoring-america-s-veterans-of-world-war-i.html

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Update for  #CountDownToVeteransDay

In an update for  #CountDownToVeteransDay we wanted to let you know about the official WW1 Centennial commemoration flags that honor the memory of our WWI doughboys.

There is a wonderful full-size 3 foot by 5 foot flag and also small 12” by 8” ground stake flag designed to make an ideal marker for veteran resting places. Both feature the centennial graphics and the doughboy icon.

The flags are manufactured out of high quality nylon materials, and of course made in the USA - They are available exclusively at the WWI Centennial Commission’s Official Merchandise shop which you will find under the Commemorate menu or by following the link in the podcast notes. But hurry - don’t wait - supplies are limited and orders are shipped in 7-10 days. Rush orders carry a 20% surcharge.

link:https://shop.worldwar1centennial.org/merchandise-gifts-awards/memorial-flag-world-war-1-one

https://shop.worldwar1centennial.org/merchandise-gifts-awards/flag

https://shop.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php

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US Citizenship and Immigration Services

Many individual government agencies are commemorating the first world war and today we’d like to highlight the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Joining us are Allison Finkelstein FinkelSTEEN and Zack Wilske, Historians at the USCIS History Office and Library. Welcome to both of you!

[exchange greetings]

[Let’s start with you Zack - in 1914 how was this area of the government organized? ]

[Allison  - Stories abound - about immigrants - not even citizens yet that came to America and found themselves going “back over there” to fight in the countries they immigrated from - like Italy  - Are there any specific stories like that come to mind?]

[So to both of you - the USCIS has a new web page about the WWI Centennial - What will we find there and how about some of your other WWI Centennial activities ]

[Thank you both so much for being here!]

That was Allison Finkelstein and Zack Wilske, Historians at the USCIS History Office and Library. Learn more about the USCIS and WW1 by following the links in the podcast notes.

link:https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/agency-history/mass-immigration-and-wwi

https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/world-war-i

[Sound Effect]

World War 100 Symposium

Combining events and our Updates from the States - we are going to the Badger state - Wisconsin! Where they are holding The World War 100 Symposium at the University of Wisconsin on the Madison campus October 27th.

The symposium was put together by the University and the Wisconsin World War One Centennial Committee - It is a great example of how the State WWI centennial Commissions are nurturing and support WW1 Commemorative events!

The World War 100 Symposium will premiere the Documentary film “Dawn of the Red Arrow” which follows the Wisconsin National Guard in 1917 when the iconic 32nd "Red Arrow" Division was born and earned its place in history on the battlefields of France in World War I.

The program is filled with great events, experts, subjects and speakers including  including participation by Sir Hugh Strachan - considered by many as the pre-eminent historian on WWI and who joined us on here on the podcast In Episode #32.

Sir Hugh Strachan in Kansas

Then On  Nov. 2nd, Sir Hugh will be speaking at the National World War One Museum and Memorial in Kansas City at a free evening public event in advance of the Museum’s second international symposium on WWI

“1917: America Joins the Fight” featuring renowned scholars from across the world.

Follow the links in the podcast notes for information and access to these symposia and other great WWI commemoration events happening around the country.

As a reminder - we invite YOU to add your own event to the National U.S. WW1 Centennial Events Register. Go to ww1cc.org/events, click the big red button and post your WW1 commemoration event for all to discover.

And as we mentioned last week - we just added a new category for Social Media Events - so if you are planning a Facebook Live, livestream, WW1 Hackathon or other online WW1 commemoration event - get it posted and let our community of interest know!

link:

http://ww1cc.org/events

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-war-100-a-centennial-symposium-tickets-35793410053

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/commemorate/event-map-system/eventdetail/47362/world-war-100-symposium.html

https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/2017-symposium

https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/2017-symposium/presentations

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And now for our feature “Speaking World War 1 - Where we  explore today’s words & phrases that are rooted in the war  ---

English, is constantly absorbing new words from other languages. This week’s Word for Speaking WWI comes from working in close quarters with Urdu speaking soldiers from the British Colonial forces.

In Urdu kusi means pleasure or convenience and in WWI the word spread amongst soldiers in the trenches transforming as these words always do into a word that means “easy” or “comfortable” - Cushie!

And you thought that word came from Cushion…

Nawww - Cushion came from latin for hip or thigh...

In WWI the troops also used Cushie to describe a wound which was non-fatal but could potentially get them sent home or, at the least, away from the front line.

In 1915 an english physician wrote:

“When you are in the trenches a cushy wound... seems the most desirable thing in the world.”

Cushy, this week’s speaking WW1 word - “A most desirable way to get hit during the war”.

See the podcast notes to learn more!

link: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/oxford-english-dictionary/word-origins_b_4904467.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26277732

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Andrew Capets 100 cities

It’s time for a 100 Cities / 100 Memorials project profile. Round #2 is open so you can apply for a matching grant to rescue, restore or build a WWI Memorial in your community -  but you have to submit the application before January 15th!

Last week, we profiled a project from Ridgewood, NJ. This week, we head to Trafford, PA.

Joining us is Andrew Capets, Member of the Trafford Veterans Memorial Renovation Committee and Author of a new book “Good War, Great Men” a commemoration to the 313th Machine Gun Battalion of World War I

Welcome, Andrew!

[exchange greetings]

[Andrew, in your application your moto was: Our Memorial, Our Community and Our Project

Who all came together to restore this memorial?]

[Your WWI Memorial was originally dedicated in 1919 - that is earlier than most - Tell us about its dedication?]

[I have seen the before and after images of the memorial and it is really beautiful! Do you have Veterans day plans there?]

[You produced a really nice video for the project - tell us about that?]

[Andrew congratulations on being a Round #1 awardee and for your group doing such a great job on behalf of our WWI Doughboys! We surely do speak for them!]

That was Andrew Capets, Member of the Trafford Veterans Memorial Renovation Committee and Author of the new book “Good War, Great Men” a commemoration to the 313th Machine Gun Battalion of World War I

We will continue to profile not only awardees but also teams that are continuing on to round #2 which is now open for submissions. Learn more about the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials program at ww1cc.org/100memorials or follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/100memorials

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3166-first-50-official-wwi-centennial-memorials-to-be-announced.html

TraffordHistory.org

https://www.amazon.com/Good-War-Great-Men-Battalion/dp/0692951024/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507647838&sr=1-1&keywords=good+men+great+war

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Ahoy teachers and learners!

With education as our theme we are very happy to announce the launch of the commission’s new EDUCATION WEBSITE at ww1cc.org/edu all lower case.

The site is filled with resources for teachers and learners, access to our semi-monthly educator newsletter and more.

A brand new idea is that registered educators are eligible to submit information and images about the work they have done with students to teach and commemorate America’s involvement in the First World War.

Check out the new website and if you are an educator, register to submit your programs to share with others. We invite you to follow the link in the podcast notes.

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Interview with Rex Passion

In our “Remember the veterans” section, today we have with us Rex Passion, author of the book The Lost Sketchbooks: A Young Artist in the Great War.

Welcome, Rex!

[exchange greetings]

[Rex: What is the Lost Sketchbooks about?

How did you wind up writing The Lost Sketchbooks]

[Rex - it really sounds like a treasure trove of discovery --- the book is really beautiful and the art is amazing - so Is there one sketch that stands out for you in particular?]

[From the images I have seen, they really hit me harder than many of the photos I’ve seen!]

[You just completed and launched a new website on the WW1 centennial server at WW1CC.org/sketch to support the book -  What are we going to find there?]

[So we can follow his experience day by day - that’s really great.]

Rex - thank you so much for joining us!

That was Rex Passion, author of The Lost Sketchbooks and curator of the website at ww1cc.org/sketch. Follow the links in the podcast notes for the website, rex’s facebook page and to order the book.

Link: http://ww1cc.org/sketch

https://www.facebook.com/thelostsketchbooks/

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Sketchbooks-Young-Artist-Great/dp/0982821956

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Interview with Jerry Michaud: Roll of Honor

We have a second interview in our Remembering the Veterans segment  as we #countdowntoveteransday - With us is Jerry Michaud, Executive Director of the Roll of Honor Foundation.

Welcome Jerry!

[greetings]

[Jerry-  tell us a bit about the Roll of Honor foundation and what it does to help remember our veterans?]

[This year you set up a WWI section -

The World War 1 Centennial Commission and Roll of Honor are working on a unique collaboration; can you tell us about it?]

[So if I submit a Story of service on either website, it will be added to my veteran’s profile right?]

[When I get a tribute wreath for my veteran, how much money goes to Roll of Honor and how much goes to building the National WWI Memorial in Washington DC?]

Thank you so much for being here today and for the Roll of Honor’s great work in profiling those who served!

That was Jerry Michaud,  Executive Director of the Roll of Honor Foundation Roll of Honor. You can learn more about Roll of Honor and their collaboration with the Commission by following the links in the podcast notes and by going to www.rollofhonor.org/ww1

links:www.rollofhonor.org/ww1

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/commemorate/family-ties/stories-of-service/submit-a-story-of-service.html

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3187-five-questions-for-jerry-michaud.html

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This week in our Articles and Posts segment - where we explore the World War One Centennial Commission’s rapidly growing website at ww1cc.org - And the content really is pouring in! We have now published over 3,200 articles - If you read one article a day it would take you 8 years and 9 months to read the whole site as it sits now.

Anna Coleman Ladd

A new article this week under WW1cc.org/news, is about Anna Coleman Ladd and her unusual work with WW1 veterans.

Ladd was an American sculptor who studied sculpture in Paris and Rome before WWI. After the war broke out, she devoted her time to giving soldiers, whose faces  were disfigured by gas, or explosives, or other wounds -  artistic prosthetic masks. Cosmetic surgery as we know it today did not exist - but there was relief from disfigurement -

See the article featuring before and after photographs that show how WWI soldiers’ horrific facial injuries were surgically repaired, then covered with the sculpted prosthetics that Ladd developed. Follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3222-american-born-sculptor-built-facial-prosthetics-for-wwi-soldiers.html

And now for an update on our WWRITE blog, which explores WWI’s Influence on contemporary writing and scholarship, this week's post is: "God Armeth the Patriot."

These words come from Thomas Croft Neibaur NIGH-BOWER, the first Mormon to receive the Medal of Honor during WWI - for his heroism during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. This is know as one of the bloodiest battles in American military history.

Writer Benjamin Sonnenberg returns to the WWrite blog this week with another riveting short story, inspired by Neibaur's letters home. Delve into Neibaur's legendary experience in WWI with this captivating, well-researched, fictional narrative by visiting ww1cc.org/wwrite

Link: www.ww1cc.org.wwrite

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/articles-posts/3214-a-pretty-tame-one-thomas-croft-neibaur.html

That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine - You have a couple of stories to share with us today!

Thanks Theo!

Souvernir AEF En Haute Marne

Last week we mentioned the rededication of new sculptures of General Pershing and Lafayette in Versaille. The ceremony went very smoothly and now the statues are in their rightful places overlooking the Avenue Des Etats Unis. If you want to see images of the ceremony and the statues, you should check out the facebook page for the Souvenir AEF En Haute Marne, a French-based page commemorating the American Expeditionary Force’s time in the Haute Marne region of France. Find it and view many images and articles from the ceremony at Versaille by following the link in the podcast notes.

link:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004218645049&hc_ref=ARRl4MJwZFrnBS67Gn1YtMKpIJvb0xpP3abmRdPkTvN0hXYBWJr7El9Q2h4-XEUp0X0

Buster Keaton

Finally this week, we’ll close out by celebrating Buster Keaton, whose birthday was celebrated last week and commemorated by the National WW1 museum and Memorial with a little video clip and a story. Keaton served with the 40th infantry division, and carried his sense of humor and mischievousness with him throughout his service.

A little anecdote to close us out: While with his battalion in Camp Upton, Buster observed how the officers, who were allowed to come and go in and out of camp, dressed in just their uniform shirts and ties and saluted the sentries. Buster took off his tunic, hopped into the back of his girlfriend's Packard roadster, and drove past the military police, giving that lazy salute that had them convinced he was like any other officer. He returned that night after a fabulous dinner with his girl and the next day the unit left for France.

Learn more at the link in the podcast notes. And that’s it this week for the Buzz!

link:https://www.facebook.com/theworldwar/videos/10155710368571241/?hc_ref=ARRMFTxtTgXJEikfHtgnzTuzuZPt-fgfd1UKWKAkCAiEXxmmh2Ym47J2MQvoempnGkU

http://www.militarymuseum.org/Keaton.html

That’s a really funny story…. Thank you Katherine.

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And that is WW1 Centennial News for this week.

We want to thank our guests:

• Mike Shuster and his update on the situation in Russia

And I am Theo Mayer - your host.

The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1.

Our programs are to--

inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; This program is a part of that….

We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms;

We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country;

and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

If you like the work we are doing, please support it with a tax deductible donation at ww1cc.org/donate - all lower case

Or if you are on your smart phone text  the word: WW1 to 41444. that's the letters ww the number 1 texted to 41444. Any amount is appreciated.

We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support.

The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn  

on  iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News, and on Amazon Echo or other Ale xa enabled devices.

Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial.

Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget

to share the stories you are hearing here today with someone

about the war that changed the world!

[music]

Hey - I’m just here on my tushie sittin’ a cushie, cushie cushion listening to the WW1 Centennial News podcast…  life is good!

So long!

• Ask Alexa: “Play W W 1 Centennial News Podcast” |@ 01:00

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Today is October 4th, 2017 and our guests this week are:

• Mike Shuster from the great war project blog,   

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

Before we get going today I wanted to let you know,

especially all of you who own Amazon Echo or other Alexa enabled device, Alexa has a new skill. If you say “Alexa, play the “W” “W” one centennial news podcast” she will dutifully find the most current episode on the internet and play it for you.

We are excited because that opens up WW1 Centennial News to 20 million new player and all you have to do is ask! Welcome to the future - but right now - let’s jump into our wayback machine and head 100 years into the past!

[MUSIC TRANSITION]

Yes, we’ve gone back in time 100 years to explore the war that changed the world! And It’s the first week of October 1917.

What’s on the US government’s mind this week?

Raising money to pay for the war!

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Dateline October 1st 1917

Headline: Secretary of the treasury - McAdoo begins Second Liberty Loan Drive...

Five Billion Dollars from Ten Million Subscribers fixed as goal!

So In 1917, financing a war with deficit spending is not at all the plan. The Wilson administration is determined to raise the money needed for this immense effort, and in part, by issuing of government backed war bonds.

This is innovative… and it is interesting to note, that the same 1917 law that authorizes the war bonds will continue to be used to sell US treasury bonds 100 years later!

Back in June (during our episode 24), we reported on the Wilson administration touting the first liberty loan drive was an unprecedented and huge success. In fact, they raised $2 billion dollars from five and one half million people! A century later that $2 billion is the equivalent of 38 billion dollars. So - not too bad!

This Second Liberty Bond drive is targeting twice as much revenue from two times as many subscribers.

Though there is a lot of controversy about how successful the liberty bond program is, with the government claiming HUGE success and other press of the time criticizing lackluster enthusiasm and talking about the discounting of the bonds,  anyone who has ever undertaken to raise substantial amounts of money KNOWS, it’s no cake walk!

Focusing on participation by the general public as small investors -- Secretary  Mcadoo reaches out to the administration’s secret weapon --- their powerhouse of propaganda, their empresario of promo, their master of emotion, their superman of spin - George Creel’s Committee on Public Information!

This is the same outfit that publishes the daily Official Bulletin that we use here on the podcast every week to tell you the story of WW1, and whose pages we re-publish daily

on the centennial anniversary of their original publication

at ww1cc.org/bulletin.

Anyway, Creel is probably America’s first marketing genius. He shows up as the man behind the curtain all over the place during this period...

And with outrageous but brilliant ideas -

like in late May -- as the first Liberty loan drive wraps up, he gets all churches, schools and city halls around the country to ring their bells every night in a countdown to the end of the first drive! Talk about taking your promotion to the grassroots.

Last week we reported on the massive national billboard campaign for “Food will win the war” including using electric lights to light up the billboards at night. We have not verified that Creel was the man behind this endeavor, but it has his style written all over it.

He is also a multi-media and social media genius… and In 1917 that means the flaming hot new media of the MOVIES and the Phonograph.

Before the 4th liberty bond sale is over, and there will be 4 of them - Creel will have recruited the biggest stars of the day including Al jolson, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and his premiere celebrity pitch man - Charlie Chaplin

Creel doesn’t just go big, he also goes wide. George puts together a citizen army of 70,000 called “the 4 minute men”. He arms them with 4 minutes speeches -

And in this case - on why buying Bonds is the key to Liberty and Freedom for Americans and why it is every citizens patriotic duty to participate

He sends this army into every movie theater in the nation, arranging for them to make their presentation just before the features film.

And so McAdoo launches his second liberty loan campaign 100 years ago this week!

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Now we are joined by Mike shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War Project blog, to walk us through his fascinating post - A Ring of Spies in Palestine… all about a Jewish Spy ring assisting the british against the turks --- that gets busted by the turkish Secret Police...

Welcome Mike!

[Mike Shuster]

Thank you Mike. That was Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog.

LINK:

http://greatwarproject.org/2017/10/01/ring-of-spies-in-palestine/

This week in the Great War in the sky, there are two stories worth noting.

The first involves a british Battle cruiser - The HMS Repulse. At the time, she is touted to be the fastest battle ship of the fleet.

On October 1st 1917, having built a strange - slightly up-angled - platform on top of the turret of one of the big 15-inch guns  - her captain faces the Repulse into the wind --.

Sitting atop the platform, Royal Naval Air Service Commander F.J. Rutland fires up the engine on his Sopwith Pup fighter plane. He cranks the RPM, higher, higher and higher still as the battle cruiser pushes into the wind - Finally he lets loose the brakes and his planes takes to the air making it the first fighter plane ever launched from such a ship!

He, of course, does NOT attempt a landing on same!

And we have a link in the podcast notes showing you a picture of the rig they used.

Also this week, on October 5th, after a long period of unfavorable weather, the Germans finally send planes to the UK for a night raid on London. Nineteen Gotha bombers and two Reisenflugzeug bombers come at the brits in several waves causing quite a bit of damage but inflicting no casualties.

Now… Reisenflugzeug literally means GIANT AIRPLANE in German… and they were. These multi-engine behemoths had wingspans of 100 feet or more and seemed more like an exercise in the art of the possible instead of the art of war.

This was to be the last German raid against the UK until January of 1918 - the Gotha bombers and two of these behemoth flying machines let loose their payloads over the UK during the war in the sky - 100 years ago this week.

We also have a link to a picture of a Reisenflugzeug in the podcast notes.

Link: http://media.iwm.org.uk/ciim5/331/146/mid_000000.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Riesenflugzeug_Siemens_Schuckert_VIII_1918.jpg/1200px-Riesenflugzeug_Siemens_Schuckert_VIII_1918.jpg

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If you’d like to watch some videos about WW1, visit our friend at the Great War Channel on Youtube - They have well over 400 episodes about WW1 and from a more European perspective.

New episodes for this week include:

• The Battle of Polygon Wood

Follow the link in the podcast notes or search for “the great war” on youtube.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar

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We have moved forward in time to the present…

Welcome to WW1 Centennial News NOW  - This part of the program is not about history but how the centennial of

the War that changed the world

is being commemorated today.

This week in Commission news, we highlight a panel discussion about the Origins of the Trilateral Alliance - The alliance between Britain, America and France during World War One, its difficult birth, and its enduring impact after the war. The event was part of the Great War Alliance Forum at the Meridian International Center, a premier nonprofit global leadership organization headquartered in Washington DC

Our own Commissioner Monique Seefried was part of the team that explored the history of the trilateral alliance; societal changes and the future of global conflict. You can read more about the event and watch the videos of this insightful discussion by following the link in the podcast notes.

Link:https://www.meridian.org/project/the-great-war-alliance-forum/

[Sound Effect]

Cardines Field

Next, in our Activities and Events Section, we wanted to follow up on our report about the Rededication of Cardines Baseball Field which took place on September 29th,

US Centennial Commissioner Jack Monahan attended the event in Rhode island,  that included an Army-Navy baseball game played by students from the U.S. Naval War College dressed in period baseball uniforms.

Thanks to Associated Press reporter Jennifer McDermott from Rhode Island, the story about this unique and fun WW1 commemoration event got picked up by newspapers, blogs and posts all around the country

This includes the New York Times, the Washington Post and local papers in Washington State, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma and more. Check out the articles

from across the country

in the podcast notes.

We invite YOU to add your own event to the National U.S. WW1 Centennial Events Register. Go to ww1cc.org/events, click the big red button and post your WW1 commemoration event for all to discover.

links:

http://ww1cc.org/events

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/09/29/us/ap-us-wwi-baseball-game.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/09/28/army-soldiers-and-navy-sailors-to-recreate-world-war-i-era-baseball-game/?utm_term=.aa623b76c64e

http://www.thenewportbuzz.com/batter-up-naval-war-college-to-host-wwi-baseball-at-cardines-field-this-friday/12817

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/article175660656.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article175660656.html

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Sailors-and-soldiers-to-recreate-World-War-I-12240885.php

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sports/article_d3a6e966-fb51-5b87-8718-dc03ab061fae.html

http://newsok.com/sailors-and-soldiers-to-recreate-world-war-i-baseball-game/article/feed/1435175

https://www.theet.com/web_exclusive/us/sailors-and-soldiers-recreate-world-war-i-baseball-game/article_3da2b656-0e29-5316-845e-0fa637e2e5d2.html

http://www.phillytrib.com/news/state_and_region/sailors-and-soldiers-recreate-world-war-i-baseball-game/article_2bc1387a-441a-5107-a1b6-00254a8585a9.html

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Richard Rubin Talks To Towns

We are joined by our good friend Richard Rubin - author of the WWI books, The Last of the Doughboys and Back Over There.

Richard is joining us today to talk to us about his experiences during speaking engagements across the country about World War One. Welcome, Richard!

[exchange greetings]

[So Richard, you have gone around the country to speak about your books, the research that went into them and World War 1 at large -  tell us a bit about these events?]

[Richard, you mentioned that people often come with artifacts,  photos, mementos, and family histories. Why do you think people are so eager to share these with you? ]

[-Is there one story or artifact that someone brought in

that stands out in your mind?]

[-If somebody wants to have hold one of these events, how do they get a hold of you?]

Richard Rubin - Thank you very much for coming on!

That was author Richard Rubin, we have links in the podcast notes to Richard’s website which is also a great way to contact him.

link:https://www.richardrubinonline.com/

[SOUND EFFECT]

And now for our feature “Speaking World War 1 - Where we  explore today’s words & phrases that are rooted in the war  ---

First some background - In spanish, a bobo is a fool, a clown, or someone who is easily cheated" … in the late 1800’s the term was anglicised into “booby” for terms like Booby Prize - and Booby Trap… then, it signified a prank like a book, or water put atop a door left ajar - so when someone walked in - Sploosh! And a great big guffaw!

In WWI the word ‘Booby Trap” this week’s speaking WW1 word - took on a whole new sinister meaning!

The English journalist Sir Philip Gibbs wrote in his war memoir From Bapaume to Passchendaele:

“the enemy left … slow-working fuses and ‘booby-traps’ to blow a man to bits or blind him for life if he touched a harmless looking stick or opened the lid of a box, or stumbled over an old boot.”

So troops picked up the phrase to describe a myriad of explosive devices deliberately disguised as a harmless objects

often left behind in territory that exchanged hands, hidden in doorways, set to go off when a curious soldier opened the lid to a box or rifled through abandoned equipment.

In modern times with this tactic becoming a major tool in asymmetric warfare the term was updated to IED - Improvised Explosive Device.

Booby-trap --- a fool’s trap - one more word that was altered forever during the War that Changed the World. See the podcast notes to learn more!

link: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/28/first-world-war-one-soldiers-tommies-common-language-trenches

http://joellambert.com/123/history-booby-traps/

[SOUND EFFECT]

Chris Stout - Ridgewood, NJ

Next, we are going to profile another 100 Cities / 100 Memorials project. That is our $200,000 matching grant giveaway to rescue ailing WW1 memorials. Last week, we profiled a project from Swanton Ohio. This week, we head to Ridgewood, NJ.

Joining us is Chris Stout, a member of Ridgewood’s American Legion Post 53 and a self-appointed amateur local historian.

Welcome, Chris!

[exchange greetings]

[Chris.. The saying is “a man is not dead until he is forgotten” and that frames your 100 Cities / 100 Memorials project. Tell us about it.]

[What was your reaction when you learned about being one of the awardees for a Matching Grant by the program?]

[Can you tell us about the rededication that took place on Memorial day?]

[Chris - What distinguishes your project - for me - is that it is a fairly small project that is righting a large issue… Congratulations to you and your whole post!]

Thank you so much for being here with us today!

That was Chris Stout, member of American Legion Post 53, local historian and resident of Ridgewood, New Jersey.

We will continue to profile the submitting teams and their unique and amazing projects on the show over the coming months. Learn more about the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials program at ww1cc.org/100memorials or follow the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org/100memorials

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3166-first-50-official-wwi-centennial-memorials-to-be-announced.html

[SOUND EFFECT]

Rendezvous With death - Interview with David Hanna

In our “Remember the veterans” section, today we have David Hanna with us. David is a history teacher at Stuyvesant (Sty-ves-ant) High School in New York City and author of two books, Knights of the Sea about a naval battle that occurred off the coast of Maine in 1813; and Rendezvous with Death, about the original group of American volunteers in the French Army in 1914.

Welcome, David!

[exchange greetings]

[David, how did you come to write a book about the American Volunteers of WW1?]

[As you’ve noted, the dozens of Americans that volunteered in 1914 represented a cross-section of American society at the time. What common impulse made them volunteer for the war?]

[There are many famous individuals who volunteered early on in the war: Ernest Hemingway, Alan Seeger, e. e. cummings, Walt Disney… but of all the many volunteers you’ve researched, does anyone stand out to you?]

[David: How did you decide on the title “Rendezvous with Death”?]

[David - put up a website on the Commissions server - what kinds of information can I find there?]

Thank you so much for joining us!

That was David Hanna, author of Rendezvous with Death and curator of the website at ww1cc.org/rendezvous

The links are in the podcast notes.

Link:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/rendezvous-with-death-home-page.html

https://www.amazon.com/Rendezvous-Death-Americans-Foreign-Civilization/dp/1621573966/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

For our International Report, we head to France, to the town of Versaille for an interesting story about two companion statues

one of General Pershing and the other of the Marquis de Lafayette

The statues were recently restored and re-dedicated on October 6th 2017.

The dual monuments to the generals were originally built in 1937, two equestrian statues of the generals on nine meter tall pedestals on either side of the road leading into the town of Versaille.

The two statues were erected to commemorate the friendship between France and the United States and to pay tribute to the Americans troops for their significant contribution to the Allied victory in 1918. The statues were hastily built in plaster with a bronze patina (puh-tee-nuh) so they could be in place and on view for they’re inauguration, which took place with General Pershing present on a European tour. The plaster statues were quickly damaged by exposure and had never been replaced,

until now.

On October 6th 2017, exactly 80 years after the initial inauguration, permanent versions of the statues were re-dedicated.  Read more about the statues and the rededication at the links in the podcast notes.

link:http://www.pershing-lafayette-versailles.org/

http://centenaire.org/fr/en-france/versailles-ceremonie-restauration-monument-pershing-la-fayette

It’s time for an update for our WWRITE blog, which explores WWI’s Influence on contemporary writing and scholarship, this week's post is: “What the Mountains Hold: A Writer's Trek Through the Dolomites of Mark Helprin's WWI Italy”

The post brings a fresh face to the WWI Italy

described in  Hemingway's “A Farewell to Arms”.

Author and veteran, Shannon Huffman Polson, takes us on a spellbinding trek through the Dolomites,

where 689,000 Italians perished during the war.

Following the footsteps of characters from Mark Helprin's novel, “A Soldier of the Great War”, Polson leads us through the stark, striking landscape of one of Italian-history's most indelible memories.

A stunning narrative not to be missed! Read it by following the link in the podcast notes.

Link: www.ww1cc.org.wwrite

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/articles-posts/3190-what-the-mountains-hold.html

That brings us to the buzz - the centennial of WW1 this week in social media with Katherine Akey - Katherine - You have two stories to share with us today - Take it away!

Thanks Theo!

Fort Riley and the 1st Division Museum

Watch a great video series about the 1st division in WW1!

link:https://www.facebook.com/FtRileyMuseums/

https://www.facebook.com/FtRileyMuseums/videos/1217575371721494/

Countdown to Veterans Day

Follow us as we #countdowntoveteransday . You can join in, too!

link:https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial/photos/a.290566277785344.1073741829.185589304949709/845531832288783/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/countdowntoveteransday

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/countdowntoveteransday/?hl=en

Well It’s time to wrap things up - and for those who listen through to the very end of the episode you know about the little treats we always put there.

We want to thank our guests:

• Mike Shuster and his report on espionage in the middle east  

And I am Theo Mayer - your host.

The US World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to honor, commemorate and educate about WW1.

Our programs are to--

inspire a national conversation and awareness about WW1; This program is a part of that….

We are bringing the lessons of the 100 years ago into today's classrooms;

We are helping to restore WW1 memorials in communities of all sizes across our country;

and of course we are building America’s National WW1 Memorial in Washington DC.

If you like the work we are doing, please support it with a tax deductible donation at ww1cc.org/donate - all lower case

Or if you are on your smart phone text  the word: WW1 to 41444. that's the letters ww the number 1 texted to 41444. Any amount is appreciated.

We want to thank commission’s founding sponsor the Pritzker Military Museum and Library for their support.

The podcast can be found on our website at ww1cc.org/cn  

on  iTunes and google play ww1 Centennial News, and on Amazon Echo or other Alexa enabled devices.

Our twitter and instagram handles are both @ww1cc and we are on facebook @ww1centennial.

Thanks for joining us. And don’t forget to share the stories you are hearing here with someone about the war that changed the world!

[music - The man behind the hammer and the plow - Arthur Fields - Edison Record]

Alexa: Play the W W 1 Centennial News Podcast

[Alexa response]

So long!