The Governors of Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi have joined the effort to promote Bells of Peace: A World War I Remembrance by issuing proclamations asking all their citizens to toll bells on November 11, 2018, in recognition of the centennial of the signing of the Armistice that ended the fighting in World War I. Bells of Peace is an initiative sponsored by the World War I Centennial Commission to commemorate the service and sacrifice of those who served in World War I, and all veterans. The Commission has called on all Americans everywhere to toll bells 21 times, at 5-second intervals, on November 11 at 11:00 a.m. local time. Read more about how you and your church, school, community organization, veterans group, firehouse, or anyone else with a bell to ring can participate in this growing national commemoration event on November 11, 2018.

There was a solemn ceremony at noon on Saturday, August 25 at Heroes Grove, the site of a nearly forgotten monument in Golden Gate Park, to honor 761 San Franciscans who died in the war to end all wars a century ago. The monument is an 18-ton granite stone carved with the names of 748 men and 13 women from San Francisco who died in World War I. The site, called the Grove of Heroes, is surrounded by redwood trees and reached by an unmarked trail near the park entrance at 10th Avenue and Fulton Street. “It is a very beautiful place, a quiet spot where you could come and reflect,” said retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. J. Michael Myatt, chair of San Francisco’s World War I Centennial commemoration. Click here to read more about this historic monument and the recent ceremony.

The Herald-Whig newspaper in Quincy, IL continued its fine World War I coverage recently with an in-depth profile of  Dr. Hosea J. Nichols, one of the 104 doctors of African-American descent who were physicians in World War I. His father, William Nichols, who had been born a slave, served with the Union Army in the 59th U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War. At the age of 47, Dr. Hosea Nichols volunteered for military service. He trained at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, which had been a cavalry training post but was converted to train African-American officers when the United States entered World War I. Click here to read more about Dr. Hosea Nichols' record of both military any civic service.

The "Hello Girls" movie previously profiled here in DISPATCH is moving into wider distribution across the nation. The film is embarking on whirlwind schedule of Film Festivals and screenings. According to the film's producer and director James Theres, Hello Girls has been accepted into the lineup of several major Film Festivals, to include the GI Film Festival in San Diego, as well as the Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis. Click here to read more about where the movie will be when over the coming months.

Meanwhile, the bipartisan effort in the U.S. Congress to authorize a Gold Medal for the Hello Girls, previously described in DISPATCH here, is continuing to gain ground with new co-sponsors coming aboard. Recently the Task & Purpose military veterans web site published an in-depth article about the history of Hello Girls, their shabby treatment by the Army after the war ended, and why the Congressional medal is well-deserved recognition of the service of the Hello Girls. Click here to read the entire thoughtful article on the Task & Purpose site.

On August 18th, 1918, the U.S. Navy's first naval railway gun, a 14-inch, 50 caliber, Mark IV Navy gun mounted on a railway carriage, became operational in St. Nazaire, France during World War I. The guns were used to target key infrastructure deep behind the German lines, and scored some notable successes, including destroying a section of a moving supply train, ripping up an entire three-track line for a distance of some 100 yards, and scoring a direct hit on a German troop train with devastating results. Click here to read more about the big guns' contribution to the war effort, and where you can see one of the rail guns today.

An amazing WWI Living History event has been taking place this past week across Belgium. Called "The Liberation 1918-2018", the project consists of a column of dozens of WWI reenactors in period vehicles, wagons, costumes, uniforms, and equipment, who are trekking across Belgium, following the route of the final counter-offensive of the war. In Flanders Fields of September 1918 a massive campaign was launched by Belgian, British, Commonwealth, French and American forces against the German axis forces in a final effort to end the War of wars and liberate Belgium. To commemorate this final offensive, a historical multinational column embarked on an epic journey from Lo-Reninge to Deinze between 13 and 19 August 2018 -- stopping in several towns, at every memorial and battlefield to pay due homage to all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberty. Click here to read an extensive interview with the leader of this unique living history event, Mr. David Moortgat, President, V.Z.W Platform for Belgian military history.

During and after World War I, the blue benches outside London’s Queen’s Hospital were reserved for soldiers who had suffered facial wounds on the Western Front that had never been seen before in warfare. Improvements in anesthesia and treating infections meant that these gruesome battlefield injuries had become survivable, but the facial wounds could be so severe that they left soldiers unable to eat, drink, or even speak. As terrible as other amputations were, the soldiers who lost their faces also lost their identities. But inside Queen’s Hospital, pioneering new techniques in plastic surgery and facial reconstruction, born of necessity, helped  provide some semblance of normal life to those with these terrible injuries.  Click here to read the entire History.com article on the surgeons' work, and how they helped create "hope instead of despair” for their patients.

In August 24th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 86, Host Theo Mayer spoke with Seth and Garrett Moore, nineteen year old twin brothers with an incredible passion for WW1, originally sparked by family history, when their great-grandmother told them about her uncle who went off to fight the Germans in 1917. Click here to read a transcript of the interview.

In August 24th's WW1 Centennial News Podcast, Episode 86, WW1 Tech and Speaking WW1 shared a common theme: Observation Balloons, a crucial but frequently overlooked piece of World War I aviation technology.  Click here to read a transcript of the interview.

The WW1 Centennial News Podcast is about WW1 THEN: 100 years ago this week, and it's about WW1 NOW: News and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. 

Available on our web site, iTunes, Google Play, Podbean, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio on Demand.  Spotify  listen on Youtube. New - Comment and ask questions via twitter @TheWW1podcast

Highlights: #86
Airplanes to end the war? Some say.

Airplanes to end the war? Some say! | @ 02:05

Continued war just out of habit? - Mike Shuster | @ 13:10

Part 3: The 28th Division in Fismette - Dr. Edward Lengel | @ 17:00

The American Legion and ACE - US WWI Commissioner Jack Monahan | @ 24:40

Video Game “11-11 Memories Retold” - Yoan Fanise | @ 30:00

19-year-old twin WWI reenactors - Seth & Garrett Moore | @ 37:45

WW1 War Tech: Observation Balloons | @ 43:45

Speaking WWI: Balloonatic | @ 47:00

Articles & Posts: From the Dispatch Newsletter | @ 48:05

The Buzz: Social Media Highlights - Katherine Akey | @ 50:45

Heroes' Grove: Remembering and Forgetting the Great War in Germany

After war, how does a country commemorate its soldiers in the shadow of defeat and shame?  David Eisler explores the question this week at WWrite by analyzing the evolution of a war cemetery in Germany’s Rhein-Neckar Valley. Eisler, a U.S. Army veteran whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, War on the Rocks, The Daily Beast, Collier’s Magazine, Military Review, Drunken Boat, and the anthology of short fiction, The Road Ahead: Fiction from the Forever War, is a PhD candidate at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies in Heidelberg, Germany. His doctoral dissertation focuses on the relationship between American civil-military relations and contemporary war fiction from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Read this eloquent, perceptive post about remembering and forgetting Germany's WWI dead.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Monday's MIA this week is Private George J. McDonald.  George McDonald was born June 8th, 1991 in Shoals, Indiana. He was a laborer when he was called into service on October 6th, 1917 and sent to Camp Taylor, Kentucky for training. He went ‘Over There’ on April 7th, 1918, and was assigned to Company G, 28th Infantry, 1st Division. He was lost during the Battle of Soissons; initially being listed as Missing in Action and that status later being changed to Killed in Action, though his remains were never located. His case remains a mystery.

 Would you like to help us solve this case? Give 'Ten For Them' to Doughboy MIA and help us make a full accounting of the 4,423 American service personnel still listed as missing in action from WW1. Make your tax deductible donation now, with our thanks.

"Lest We Forget: The Great War"

World War I Prints from the Pritzker Military Museum & Library 

As the United States commemorates the centennial of World War I, one of the nation’s premier military history institutions pays tribute to the Americans who served and the allies they fought beside to defeat a resourceful enemy with a lavishly illustrated book.  It is an official product of the United States World War One Centennial Commission. The story of WWI is told through the memorable art it spawned―including posters from nations involved in the conflict―and a taut narrative account of the war’s signal events, its major personalities and its tragic consequences; and the timely period photographs that illustrate the awful realities of this revolutionary conflict. Most importantly, this book is a tribute to those who served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and what would become the Air Force.  Proceeds from the sale of this book help fund the WW1 Memorial in Washington, DC.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

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