WWI DISPATCH November 2023

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November 2023

Collage from Bells of Peace 2023 with bottom border

Clockwise around perimeter from lower left: Doughboy Foundation Executive Director Jari Villanueva addresses the audience at the Bells of Peace event; (top left) Doughboy Foundation buglers Michael Harper (left) and Adrienne Doctor performed Taps at the ceremony conclusion; (top center) LTJG Lauren Zingaro, USN sounded a ship's bell 21 times (bell provided by the U.S. Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command); (top right) wreaths in honor of those Americans who have served are presented by The Doughboy Foundation, The Military Order of the World Wars, the Embassy of Serbia, The Distinguished Flying Cross Society, the Daghters of the American Revolution, and the Willard Hotel; (lower right, left to right) Vickie Embry of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Hello Girls uniform; Catherine Bourgin, the granddaughter of Hello Girl Marie Edmee LeRoux, holding a photo of her grandmother from WWI; and bugler Adrienne Doctor; (bottom center) U.S. World War I Centennial Commission Commissioner Dr. Libby O'Connell addresses the audience on the service & sacrifice of the Hello Girls; (inset) Captain Edward Gantt, USN (Ret.), representing The Military Order of the World Wars. (Photos © Bruce Guthrie.)

Hello Girls of World War I Honored During Bells Of Peace 2023 Ceremonies Nov.11 at the National WWI Memorial in D.C.

The Hello Girls, America's First Women Soldiers were the focus of the 2023 National Bells of Peace Ceremony November 11 at the National World War I Memorial in Washington D.C., presented by the Doughboy Foundation and the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission. Over 250 individuals and groups registered their local Bells of Peace events, and an uncountable number of other Bells of Peace commemorations happened elsewhere across the nation and around the world. The event was streamed worldwide on YouTube, and a recording of the livestream is available here.

Support A Congressional Gold Medal
For The Hello Girls This Year!

Hello Girls pullup banner

The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission continues its campaign for passage of the current Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation in the 118th Congress. 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 quicker end. However, 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 in the 118th  Congress! Click here for our toolbox that makes the process of reaching out to your Representative and Senators very straightforward. Congress is now in session November 28 to December 16, so this is an excellent time to reach out to your Senators and Representative, and tell them that you want them to cosponsor 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!


Wreaths

Remembering World War I Through Augmented Reality

Timeline Tower in WWI Memorial App

As the nation focused on Veterans Day this month, attention was being paid to The Doughboy Foundation’s award-winning WWI Memorial Apps and core WWI Teaching Resources available to help educate students about the history of The War That Changed the World, and why it was and is critical to our nation’s development.  Click here to read more and watch video of media covering these free, high-quality resources for teaching and learning created in conjunction with world class experts using leading-edge technology.


Armistice (Veterans) Day: How WWI Has Shaped Our Modern World

Theo Mayer

"The first World War transformed America, but its impact is often forgotten." That's something that technologist Theo Mayer has been working to change for the last ten years, and in a recent essay, he gives an update on the progress made during the WWI Centennial Commemoration and beyond to address this issue. Click here to read more, and learn why "there is clear consensus that “how WWI changed America,” is a subject that has not received the focus it deserves."  


The Creation Of “And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair

Joseph Turrin

"And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair* is work for choir and chamber orchestra based on texts by World War I poets that debuted on November 10, 2018 in a concert dedicated to Armistice Day November 11, 1918 when the guns fell silent on the Western Front. Composer Joseph Turrin talks about how the cantata came to be written, ahead of another performance of the work in New York City on December 3, 2023. Click here to read more about "And Crimson Roses Once Again Be Fair*, and learn how to attend the performance next Sunday in Manhattan.


Rock Of The Marne Remembered: Army's 2023 Army-Navy Uniform To Honor The Soldiers Of The 3rd Infantry Division

Army-Navy 2023 uniform patches

On December 9, 2023, the Army-Navy Game presented by USAA will take place at Gillette Stadium in New England, marking the first time in the 124-year history of America's Game that it will take place outside of the mid-Atlantic region. For the game the Army football team will be wearing a special uniform honoring the 3rd Infantry Division, which arrived in France in April 1918 for service in World War I as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, and earned its nickname The Rock of the Marne in combat there. Meanwhile, the Navy football team will wear a uniform honoring The Silent Service, the U.S. Submarine Force, which first saw combat action in World War I.


I Am The Daughter Of A World War I Regimental Sergeant Bugler

Henry Erwin Bridges and Arlene Bridges Samuels

Arlene Bridges Samuels' father, Henry Erwin Bridges, served as a Regimental Sergeant Bugler in the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. "Like most veterans then and now, he did not talk about his traumatic war experiences," writes Arlene. "However, Daddy shared one story which laid the foundation for my patriotism, my honor for him, and veterans past and present." While visiting Washington, DC recently, Arlene attended Daily Taps at the National World War I Memorial in her father's memory. Click here to read Arlene's entire essay, and learn how "hearing the uniformed bugler at the WWI Memorial, and reading the tributes, deeply embedded a musical and visual memory into my heart."


Daily Taps @ the National WWI Memorial

Honoring Sgt. James Cox

On Monday, November 6, 2023, Daily Taps at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC was sounded in honor of WWI veteran Sgt. James Cox, Company L, 308th Infantry, 77th Division.

James Cox registered for military recruitment on the 1st date designated by the Wilson Administration to do so, June 5, 1917. James, still an Irish citizen at the time and living and working in New York City, was 23 years old. James was inducted into the United States Army on Sept 21, 1917 and ordered to Camp Upton on Long Island, NY for military training in the newly formed 77th Division. Cox was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, of the 308th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division. He would serve in Company L for the duration of his military service. James was promoted from the rank of Private to Private 1st Class on Nov 01, 1917 and promoted again to the rank of Corporal on Dec 05, 1917. Click here to read more about Sgt. James Cox in his Story of Service.

James Cox

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.


‘Taps’ Carries On High The Simple Yet Profound Character Of The Soldier

Ed Saunders

Writing for the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Ed Saunders, writer, WWI historian, and photographer, chronicled a recent visit to Washington, DC: "Promptly at 5 p.m., every day, rain or shine, blizzard or heat, a volunteer bugler wearing a period World War I U.S. Army uniform stands at attention near the flagpole at the National World War One Memorial not far from the White House in Washington D.C. On a brilliant autumn day, I watched as a Black soldier attired in a World War I Army uniform marched to the memorial’s flagpole. He wore the distinctive blue helmet of the 93rd Infantry Division, the “Blue Helmets” one of two all-Black infantry divisions of the American Expeditionary Force assigned to the blue-helmeted French army in World War I." Click here to read Ed's entire article, and learn how Taps "belongs to all who wish to render honors for those who wore the uniform of a nation."


They Call Us The Flying Circus:
Two West Virginians In The Great War

Cecil “Zeke” Gabriel and Louise Marsh

Michael Coker, almost on a whim, bought from an eBay dealer a bag of letters that the dealer had purchased  "from a picker who had found them in a dumpster along an interstate near a house that was being cleaned out for sale." A week later, after literally debugging the package of letters, Coker determined that "despite their initial condition they were once treasured family heirlooms" that documented a World War I romance between two young people from Parkersburg, VA. Click here to read more, and find out how these initially buggy letters eventually led Coker to chronicle the WWI love story of Cecil “Zeke” Gabriel and Louise Marsh in an academic project and a West Virginia museum exhibit - and he's not done with them yet!


Thomas Neibaur’s Bravery In WWI

Thomas Neibaur

Private Thomas Neibaur is not listed among the most prominent names in the annals of U.S. military history,” his biographer writes, “but some think he should be. . . . Neibaur was one of the most decorated veterans of the Great War.” So begins the exploration by writer Tara Ross of how in "a one-man battle against roughly 50 Germans" Neibaur, who enlisted in the Army when he was just 18 years old, earned the nation's highest battlefield honor. Click here to read the entire story, and learn how Neibaur, returned home a hero, but encountered challenges in the aftermath of World War I.


US Navy & Marine Corps WWI Aviation

Ensign Theodore Dillon (left) and Ensign Robert Waters flying their Curtiss HS‑1 flying boat over NAS Tréguier in 1918.

Key Publishing’s new book Contact! Early US Naval and Marine Corps Aviation, 1911-1918 by Alan C Carey, notes that the Navy and Marine Corps "had little idea of how to prepare for aerial warfare, as evidenced in a cablegram from the Secretary of the Navy to Admiral Sims dated April 20, 1918. Sims pointed out: “Immediate and complete information is desired by the Navy Department regarding the current development of the British of their naval aeronautics. For example, what aircraft style is most used and successful over the water? What is the method of launching at sea when the carrier vessel is underway? For coastal patrol and submarine searching, what aircraft types are used?Click here to find out how the Fleet and the Corps answered those questions, and created Naval Aviation for America.


“Winston Churchill Sank The Lusitania To Get America Into The War”

Lusitania sinking SF Chronicle

On May 7, 1915, Royal Mail Ship Lusitania was sunk within sight of land by a German submarine. Of her 1,962 passengers and crew, 1,199 (some estimates are higher) lost their lives. In the midst of the Dardanelles-Gallipoli crisis, the tragedy seemed incidental to some. Yet for a century, rumors swirled that Lusitania was deliberately sacrificed by the British, chiefly Winston Churchill. His alleged aim was to so infuriate the Americans as to bring them into the war against Germany. More recently, critics charged that Churchill’s Admiralty purposely contrived to steer the ship into harm’s way. Click here to read more from The Churchill Project at Hillsdale College about this World War I controversy still swirling after 100 years. 


Army Sets Aside World War I Convictions Of 110 Black Soldiers Convicted In 1917 Houston Riots

Soldiers of the 24th infantry regiment at Camp Logan in Houston, Texas, in 1917

Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth has approved the recommendation of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to set aside the courts-martial convictions of the 110 Black Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (also known as the Buffalo Soldiers), who were convicted following the World War I-era Houston Riots. The records of these Soldiers will be corrected, to the extent possible, to characterize their military service as honorable. Click here to read the entire story, and learn how "this decision provides the Army and the American people an opportunity to learn from this difficult moment in our history.


Serpents Of War: An American Officer’s Story Of WWI Combat And Captivity

Serpents of War book cover

Harry Parkin (1880–1946) was born into a well-to-do Pittsburgh family. He was a product of the prewar Plattsburgh training camp as well as the April 1917 Fort Niagara Officers Training Camp. Commissioned a captain, Parkin commanded a company and then a battalion of the 316th Infantry Regiment, part of the National Army’s 79th Division. He rose to the rank of major and was in temporary command of the regiment for a short time during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Severely wounded in action and captured by the Germans on 4 November 1918, Parkin, who earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on that day, survived the war and captivity and wrote this excellent memoir describing his service. Click here to read more about this "wonderful addition to the historiography of the American Expeditionary Forces."


Eyewitness: Capt. George W. Hamilton, USMC, On The Capture Of Hill 142 During The Battle Of Belleau Wood

Capt. George W. Hamilton, USMC

Capt. Hamilton was the on-the-scene commander of the Marine companies of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, charged on 6 June 1918 with the capture of Hill 142 overlooking right flank of the attacking French 167th Division and the left flank of the subsequent U.S. main assault on Belleau Wood. He was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). The account of the action was included in a November 1919 letter to the Marine Corps commandant requesting a clarification in the citation accompanying the award. Click here to read the entire letter describing the events of June 5-6, 1918 that earned Hamilton the DSC, and another of his soldiers the Medal of Honor.


Arlington Cemetery Once Held Soil From The World War I Battlefields Of France

The BTS set up in the office of the Governor of Les Invalides before leaving for Arlington Cemetery in the spring of 1929.

A letter to The Washington Post evoked the story of how, from 1929 to 1938, Arlington National Cemetery was home to a unique memorial honoring Americans killed in World War I.  Designed by French sculptor Gaston Deblaize, the memorial was a four-foot tall concrete column containing sacks of soil, each from a battlefield on which American soldiers had fought. A gift to America, it was erected in Section 18 of Arlington National Cemetery, on the west side of Clayton Avenue, in March of 1929 and dedicated the following May. Click here to read more about this unique memorial connecting the battlefields of France to the grave sites at Arlington National Cemetery--a memorial that, regrettably, no longer exists.


Diggers And Doughboys: Military Allies For The Last 100 Years Since WWI

Americans with members of the Australian 37th Battalion at Villers-Bretonneux, June 1918, while attached for instruction.

As far back as 1908, when the Australian Prime Minister invited the U.S. Navy’s Great White Fleet to stop in Australia during their world tour, the U.S. and Australia have been military allies for over one hundred years. In World War I, soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force’s II Corps served with Australians, New Zealanders, and Canadians as part of the British Fourth Army, which spearheaded the Allied Hundred Days offensive that began in the British sector with the Battle of Amiens and ended with the Armistice in November 1918. Click here to find out more about how the colonial cousins trained and fought together in the Great War, forging a relationship that has had great value in many conflicts since then.


The First Known Use Of “OMG” Was In A Letter To Winston Churchill During WWI

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, together with John Arbuthnot Fisher (Lord Fisher), First Sea Lord, in 1914

Winston Churchill’s remarkable life was filled with genuine “OMG” moments, from withstanding the disastrous Gallipoli campaign during the First World War to leading Britain through World War II as prime minister. Churchill held a front-row seat to many history-defining moments, even including the little-known origin of the term “OMG” itself. The expression “OMG,” an acronym for “Oh My God,” became popular as early internet lingo during the 1990s, and is omnipresent now. But click here to learn how the first known use of the acronym actually dates back to a letter written to Churchill in 1917, while he was serving as First Lord of the Admiralty in the British navy.


World War I News Digest November 2023

Arthur Christian Niedermiller

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.


Arthur Niedermiller: One American Sailor In WWI

Borrowed Soldiers: Americans Under British Command In 1918 

Staten Island Veterans Remember The ‘War To End All Wars’

Mare Island Naval Shipyard During World War One

The WWI Origins Of Veterans Day

How Were Propaganda Posters Used In World War 1?

The History And Future Of Veterans Day

Latin American Neutrality During The First World War

Veterans Day Began With Real Hopes For Enduring Peace

“Lost” U.S. Navy World War I Documentary


Doughboy MIA for November 2023

Chester Hinkley Kennedy

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is Second Lieutenant Chester Hinkley Kennedy, of the 1st Aero Squadron. Chester Kennedy was born November 25, 1895 in McMinnville, Tennessee to Clarence and Myra Hinkley Kennedy. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Tennessee, where he majored in Engineering. According to the Volunteer yearbook for 1917, his junior year, Chester was a vice-president of the Engineering Society and a member of the university’s Rifle Club.

Before the start of his senior year, Kennedy enlisted in the U.S. Army at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia. Sent to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, he served with Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery. He received his commission on August 15, 1917. Kennedy later transferred to the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, and began training at Selfridge Field, Michigan, a center for aerial gunnery and photography training.

On July 8, 1918, 2nd Lieutenant Kennedy sailed for France aboard the liner America. Once in France, he continued his training at the 2nd Aviation Instruction Center in Tours. There, he would receive intensive instruction in aerial observation, gunnery, and radio. After several weeks of study, Chester Kennedy was finally ready to join an operational squadron.

Click To Read 2LT Kennedy's Whole Story.

Would you like to be involved with solving these cases? You can! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization today, and help us bring them home! Doughboy MIA will be mounting another mission to France this summer. Help us do the best job possible and give today, with our thanks.


Holiday Specials continues through
Dec. 24 on Merchandise from the Official
Doughboy Foundation WWI Store

Vertical merchandise 2023

The 2023 Holiday Special continues through Dec. 24, 2023 with free standard shipping on orders over $100 and Bonus Surprises on orders over $50. 

This is a great opportunity to pick up stocking stuffers for your WWI History buff including pins, decals, ties, hats, books, flags and much more.

The Holiday Sale Includes Special Clearance Item at Great Prices

WWI Custom Silk Tie $60.00 | $30.00

Premium WWI Centennial Flag 5’x3′ $50.00 | $24.99

U.S. Army “Doughboy” Window Decal $4.00 | $2.00

Centennial Commemorative Cufflinks $18.00 | $ 9.00

WWI Metal Sign Bundle (4pc) $40.00 | $34.99

WWI US Canvas Tote $59.00 | $44.99

LINK TO THE SHOP

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

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



Sebastiano Charlie Scalzadonna

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

Sebastiano Charlie Scalzadonna

Submitted by: COL (R) Robert DeSousa {grandson}

Sebastiano Charlie Scalzadonna was born around 1895, Sebastiano Scalzadonna served in World War 1 with the the United States Army . The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1918.

Story of Service

When PFC Scalzadonna was released from service he missed the troop train coming back to his hometown in NJ. His parents were waiting at the station. Because there was no way to communicate then, when his mother saw that he was not on the train she convinced herself that he had died and worked herself into such a frenzy that she had a heart attack and died herself.

It was a sad home arrival when Sebastiano got home on the next train and found that his mother had passed.

Sebastiano married Adelina Ucoli. They had three chidden: Iluminada who died young, Anna, and Joseph. He was a very hard worker and a good provider, though he had a bad temper. He opened a grocery store in Westfield NJ. He would leave the house very early in the morning to go to the market to by fruits and vegetables, also would go to the slaughter house to buy a side of beef and come back to the store he had on Central Ave in Westfield. He would carry it in and hang it on a big hook he had in the back room and then butcher it into all cuts of meat to sell in the store.

Read Sebastiano Scalzadonna's entire Story of Service here.

Submit your family's Story of Service here.