A dirt-poor farmer from Tennessee was the most decorated doughboy of WWI. Alvin York grew up in a two-room log cabin. He was one of eleven children. He grew up wild and loved to drink and party. His life changed after a friend was killed in a bar fight. Read more
One of the greatest fighter pilots in American History was born on Oct. 8, 1890. He was born Eddie Rickenbacher to Swedish immigrants. He later changed the spelling to Rickenbacker to be less German-looking. He added the middle name Vernon because he thought it sounded classy. He was a wild Read more
America was so ill-prepared for WWI that we had to borrow tanks from the French. Those tanks were pretty good. They were Renault FT light tanks. These revolutionary tanks had traversable turrets and the engine in the rear. It had either a 37 mm. cannon (male) or an 8 mm. Read more
When Pershing brought the A.E.F. to France, he was adamant about it fighting as an American army, not as reinforcements for the British and French. The American divisions were scattered throughout the Western Front to train with the British and French. The French commanding general, Gen. Petain, hoped that they Read more
Military communication made great strides in WWI. At first, wireless telegraphy was used to connect generals to their armies (or admirals to their fleets), but the system was problematical because the messages could be easily intercepted. This led to the use of codes which resulted in an expansion of the Read more
In honor of Memorial Day, here is a very well done song with slides using the famous poem about WWI fallen.
Today is Veterans Day and many don’t realize it is associated with the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918. The poem most associated with the war is “In Flanders Field” by John McRae. McRae was a Canadian soldier, doctor, artist, and poet. His unit was shipped to Flanders Read more