Attached is a list of the twelve inconveniences that W.W. I American soldiers hated the most about their lives over there (well over 50% of them had to do with certain elements of their uniforms).
An explanation from the official newspaper of the A.E.F. as to how the First World War American fighter pilots were credited for their victories in the war against Germany.
Three notices appeared in the fall of 1918 announcing changes in design for three items issued to American troops: the 1918 combat knife, a.k.a. 'the Knuckle-Duster", the mess kit and the canteen. Interestingly, the notice pertaining to the canteen states that Doughboys had been carrying both French canteens and American canteens by the end of the war.
Click here to read magazine articles from the Second World War.
The American poet Carl Sandburg once wrote words to the effect that "Slang is language that takes off its coat, spits on its hands, and goes to work" - a very soldierly description it was, too. That said, an anonymous Journalist from The Stars and Stripes examined the casual lingo muttered by the Doughboys in France and surmised that a
"universal slang in this man's army is as hard to find as universal peace in this man's world."
Perhaps it was all due to the fact that we weren't in that war long enough to make it our own.
Attached is a 1918 cartoon by THE STARS & STRIPES illustrator, C. LeRoy Baldridge depicting Paris in a way that only the A.E.F. could have witnessed it.
Read about the Doughboy who loved Paris
1919 marked the third anniversary of the Battle of Verdun and the grounds were still littered with the dead, surrounded by a tons of equipment, lying in open fields pock-marked by thousands of high explosive shells:
"Spring will come to France next month, but Spring will not come to the field of Verdun. Already the grass is green on the broad stretches of Champagne; in the Vosges the snow patches linger only in the stubborn shelter of rocks that bar the sun,; but there is no portent of resurrection in all the stretch of churned up gravel marking the line of forts that protect the citadel of the Meuse from the Northeast...the shell holes are filled with clear water, and between them course new born brooks, sublimating in crystal pools from which no man would dare drink."
The American performance at the battle of Chateau-Thierry proved to General Foche that the Americans had the necessary stuff, and it was widely recognized that the Doughboys played the key roll in keeping the Germans out of Paris.
The attached STARS AND STRIPES article is extremely detailed as to the individual units (both French and American) that participated in rolling back the Germans along the Marne.
"On June 4, the best information available indicated that the enemy was employing not less than 33 divisions, about 3000,000 men...But like the defenders of Verdun, the American machine gunners set their teeth and said, 'They shall not pass.'"
A brief notice reporting on the number of American Soldiers captured during the First World War. Also listed are the number of Americans who died in captivity as well as the number of prisoners taken categorized by branch of service. Interestingly, the notice states that 281 American Civilians were also taken prisoner.
Interestingly, the notice states that 116 American Civilians were also taken prisoner and we can assume that these Americans were with the Salvation Army, the Jewish Wellfare Board, the Knights of Columbus, etc.
An account of the first all-American trench raid of the First World War. The correspondent noted that the raid, which took place in the Loraine Sector, spanned forty-seven minutes from start to finish.
Appearing in The Stars and Stripes in mid-February of 1918 was this column about one of the newest disciplines to be introduced to the photographic section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps: the motion picture branch.
"There is one movie-officer at present assigned to every division in the A.E.F.; one might call him the camera battery, if one wanted to get really military about it. Under him is a squad of expert photographers, some movie men, some 'still' snappers.
"From the time when the sun finally decides that he might as well hobble up in the sky and do part of a day's work, which isn't often in this region, until the time that the aged, decrepit old solar luminary decides again, about the middle of the afternoon, that he's done all he's going to do while the calender is fixed the way it is, the camera battery is up and around taking pot-shots at everything in sight... They may be 'covering' a review, a series of field maneuvers 'up front' or merely Blank Company's wash day at the village fountain. But always when the sun is shining, they are at it."
Click here to read a YANK MAGAZINE article about the Signal Corps films in the Second World War
The influenza of 1918 took a large bite out of the American Army, both at home and abroad. The military and civilian medical authorities were at a loss as to what actions should be taken to contain the disease, and as they paused to plan, thousands died. The attached article describes one step that provided some measure of success in the short term.
"Katherine Stinson (1891-1977) wants to carry letters up to Third Army". By the time Stinson (a.k.a. "the Flying Schoolgirl") had applied for the job of carying the mail to the occupying forces in post-war Germany, she already had the distinction of being the fourth American woman to earn a pilot's license and the first woman to ever deliver air-mail for the U.S. Post Office. She didn't get the job...
An action-packed account of the first all-American trench raid of the World War I. The Stars and Stripes reported that the raid set in the Loraine Sector in March of 1918 and the entire affair was said to have lasted forty-seven minuites from start to finish. The participating unit was not named.
By the time this short notice was seen on page one of THE STARS and STRIPES during the Spring of 1918, the political momentum was clearly on the side of the Prohibition advocates and the voters of many states had elected to go dry long before the Congress had decided to amend the Constitution. The 1918 election in New York between Wets and Drys was a close one and the eyes of the nation were watching. The headline read:
"PROHIBITION RACE NOW NECK AND NECK: TWENTY NEW YORK CITIES DRY AND NINETEEN WET..."
The deciding and unknown factor was the women of New York, who were permitted to vote in municipal elections.
The attached Stars & Stripes article briefly summarizes the American efforts from Cantigny to the Armistice and serves as one big "attaboy" for the whole Doughboy army. The journalist anticipates John Mosiere's World War One history, The Myth of the Great War, which opines that it was the high morale and seemingly endless supply lines of the A.E.F. that served as one of the most decisive factors in bringing the war to a close.
Stars & Stries could not have agreed more.
Ten years later a Frenchman writing for La Revue Mondiale would say essentially the same thing, click here to read that article.
Click here to read an article about life in a W.W. I German listening post...
"Katherine Stinson wants to carry letters up to Third Army".
By the time Katherine Stinson (1891 - 1977, a.k.a. "the Flying Schoolgirl") had applied for the job of carrying the mails to the occupying American forces in post-war Germany, she already had the distinction of being the fourth American woman to earn a pilot's license and the first woman to ever deliver air-mail for the U.S. Post Office. She didn't get the job...
Written by Andy Rooney, this three column article concerned the seldom remembered efforts of a French airborne battalion that jumped into Brittany on D-Day in order to disrupt German communications.
Click here to read more about W.W. II parachute infantry...
Click here to read about the first American Paratrooper.
Coffee has the ability to remedy some physical ailments, however this small article told the story of one U.S. Army Colonel who felt so helpless upon seeing so many sick army men come ashore in France suffering from such a terrible illness as influenza, and was moved to do the only thing that he could in his power to offer comfort: unlimited cups of hot coffee. How real was coffee as a preventative measure in the face of influenza? The good colonel was on to something - it wasn't the java bean that made an impact, it was the heat: viruses die when exposed to high temperatures.
Aside from barb wire, poison gas, machine guns and trenches, the untested American officer corps had one other alien item to contend with: the Sam Brown Belt. Worn by all the officers in the allied armies and widely recognized as the premiere emblem of authority along the front lines, many American officers were of mixed minds concerning this military fashion accessory.
This is a swell read, written in that patois so reminiscent of those fast talking guys in 1930s Hollywood movies. One of the many reasons I find this era so interesting has to do with the fact that the war coincided with that mass-media phenomenon called advertising - and this article pertains exactly to that coincidence. This column was printed shortly after the war in order to let the Doughboys in on the existence of a particular group within the A.E.F. that was charged with the task of dumping propaganda leaflets all over the German trench lines:
"Propaganda is nothing but a fancy war name for publicity and who knows the publicity game better than the Yanks?"
The First World War introduced "firsts" in so many categories, but this one item of military apparel has yet to be issued to any combatant in any war. KEY WORDS: Make-Believe Clothing, Un-Issued Uniform Items of World War One, Dreamers and the Clothes they Design, American Uniforms of World War One, Articles About Uniforms, Articles About Modern War, American Insignia, Articles About Industrial Wafare. U.S. Military Uniforms,
Two paragraphs from THE STARS AND STRIPES explained the legal status extended to all those demobilized Doughboys who wore the highly coveted discharge chevron. The red wool chevron was worn (point down) on the left arm.
The trench coat, the submarine and the machine-gun were just a few of the innovations bequeathed to the modern world following the bloody brawl of 1914-1918. All three are still with us today, and one could even argue that, given the bitter peace that followed, these three were the only victors that emerged from that war. If that is the case, three cheers for "Field Marshal Burberry" and his legion of trench coats that have marched on every capitol city since that first autumn on the Marne!
The following must have been some sort of creative writing project for one of the many bored World War One Doughboys, however it clearly spells out how the necessities of modern war demanded that the wrist watch no longer be thought of as a piece of jewelry adorned only by fops and fems and evolved into a useful tool for soldiers on the field and men with masculine responsibilities. The column makes it quite clear that prior to the Great War, a good many wrist watch enthusiasts would have had their noses broken if they had worn the 'gimmick' into certain neighborhoods.
This uncredited STARS and STRIPES article dwells on the same topic as the well-researched book by Joseph Persico, Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918 (2003, Random House). For those who are curious about the violent climax of the war, this two page article will help you to understand which A.E.F. units were still attacking along what front at 10:59 a.m. on November 11, 1918.
"Then a quite startling thing occurred. The skyline of the crest ahead of them grew suddenly populous with dancing soldiers... The Germans came with outstretched hands, ear-to-ear grins and souvenirs to swap for cigarettes."
The production of inaccurate war flicks with unlikely plots is a proud tradition that is alive and well in every film capitol around the globe and not likely to vanish any time soon. Today's film critics seem to have a good deal more patience when reviewing the genre -as compared to the jaded, old ink-slinger who was charged with the task of summing up this silent film from 1918: "On to Berlin".
"The American-made war dramas must be giving the folks back home a swell idea of what The War isn't like...William Fox is accused of producing "On to Berlin"
The Navajo code-talkers in the Second World War are well-known, but not so terribly well known were their brothers the Sioux, and the similar contributions that they had made just twenty years earlier in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
This paragraph was lifted from a longer article regarding the battle-savvy Native Americans of World War One and it supports the claims made in 1918 by a number of anonymous allied POW's who reported seeing female soldiers in German machine gun crews toward the close of the war. The article appeared after the Armistice, and this was a time when The Stars and Stripes editors were most likely to abstain from printing patriotic hooey.
If you would like to read another article about women combatants in W.W. II, click here.
The following article presented a brief account of the deeds of Major Charles W. Whittlesey of the 308th Infantry Regiment ( Seventy Seventh Division) and why he was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor. Shortly after the war Whittlesey would commit suicide.
These three articles from THE STARS AND STRIPES of W.W. I reported on the U.S. Army Campaign hat which was a well-loved uniform item and most Doughboys were pretty choked-up to see that it was going to be replaced by a piece of millinery as slovenly as the overseas cap.
Written during the closing days of the paper's existence, the reporting journalist could not emphasize enough how lousy the paper was with enlisted men serving in the most important positions. You will come away with a good amount of knowledge concerning the manner in which The Stars and Stripes crew addressed their daily duties and still made it to the presses on time. Surprising is the high number of experienced newspapermen who wrote for the paper during the paper's short existence.
"Five thousand women are to be brought from the United States to be a part of the American Expeditionary Forces...The Women's Overseas Corps (WOCS) will consist of companies of 50 women each. The members of the WOC will be under soldierly discipline and wear uniforms...It is not expected that they will march in formation or observe the formalities of the salute."
These women were recruited by Miss Elsie Gunther of the Labor Bureau in order to relieve the men posted to the Service of Supply of their clerical duties for service at the front; in light of the fact that the war ended six weeks later it is unlikely that the these women ever arrived.
On February 5, 1918 the Cunard passenger liner, Tuscania (having been pressed into service as a troop ship) was sent to the bottom of the sea by a German U-boat; well over one thousand, five hundred Doughboys from various units were drowned, as were her British crew which was numbered over three hundred. On the first anniversary a survivor of the attack wrote to the editors of the Stars and Stripes.
Let the word go out here and now to all "stylists" and "fashion journalists" as well as all the other assorted fops who like to play fast and loose with the language; we know who you are and we know your game. The term "trench coat" will not suffer the same abuse as the word "Martini". Both have clear, lucid definitions; there can be no such thing as a "chocolate Martini" and those actors in the movie "The Matrix" were not wearing trench coats (they were wearing frocks). A quick waltz through this section illustrates well the characteristics shared by all Great War trench coats: they were double-breasted (although it is said single-breasted did exist), they must be belted, and they must be cut like a sac, and they must have wrist-straps. Raglan sleeves, storm patches and billows pockets were all optional -and most important: there were NO D rings, those were added later.
The battle of Cantigny (May 28 - 31, 1918) was America's first division sized engagement during the First World War; George Marshall would later opine that the objective was "of no strategic importance and of small tactical value". General Pershing was hellbent on eradicating from the popular memory any mention of the A.E.F.'s poor performance at Seicheprey some weeks earlier, and Cantigny was as good a battleground in which to do it as any. Assessing the battle two weeks after the Armistice, Pershing's "yes men" at The Stars and Stripes wrote:
"But at Cantigny it had been taught to the world the significant lesson that the American soldier was fully equal to the soldier of any other nation on the field of battle."
A thumbnail history of the United States Army Ambulance Service, which first arrived in June of 1917.
"All through the hard French fighting of 1917 the 6,000 American ambulance drivers kept steadily at work in every sector of the French front. It was not until March, 1918, that the first sections of the service found themselves helping in battles with the fighting regiments of their own Army."
Many of the volunteers were college men, such as the poet E.E. Cummings, who wrote an interesting account of his days as an ambulance driver during the war.
In one of the first issues of the Stars & Stripes, it was decided to mark the historic occasion of the American arrival on the World War One front line with the always reliable baseball comparison. Printed beneath a headline that clearly implied that the war itself was actually "the World Series" sat one of the worst poems to ever appear on the front page of any newspaper:
"The Boches claim the Umpire is a sidin' with their nine,
But we are not the boobs to fall for such a phony line;
We know the game is fair and square, decision on the level;
The only boost the Kaiser gets is from his pal the Devil..."
Laboring under the most intense preasure, the harried ad man of 1918 enthused about the Junior Store's latest trench coat just so:
"This coat meets every specification of what a trench coat should be. The collar, when turned up, forms a Storm Proof Collar and has an extra wrap fixed to the shoulder to cover the fastening and make it waterproof."
An illustration of the insignia patch and a brief account of the origins, deployments and war-time activities of the U.S. Army's Ninety-Second Infantry Division during World War One. It is highly likely that the attached description of the 92nd's service record had been rewritten to suit the personal taste's of the paper's Jim Crow editors. Sadly, there are other examples of such biased editing at THE STARS and STRIPES.
"It has officially been decided that the A.E.F. has grown up and must now wear pants."
A 1919 order appeared in THE STARS and STRIPES indicating that the era of army-issued olive drab knee breeches had passed and soon all American Army personnel would be issued long pants:
"Experts have decided that the breeches legs shrink when wet and impede the circulation, and it is assured that the kind that he used to wear in civilian life will not cause the Doughboy cold feet..."
"To supply the A.E.F. until August, 2,500,000 pairs of pants have been ordered, and these, which will cost only nineteen cents a leg more than breeches did, will be of better quality than the latter."
A short news item named the three American officers who served "over there" long enough to be granted the adornment of a fourth overseas chevron. Each gold wire chevron, worn on the lower left cuff, represented a single six month period served in theater; the vast majority of A.E.F. uniforms had anywhere between one and three sewn in place.
This uncredited "Stars & Stripes" article dwells on the same topic as the well-researched book by Joseph Persico, Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918 (2003, Random House). For those who are curious about the violent climax of the war, this two page article will help you to understand which A.E.F. units were still attacking along what front at 10:59 a.m. on November 11, 1918.
"Then a quite startling thing occurred. The skyline of the crest ahead of them grew suddenly populous with dancing soldiers...The Germans came with outstretched hands, ear-to-ear grins and souvenirs to swap for cigarettes."
"So came to an end the 11th of November, 1918; the 585th day since America entered the war."
There is no reference made to Sergeant Henry Gunther, of Baltimore, who was shot through the chest by German machine gun bullets at 10:59 outside the sleepy hamlet of Ville-devant-Chaumont.
A very moving column from the front page of the November 15, 1918 Stars and Stripes describing the joyous pandemonium that characterized the city of Paris when World War I came to a close:
"And all Paris laughed the laugh of happy children after a day's glad play. And the next day, and the next night, Paris sallied forth to romp and play again."
Click here to read about the W.W. II liberation of Paris.
An account of the war-time activities of the four infantry regiments that made up the U.S. Ninety-Third Division (the 369th, 370th, 371st and the 372nd). Two of these regiments were awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre.
This article appeared some seven months after the war, and it presents an interesting account of the first American tank units that ever existed.
The preferred tank of the American Army of World War I was a light tank made by the French called a Renault. It had a crew of two, measured 13 feet (4 meters) in length and weighed 6.5 tons. The tank's 35 hp. engine moved it along at a top speed of 6 miles per hour. This article outlines where the American tanks fought, which units they supported and who commanded them; some readers may be interested to know that reference is made to the First American Tank Brigade and the officer in charge: Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton (1885 – 1945).
"During the course of the Meuse-Argonne battles, the tank units of the 1st Brigade had lost 3 officers and 16 enlisted men killed, and 21 officers and 131 enlisted men were wounded. These losses were suffered in 18 separate engagements..."
Black and white illustrations showing the types of private purchase shirting available to the members of the A.E.F. who were willing to pay for such foppery.
These particular items were British made and the ads depict two jocular Tommies.
A post-Armistice Day feature article that reported on the war-time activities of the four infantry regiments that made up the U.S. Ninety-Third Division (the 369th, 370th, 371st and the 372nd).
Two of these regiments were awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre. Accompanying this history is a black and white illustration of the Division's insignia.
Here is an explanation from the official newspaper of the A.E.F. as to how World War I American fighter pilots were credited for their victories in the war against Germany.
Click here to read an article about the development of aerial reconnaissance during W.W. I.
The Donut Dollies, Nurses and Hello Girls needed trench coats, too. This link will display the printable image of a 1918 advertisement for one of the first American trench coats made for women.
This ad proudly announces that the Thresher and Glenny trench coat pictured is like the one worn during "the first winter of the war" -those first brisk days along the river Marne when the Hun finaly understood that he would have to wait a bit longer for that Paris dinner.
The battle of Cantigny (May 28 - 31, 1918) was America's first division sized engagement during the First World War; George Marshall would later opine that the objective was "of no strategic importance and of small tactical value". General Pershing was hellbent on eradicating from the popular memory any mention of the A.E.F.'s poor performance at Seicheprey some weeks earlier, and Cantigny was as good a battleground in which to do it as any. Assessing the battle two weeks after the Armistice, Pershing's "yes men" at the Stars & Stripes wrote:
"But at Cantigny it had been taught to the world the significant lesson that the American soldier was fully equal to the soldier of any other nation on the field of battle."
Click here to read about the foreign-born soldiers who served in the American Army of the First World War.
Click here to read a STARS & STRIPES article about the sexually-transmitted diseases among the American Army of W.W. I...
The "Side-Seam" suit style had it's appeal in the early Twenties and could be found in many a magazine in the form of vests and overcoats, however the look did not survive the era and is now numbered among the Zoot Suit and Leisure Suit as one of the forgotten fads of Twentieth Century mode.
By the time April of 1919 rolled around, it seemed to the Doughboys who were waiting for that boat to take them "back to the good ol' U.S. of A" that their French allies had a short term memory and were terribly ungrateful for American sacrifices made on their behalf. Many post-Armistice letters written by the Doughboys were filled with snide comments about the high prices they were asked to pay for everyday merchandise, prices that seemed to be chosen just for them. Wisely, the Stars and Stripes editors chose not to take sides in this debate but ran this nifty little piece about the manner in which the Americans of 1782 treated their French allies during the American Revolution.
Click here to read about the foreign-born soldiers who served in the American Army of the First World War.
"Mr. Junius B Wood, correspondent of the CHICAGO DAILY NEWS with the A.E.F. recently spent a week in the sector held by the American Army Northwest of Toul. He lived the life of a Doughboy, slept a little and saw a lot. He spent his days in and near the front line and some of his nights in No Man's Land. Here is the second and concluding installment of his story, depicting life at the front as it actually is..."
By the time this news column was read by the American Doughboys the truce was old news, however it makes for an interesting read as it is able to impart much of the Armistice excitement that filled the streets of Paris when the news of the surrender hit the boulevards. This front-page column makes clear that many of the rumors pertaining to the German collapse could not be verified, yet affirms reports concerning the revolution in Germany, it's food shortages and the Kaiser's exile to Holland.
Click here to read World War II articles from YANK MAGAZINE.
This small notice appeared in The Stars & Stripes at the very end of the war and described how German Prisoners of War, while in the care of the American Army, would be clothed.
After the Armistice a minority of German prisoners would remain in U.S. hands to dig the graves of American soldiers and Marines.
An illustration of the insignia patch and a brief account of the origins, deployments and war-time activities of the U.S. Army's Twenty-Sixth Division
(a.k.a. the "Yankee Division
")during World War I.
"Monday, June 2 [1919], was a holiday in the 2nd Division in the bridgehead on the Rhine. The anniversary of the battle of Chateau-Thierry was observed. It is just a year ago that infantry and Marines of the 2nd Division were thrown against the Boche on the Paris-Metz road near Chateau-Thierry, and from that moment on the Americans were in continual fighting until November 11."
"Monday, June 2 (1919), was a holiday in the 2nd Division in the bridgehead on the Rhine. The anniversary of the battle of Chateau-Thierry was observed. It is just a year ago that infantry and Marines of the 2nd Division were thrown against the Boche on the Paris-Metz road near Chateau-Thierry, and from that moment on the Americans were in continual fighting until November 11."
Shortly after training in France began it was discovered that the leggings of the American Army were no match for the moisture of the French countryside and so puttees were issued for the whole A.E.F. - the attached notice ordered the entire U.S. Army to wear them in place of canvas leggings.
Instructions as to how American insignia was to be worn on the trench coat as well as the officer's raincoat. An additional notice can be read concerning the Army's wish that all Doughboys maintain a good, soldierly appearance while not serving in the zone of advance.
Peace was eleven days old when this column first appeared. Anticipating Thanksgiving, 1918, The Stars & Stripes announced that football games, movies and assorted other forms of entertainment had been arranged by the American Red Cross in order to placate the eager American survivors of the First World War who simply wanted to get on those big boats and sail home.
As an expression of gratitude, numerous French families had volunteered to invite American soldiers and sailors to their homes to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Doughboys were grateful to be issued European spiral-puttees in place of their canvas gaiters -which did them no good whatever in the dampness of Northern Europe; however, as the attached W.W. I photographs so clearly indicate (as does this cartoon by Walgren), not many Yanks were as proficient at wrapping them as the upper brass had hoped.
It is little remembered in our day that the Native Americans who served in the American Expeditionary Forces along the Western Front were permitted to wear moccasins in place of the regulation Pershing boot. "Ethnic pandering" is not a term that should come to mind; this was a high complement paid by their commanding officers for a well-respected prowess in battle. The following is a small portion from a larger article which is posted on "The Native American" page of this website; the entire article can be read following the link that reads "A Talent for Sniping".
This U.S. Army uniform regulation announced in the September 13th, 1918 issue of THE STARS and STRIPES helped to put British, French (and later German) tailors to work on the uniforms of U.S. officers:
"According to this plan, each Quartermaster depot will have a tailoring system through which the officer can buy his cloth and then be fitted and outfitted on the spot. At each depot, civilian labor will be contracted and the officer need pay for only his share of the labor cost."
One of war's many, many sad stories. This one concerned a German mother living in Coblenz during the American post-war occupation and how she came to realize that her son would not be coming home.
When the Doughboys began arriving in France the infantry and artillery were kept in the rear areas and taught the necessities of World War One trench warfare. This was not the case with engineering units (or the Medical Corps) who were dubbed "noncombatants" and dispatched hither and yon to attend to those duties deemed appropriate for men with such training. The U.S. Sixth Regiment of Engineers were rebuilding roads on the Somme when the German army came across no-man's land on March 21, 1918 (a.k.a. Kaiserschlacht: "the Kaiser's battle) and they were quickly ordered to go in support of a nearby British regiment. These engineers were the first Americans to come under German fire and their story is told here by Private E.P. Broadstreet, who was there.
The experiences of the 108th Engineers (Thirty-Third Division) during the Argonne campaign is also told in this article.
Another first-hand account of that day can be read in an interview that appears in this book: Make the Kaiser Dance.
"On the afternoon of December 8, 1918, the troops of the Third American Army entered Koblenz. This was the goal of the occupation. The Yankees had reached the Rhine."
"Probably never in all its stressful history did enemy troops enter it so in quite the matter-of-fact manner which marked the American entry last Sunday. There was no band. There were no colors. 'We're just going in sort of casual like,' one of our generals had said the day before, and he was right."
For those who think a good deal about American military uniforms in the Great War, the overseas cap was just as unique to that war as the the Brody helmet, the trench coat and the gas mask. The American Quartermaster Corps liked the hat but they were terribly confused as to what to do with it: can we put insignia on it? Yes. No. Yes. Should it be worn back home?
Click here to read a Stars & Stripes article about American W.W. I helmets.
Yet another action-posed advertisement for an officer's private purchase trench coat. "The Great Military Outfitter", John Barker and Company, stepped up to the plate during the crises of 1914 and began to produce the "famous" 'Kenbar' trench coat:
"Every detail so necessary for the most strenuous wear in the trenches is embodied in this excellent coat. The collar can be worn in four positions. The sleeves are made with reinforced elbows, and the skirt is cut full and fitted with cavalry gusset".
By the time this column was read by the American Doughboys, the truce was old news and this STARS AND STRIPES article makes for an interesting read as it imparts much of the November, 1918 excitement that filled the streets of Paris when the news of the Armistice hit the previously gloomy boulevards. This front-page article makes clear that many of the rumors pertaining to the German collapse could not be verified, yet affirms reports concerning the revolution in Germany, it's food shortages and the Kaiser's exile to Holland.
"Special woolen coats and breeches and underwear, long mufflers, worsted socks and long stockings, gloves and gauntlets are other things which are being issued to the Doughboys in Russia. Alaska Yanks are said to be right at home in their new surroundings, although they complain sometimes of the heat."
An additional article is attached concerning the supply of medals that had to be shipped North; reading between the lines, you will get a sense that much gallantry was expected...
When the Doughboys complained, they complained heavily about their uniforms; read about it here.
The courageous acts of white soldiers were not so easily demeaned in other STARS & STRIPES features as were the heroics performed by Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts in this piece from the Spring of 1918. For those who have, through the years, read the history of the New York 369th Regiment of Infantry this article will leave you a little sadder for the racial stereotyping and cheekiness so clearly enjoyed by the journalist and his editors.
On June 2, 2015 Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony.
Click here to read about the American invalids of W.W. I.
A short notice concerning the number of sexually diseased American World War I soldiers who were treated or segregated during the war and post-war periods.
What is missing from this report was an anecdote involving General John Pershing, who upon hearing that his army was being depleted by social disease, quickly called for the posting of Military Policemen at each bordello to discourage all further commerce. The immediate results of this action were pleasing to many in the American senior command however the next problem concerned the growing number of venereal cases within the ranks of the Military Police.
Published in the Stars & Stripes issue marked August 19, 1944 (the official date of the Paris liberation) was the attached notice concerning the hasty disappearance of the Nazi-collaborators who lorded over the French during the occupation:
"Laval, Darnand and other Vichyites fled from Paris to Metz, according to a United Press report quoting a French resistance leader who reached the British front from Paris. The whereabouts of Marshal Petain were not known."
The Navajo code-talkers in the Second World War are well-known, but not so terribly well known were their brothers the Sioux, and the similar contributions that they had made just twenty years earlier in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
Around the middle of 1918, the American Quartermasters began to think that their supply depots should actually be stocked with uniform items that were capable of providing some degree of warmth and comfort in the French winters, and so they dreamed-up the uniform elements described herein. For those who have some knowledge of American WW I uniforms it will be easy to recognize upon reading this article that most of these items were never made (except for the long pants).
A few historians tend to believe that the sobriquet Doughboy had it's origins in the 1846 - 48 war with Mexico (a perversion of the Spanish word 'adobe'), but the attached article makes a different reference, dating the term to the American army's period in the Philippines. An effort was also made to explain the term Buck Private.
Click here if you would like to read an article about the Doughboy training camps.
A cartoon by C. LeRoy Baldridge (1889 – 1977) which depicted the streets of Paris in a way that only the A.E.F. could have witnessed it. A Yank-heavy Place de l'Opera is overwhelmed by sight-seeing Doughboys (note the Y.M.C.A. patch on the tour guide) and loitering officers lounging about over-priced cafes. In the foreground stands a bewildered Doughboy, dumb-struck by the passing gaze of an appreciative Parisienne while a few steps away a four-gold-chevroned private gets reamed for failing to salute the single-chevron looey. The stage is shared by bickering cabees, melancholy widows, wandering sailors, unforgiving MPs and a hard-charging, over-weight uniformed woman.
It was not beyond the editors of The Stars and Stripes to indulge in ethnic stereotyping from time to time and, no doubt, they exercised that privilege here as well, however the performance of the American Indian soldier got high marks for a number of valued skills from many Allied officers on the Western Front. It was not simply their ability to shoot well which invited these compliments, but also their instincts while patrolling No-Man's Land in the dark in addition to a common sense of bravery shared by all. The article is rich with a number of factoids that the Western Front reader will no doubt enjoy; among them, mention is made of German women serving in combat.
Read some magazine articles about one of the great failed inventions of the Twentieth Century: the Soviet Union.
A short notice printed in May of 1918 which intended to let the Doughboys know that the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps was well aware that changes needed to be made in the American uniform in response to the damp French climate.
The additional uniform items never went into production in light of the fact that the war ended six months later.
The attached is a post-Armistice Day report on the American Army accounting figures involving the number of American soldiers and Marines serving in France at the time of the Armistice, how many (and which units) would be required for German occupation and how many would soon be repatriated.
You will see that during the First World War it was not beyond the editors of THE STARS and STRIPES to indulge in ethnic stereotyping from time to time and, to be sure, they exploited that privilege in the attached article ("Yank Indian was Heap Big Help in Winning the War") yet regardless of this fact, the performance of the American Indian soldiers on the Western Front got high marks for a number of valued military skills from many of the French and British officers who came in contact with them. It was not simply their ability to shoot well that inspired the praise, but their nocturnal instincts while patrolling in the darkness of No-Man's-Land as well as a unique sense of bravery.
The article is rich with a number of factoids that the Western Front reader will no doubt enjoy; among them, mention is made of German women serving in combat.
The following article must have been penned as a result of some sort of creative writing project for one of the many bored World War One Doughboys waiting for the boat home. The article spells out how the necessities of modern war demanded that the wrist watch no longer be thought of as a piece of jewelery adorned only by fops and fems and evolved into a useful tool for soldiers on the field. The column makes clear that prior the Great War, any man who dared to accessorize themselves with a watch was immediately suspect and likely to have their noses broken.
The T-shirt also had a military origin. Click here to read the article
"Yank and Aussie and Jock, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Pole, Checko-Slovak, Tommy, Indian, all from the newly arrived Brazilians to the wizened and and weather-beaten poilus wearing the seven brisques denoting four years in the furnace, knew no nationality, no difference of tongues or even of uniform."
Click here to read another article about the 1918 Armistice.
Best known for his 1913 poem, "Trees", Joyce Kilmer (1886 - 1918) served as a Sergeant in the 69th Infantry Regiment (Forty Second Division). On July 30, 1918, he took a German bullet in the head and was buried not far from where he fell.
This short piece reported of the despoiling of that grave by his fellow Americans.
, which opines that it was the high morale and seemingly endless supply lines of the A.E.F. that served as one of the most decisive factors in bringing the war to a close. 
, and was moved to do the only thing that he could in his power to offer comfort: unlimited cups of hot coffee. How real was coffee as a preventative measure in the face of influenza? The good colonel was on to something - it wasn't the java bean that made an impact, it was the heat: viruses die when exposed to high temperatures.
) and why he was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor. Shortly after the war Whittlesey would commit suicide.
(2003, Random House). For those who are curious about the violent climax of the war, this two page article will help you to understand which A.E.F. units were still attacking along what front at 10:59 a.m. on November 11, 1918.
(the 369th, 370th, 371st and the 372nd). Two of these regiments were awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre.
(a.k.a. the "
.