WWI DISPATCH September 2023

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September 2023

Bells of Peace 2023

Welcome To The 2023 “Bells Of Peace” National Bell Tolling 11am Veterans Day

The Doughboy Foundation invites the public to plan now to join the annual Bells of Peace ceremony, a national tradition initiated in 2018 to commemorate the WWI Armistice Centennial and to honor all Americans who have served their nation. It’s a great way to kick off local remembrances on Veterans Day.

Sailor Ship's Bell Bells of Peace 2022

The 2023 national ceremony will take place on November 11, starting at 10:30am Eastern at the National WWI Memorial in Washington D.C., with the Bell Tolling exactly at 11am. All interested people in the Washington D.C. region are invited to join us live at the National WWI Memorial, or to watch the live stream wherever you are. Click here to read more about the national Bells of Peace event, and how you can participate.

Thomas More College Bells of Peace 2021

Tens of thousands have participated in local Bells of Peace ceremonies in past years, on November 11 at 11am local time wherever they are. To support these ceremonies across the nation and around the world, the Foundation has created a WebApp, available at BellsOfPeace.org, for anyone who plans to participate in Bells of Peace ceremonies. Organizations or groups planning local Bells of Peace events are encouraged to register their activities via the website. Click to learn more about Bells of Peace, and how individuals and organizations anywhere can participate in this annual commemorative event.


Wreaths Across America 2023 vertical

Hello Girls header image

In October, Tell Congress That You
Support The Hello Girls Gold Medal

Congress (as you doubtless know) is currently headed down the homestretch to keep to the government open after October 1, not to mention passing a budget, and other important matters. So your Senators and Representatives are pretty distracted right now.

Hello Girls pullup banner

But after October 1, when the dust has settled and Congress is back in normal operations, it will be a great time to reach out to them with a strong reminder that you support the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation to honor America's first women soldiers. The Hello Girls made critical battlefield tactical communications work effectively for U.S. and French military forces on the front lines of World War I, saving many lives by helping bring the long war to a faster end. But when the Hello Girls returned home after WWI ended, they were denied veterans status and benefits until 1977. The Hello Girls earned and deserve the recognition of a Congressional Gold Medal, and you can help make that happen this Congress!

Click here for our toolbox that makes the process of reaching out to your Representative and Senators very straightforward. Please get in touch with your Senators and Representative, telling them that you want their support for the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation in the 118th Congress. When their nation called in 1918, the Hello Girls answered -- please answer their call in 2023!


“The War To End All Wars – The Movie” Will Bring World War I To Museums Across The U.S. For Veterans Day

Sabaton movie web site snip

The renowned Swedish heavy metal band, Sabaton, has introduced a groundbreaking charitable museum initiative entitled “History Rocks“. The band’s forthcoming animated film, “The War To End All Wars – The Movie” is being offered to museums for free showings between November 4th and 19th – the two weeks surrounding the 105th anniversary of Armistice Day, with the museums keeping all gate receipts. Some 20 U.S. museums have already signed up, and more are sought. Click here to read more, and find out how your favorite history or military museum can take part in this project, the goal of which is "to drive millions of Sabaton fans worldwide, as well as all history enthusiasts, into these participating museums."


The 369th Experience To Perform In 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

369th-Macy's Parade logos vertical

The 369th Experience was selected to perform in the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This will mark the first Macy’s Parade appearance by the 369th Experience a marching band dedicated to acknowledging, educating, and preserving the legacy of the 369th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, a regiment made up of African American and Puerto Rican soldiers, which was one of the longest-serving and most decorated units of the American Expeditionary Force in WWI. The 369th Experience is endorsed by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Doughboy Foundation. Click here to learn more about this exciting milestone for the 369th Experience, and the support they will need to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to tell the story of WWI and the Harlem Hellfighters to millions of Americans in 2024.


Bill To Award Mexican American WWI Hero With Medal Of Honor Introduced

Marcelino Serna mug

Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas is working toward awarding Mexican American World War I hero Private Marcelino Serna with a posthumous Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest military honor — this Hispanic Heritage Month. Serna, the most decorated Texan of WWI, was the first Mexican American to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. “Despite his eligibility for exemption from service due to his immigrant status, Serna chose to courageously fight on behalf of the United States during World War I," Escobar said. Click here to read more about Marcelino Serna, and why his service is deserving of the recognition of the Medal of Honor over 100 years later.


Moving Time For WWI Bleckley Plane

Erwin Bleckley

The historic DH-4 World War I biplane has a new home in Wichita, KS’s Old Town. Known locally as ‘the Bleckley plane’, this DH-4 is one of only five left in the world, and is the only one licensed to fly. It is identical in make, model and markings to the same plane flown to fame over France, in WWI, by Wichita native Erwin Bleckley. Bleckley’s fatal last flight, which attempted to locate, map and re-supply the Lost Battalion, earned him the Medal of Honor. Click here to read more about this historic aircraft, and learn why Bleckley’s flight has gone down in history as the most famous and legendary of all the missions conducted by the US Army Air Service during ‘the Great War’.


Search For Lost Soldier Shows How Little We Know About Latinos In World War I

Crispin Rodriguez

A Texas woman, curious about what happened to a relative who died while serving in World War I, recently found his resting place in France — likely one of several Mexican Americans who died abroad and whose stories have been largely forgotten. San Antonio College history professor Lisa Ramos in July traveled to France and went searching for her great-great-granduncle, Crispin Rodriguez. Click here to read more about the results of her search, and how scholars are examining the role that World War I played in the lives of Latinos, then and now.


Drought In Texas Reveals WWI Shipwreck

WWI wooden ship sunk in Texas

Plagued by scorching temperatures and drought, the Neches River in southeast Texas has revealed the remains of a World War I shipwreck. The man who stumbled upon it, Bill Milner, was jet skiing on the river when he ran into something. He looked down and saw the remains of what appeared to be a large wooden boat. The wreck—which actually includes the ruins of several vessels—are the remains of wooden ships built in nearby Beaumont, TX, during World War I. Click here to read more about these vessels revealed by a receding river, and how they came to be abandoned in streams of East Texas after World War I.


Potential Of Moving WWI Statue Stirs Controversy In Kentucky Town

Monticello, KY Doughboy Statue

The potential relocation of a more than 100 year old World War I Doughboy statue from a busy intersection in downtown Monticello, KY is giving local residents and elected officials considerable heartburn. Although it’s not clear if or when the move would happen, two magistrates said hundreds of residents have told them they don’t want the Doughboy moved, and the commander of a veterans group said some members have talked of starting a petition against moving it. Click here to read the whole story, and learn about the people and groups fighting to keep "an iconic figure that’s been there for a hundred years in the middle of our downtown.”


WWI Helped Popularize The Modern Bra

World War I Helped Popularize The Modern Bra

For nearly 400 years, women in Western Europe and North America were expected to wear corsets beneath their clothing — restrictive, binding bustiers that cinched at the waist and opened toward the chest to accentuate the natural curves of the body. This all changed around the First World War, when a shortage of metal, the dominant material in corsets, led to a redistribution of resources as well as a cultural shift that brought women into the work force in large numbers. Click here to read more, and learn how the exigencies of World War I reshaped the foundations of women's fashions in the 20th Century.


Daily Taps at the National World War I Memorial

Honoring General John J. Pershing, USA

On September 13, 2023, Daily Taps at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC was sounded in honor of General of the Armies John J. Pershing, USA, who was born on 9/13/1860.

Nicknamed "Black Jack," Pershing served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I from 1917 to 1920. In addition to leading the AEF to victory in WWI, Pershing notably served as a mentor to many in the generation of generals who led the United States Army during World War II, including George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Lesley J. McNair, George S. Patton, and Douglas MacArthur. In September 1919, in recognition of his distinguished service during WWI, the U.S. Congress authorized the President to promote Pershing to General of the Armies of the United States, the highest rank possible for any member of the United States armed forces. Pershing served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1921 until his 64th birthday, September 13, 1924, when he retired from active military service. On July 15, 1948, Pershing died at age 87 at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.

General John J. Pershing

The Daily Taps program of the Doughboy Foundation provides a unique opportunity to dedicate a livestreamed sounding of Taps in honor of a special person of your choice while supporting the important work of the Doughboy Foundation. Choose a day, or even establish this honor in perpetuityClick here for more information on how to honor a loved veteran with the sounding of Taps.


World War I News Digest September 2023

Trench Gun

World War I was The War that Changed the World, and its impact on the United States continues to be felt over a century later, as people across the nation learn more about and remember those who served in the Great War. Here's a collection of news items from the last month related to World War I and America.


Winchester Model 1897 Trench Gun Of World War I

America In World War I: Military Camp Newspapers

Two WWI Submarines Sunk By Mines Discovered

World War I Helped Popularize Candy Bars

German Sabotage Damaged Statue Of Liberty During WWI

War & Evolution: 20 Ways World War I Reshaped The U.S.

Soldiers Don’t Go Mad: Brotherhood, Poetry & Mental Illness

Beyond The Battlefield: How WWI Changed US Women’s Lives

America’s Love For Baseball Shaped New WWI Grenades


Doughboy MIA for September 2023

Carter Landram Ovington

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is Carter Landram Ovington. Born on 1 May 1897 in Baden-Baden, Germany to American parents, First Lieutenant Carter Landram Ovington was the only child & son of Edward J. Ovington and Georgia Cheatham Maize Ovington. His father and his uncle were the heads of the New York based Ovington Brothers Company with locations in Germany and Paris, France. Because his father managed the European portion of the family business, Carter spent his first ten years in Germany followed by eight years in France.

After the United States declared war on German on 6 April 1918 and just after his twentieth birthday, Carter Ovington, while attending the Ecole Superieure de l’Electricite (Superior School of Electricity) in Paris, decided to join France’s Service Aeronautique on 20 May 1917. He immediately was accepted and sent to the French aviation schools at Avord, Pau, and Cazeaux, receiving his pilot’s brevet on 17 August 1917 with the rank of Caporal (Corporal).

The young aviator was delighted to find he was being sent to advanced training to become a pursuit (fighter) pilot. Completing the training on 12 December 1917 Caporal Ovington was subsequently assigned to Escadrille SPA85 flying the rugged SPAD VII produced by the Societe Pour L’Aviation et ses Derives (Society for Aviation and its Derivatives). As an American citizen flying for France, Corporal Ovington was now an official member of the Lafayette Flying Corps.

Click to Read Carter Ovington's whole story.

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of First Lieutenant Carter Landram Ovington, and all the other Americans still in MIA status from WWI? You can! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization today, and help us bring them home! Help us do the best job possible and give today, with our thanks.  Remember: A man is only missing if he is forgotten.


Merchandise From The Official
Doughboy Foundation WWI Store

School is back in session across the nation, and the Doughboy Foundation has several outstanding books available to make great book reports, or research projects that will earn an "A".

Lest We Forget Book Cover

Lest We Forget: The Great War World War I Prints from the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. 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 and is a tribute to those who served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and what would become the Air Force. It serves as a lasting reminder that our world ignores the history of World War I (and the ensuing WWII) at its peril―lest we forget

Honoring the Doughboys book

Honoring the Doughboys: Following My Grandfather's World War I Diary is a stunning presentation of contemporary photographs taken by the author that are paired with diary entries written by his grandfather, George A. Carlson, who was a soldier in the U.S. Army during World War I. Jeff Lowdermilk followed his grandfather's path through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany and returned with these meticulously crafted photographs and his own engaging stories that bring the diary to life for contemporary readers. Lowdermilk's passion for World War I and military history began as a young boy when he listened to his grandfather tell his stories about serving as an infantryman-- a "Doughboy"--in Europe during the Great War.

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In the Centennial Footsteps of the Great War 

This notable 2-volumn work has been included in the Doughboy Shop for awareness. $2 from every copy sold in the United States will go to the Doughboy Foundation. 

The Memorial will be officially dedicated in May 2024 after the main sculpture, A Soldier’s Journey, is installed. Learn more and purchase here: Greatwarbook.com/us/

Proceeds from the sale of these books will help complete the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the Doughboy Foundation.



Marcus Juul Hanson

A Story of Service from the Stories of Service section of ww1cc.org

Marcus Juul Hanson

Submitted by: Per G. Melberg {Distant relative}

Marcus Juul Hanson was born around 1890. Marcus Hanson served in World War I with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1918 and the service was completed in 1918.

Story of Service

Introduction

What journey in life led to a young man from a rural parish in Northern Jutland, Denmark dying on a battlefield in France, whilst serving in the U.S. Army? And this just a few days before the Armistice put an end to World War I.

This is the story of Markus Juul Hansen.

Markus' childhood and youth in Denmark

Markus Juul Hansen was born on 24th June 1890 in "Lunden", a small farmhouse on Tranekær Mark in the northernmost part of the parish of Hørby, Northern Jutland, Denmark. He was the son of Hans Christian Hansen (1861-1934) and Mathilde Jensen (1855-1913), who had married in 1884 and had seven children together. Markus was the third sibling.

Markus was confirmed in Hørby Church in 1904, and still included in the census for Hørby Parish as being resident in "Lunden" in 1906. Being part of a large family living on a small farm, Markus soon had to make his own way of living, commencing as a worker on a larger farm in the neighboring Karup Parish.

However, in 1911, Markus' name is found in the census for Vraa Parish, Northern Jutland, Denmark, where he was studying at "Vraa Folkehøjskole" (Vraa Folk High School) during the school year of 1910-1911. He had skills of the book as well, albeit a Folk High School is not a common high school.

~

Heading for the US and his first years in Minnesota

Upon conclusion of his year at the Folk High School, Markus most likely realised that he would only have limited possibilities for prosperity in rural Denmark. As a consequence, he emigrated to the USA in early 1912, where he settled in the small town of Windom, Cottonwood County, Minnesota, a place which had already attracted many Danish emigrants.

Little is known about Markus' journey to the US and his years in Windom, except that he worked as a tiler with Max Sorensen in Jackson County, MN. Jackson County is another Minnesota county just south of Windom. He may have completed a craftsman's education after arriving in Windom, MN, although this appears to be less likely.

Read Marcus Juul Hanson's entire Story of Service here.

Submit your family's Story of Service here.