WW1 Centennial News

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**WW1 Centennial News**

WWI Centennial News – The Doughboy Podcast is about what happened 100 years ago during and after the War that changed the world and how those changes still echo in our daily lives.

Latest Episodes:

4th of July: Episode #78 Jun 30, 2018

Show notes

Highlights: 4th of July, 1918

100 Years ago: 4th of July, 1918 | @02:00
Great War Project: Chaos at all ends - Mike Shuster | @12:05
America Emerges: Capturing Vaux - Dr. Edward Lengel | @16:15
Commission News: Bells of Peace - Betsy Anderson | @20:55
Historian Corner: WWI Shaping the 20th Century - Dr. Jay Winter | @27:00
State Update: CT WWI History Project - Christine Pittsley | @33:30
100 Cities / 100 Memorials: Governors Island - Kevin Fitzpatrick & Maj. Jared Nichols | @39:05
Speaking WWI: War Effort | @46:25
Articles & Posts from the Weekly Dispatch Newsletter | @47:45
The Buzz: The Centennial in Social Media - Katherine Akey | @49:55----more----

World War One Then 100 Years Ago

President Wilson and others speak of America’s lofty virtues, the contribution of immigrant soldiers, and a desire for a new, free, rules-based international order while celebrating the fourth of July at Mount Vernon. In Paris, the French hold their own massive celebration, as the European allies express their gratitude to the Americans. Meanwhile, the US Navy continues to grow in ships and manpower.

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/23/102712800.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/23/102712799.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/23/102712854.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/24/102713653.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/25/102713961.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/25/102713963.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/27/102714713.pdf

https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/naval_warfare_usa

The Great War Project

Historian Mike Shuster details the events of this week in 1918. The war enters a new phase characterized by chaos on all fronts. In the west, “it is now open warfare”, according to a soldier's diary, with rapid movement of men and vehicles as the Allies try to press their advantage over Germany. In the east, German troops continue to grab territory from the disintegrated Russian Empire. And in the United States, prominent socialist Eugene Debs is sentenced to 10 years in prison for speaking out against the war.

http://greatwarproject.org/2018/06/24/a-provocative-anti-war-speech/

America Emerges: Military Stories from WW1

Dr. Edward Lengel takes us through the U.S. 2nd Division’s July 1st assault on the German-held town of Vaux, a critical victory for the still-developing outfit.

http://www.edwardlengel.com/portfolio/thunder-and-flames-americans-in-the-crucible-of-combat-1917-1918/

http://www.edwardlengel.com/army-brigade-action-capture-vaux-1918/

https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/

http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/

Great War Channel

Check out our friends at the Great War Channel, who just released a special episode on the Harlem Hellfighters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4dirfiokh0

World War One Now Commission News

The Commission’s own Betsy Anderson joins us to discuss Bells of Peace, a program that encourages the tolling of Bells at 11 am, on November 11th, 2018, to commemorate the Armistice.

www.ww1cc.org/bells

Historians Corner

Dr. Jay Winter, a renowned historian, speaks with Theo Mayer about the impact of WW1 on historical memory.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-morrison-winter-20140625-column.html

http://www.dw.com/en/world-war-i-created-new-culture-of-mourning/a-17233945

https://www.amazon.com/Remembering-War-between-History-Century/dp/0300110685

Updates from the States

Christine Pittsley discusses the Connecticut State Library’s “Remembering WWI Project”, which engages local communities to shed light on Connecticut’s WW1 history.

https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2017/summer/statement/connecticut-remembers-world-war-i-through-letters-diaries-and-other-personal-possessions

http://www.wfsb.com/story/35851072/families-meet-to-share-history-of-loved-ones-in-world-war-i

https://apnews.com/afcf1bea88b44bf0bdc6cc9ca20f1551

https://ctstatelibrary.org/remembering-world-war-one-2/

http://ctinworldwar1.org/digitization-days/

100 Cities/100 Memorials

Kevin Fitzpatrick, a New York City-based author and program director for that city’s World War I Centennial Committee, and Major Jared Nichols, an active-duty army officer, discuss the ongoing memorial restorations on Governor’s Island.

www.ww1cc.org/100cities

http://governorsislandguide.com/?p=951

http://eastcoastdoughboys.com/governors-island-2018/

Speaking WW1

This week on Speaking WW1, our phrase is “War Effort”, meaning the collective struggle of an entire nation to defeat the enemy.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/225589#eid15332372

Articles and Posts

This week’s highlights from the Dispatch: award winning WW1 themed student projects, remembering Quentin Roosevelt, a new book about the only U-Boat attack on U.S. soil, WWrite blog, Story of Service, and our official merchandise.

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/2015-12-28-18-26-00/subscribe.html

http://www.ww1cc.org/dispatch

The Buzz

Katherine Akey highlights our recent social media activity, including an article about efforts to get WW1 memorials and cemeteries recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, footage of post-war Paris on Facebook, and a restored WW1-era Harley Davidson in action on Instagram.

https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/france-belgium-seek-unesco-recognition-for-wwi-memorials-1.534494

https://www.facebook.com/musiquefranco/videos/10207775402411127/?hc_ref=ARTuww1xobGk6c34jEPEK4sFp6jN4OGx_RDy3T7oJ5hWRMwi2YMO1CfbbwzKYhcRmB0

https://www.instagram.com/operationtwinlinks/

Howard Schultz on the National WWI Memorial - Episode #77 Jun 23, 2018

Show notes

Highlights

Howard Schultz on the National WWI Memorial - Episode #77

The battle on the Italian Front: Piave | @01:45
Germany low on resources and morale - Mike Shuster | @06:30
The untold story of Hill 204 - Dr. Edward Lengel | @10:20
SPECIAL: Howard Schultz on the National WWI Memorial | @16:10
Historian Corner: President Teddy Roosevelt - David Pietrusza | @36:55
Speaking WWI: Tailspin | @43:40
WWI War Tech: Ice City | @45:15
Buzz: WWI in social media - Katherine Akey | @48:20----more----

Podcast Notes World War One Then 100 Years Ago: The White War and the Battle of the Piave

While the Western Front is undoubtedly the Great War’s most famous theatre of combat, the Italian Front is equally deserving of our attention. Austria-Hungary and Italy fought a brutal campaign in the rugged Dolomite Mountains for three years, with neither side gaining the upper hand until 1918. Ultimately, Italy and the Allies decisively defeat Austria-Hungary, spelling the end for a once-powerful empire.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-piave-river

http://historycollection.co/today-history-topic-battle-piave-ww-1917

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_the_Piave_River

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/20/106215159.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/17/102710908.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/17/102710897.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/17/102710900.pdf

The Great War Project Historian Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog details the events of this week in 1918. German resolve wanes as the American army grows in both size and confidence, threatening Germany “like a thundercloud.” Although still capable of taking ground from the Allies, the weary, starved German troops face a recharged, replenished, and well-fed foe. An eventual Allied victory seems inevitable. http://greatwarproject.org/2018/06/17/on-western-front-now-a-flood-of-americans/ America Emerges: Military Stories from WW1

While the heroism of the US Marine Corps tends to dominate the narrative of Belleau Wood, the US Army also played a strategically vital role in the battle. Dr. Edward Lengel joins us to explain how the US 30th Infantry regiment effectively collaborated with a French unit to capture Hill 204 from the Germans.

http://www.edwardlengel.com/portfolio/thunder-and-flames-americans-in-the-crucible-of-combat-1917-1918/

http://www.edwardlengel.com/u-s-army-belleau-wood-untold-story-hill-204/

https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/

http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/

War in the Sky

This week 100 years ago, a group of American aviators took part in an Italian bombing raid on an Austro-Hungarian railway station.

http://ww1cc.org/warinthesky

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/22/102712432.pdf

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/20/106215160.pdf

Great War Channel

Check out our friends at the Great War Channel for a fascinating video about German submarine attacks on the American coast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7pnogIeCIQ

World War One Now Historians Corner

Historian David Pietrusza discusses Theodore Roosevelt and his role in the First World War, from his early and outspoken support of U.S. involvement to the enormous price his family paid on the battlefield.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-teddy-roosevelt-tried-bully-way-onto-wwi-battlefield-180962840/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/letters-unbearable-grief-theodore-roosevelt-death-son-180962743/

https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-bull-moose-in-winter-theodore-roosevelt-and-world-war-i.htm

https://www.amazon.com/TRs-Last-War-Theodore-Roosevelt/dp/1493028871

Speaking WW1

This week on Speaking WW1- where we explore words and phrases that are rooted in WW1- our word is Tailspin, meaning an uncontrollable descent.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/197114

https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/06/13/oed-ww1-timeline/

WW1 War Tech

For WW1 War Tech, this week we take a look at the “Ice City”- a network of tunnels carved out of a glacier by the Austro-Hungarians.

http://www.museomarmoladagrandeguerra.com/en/the-museum/the-ice-city/

http://www.geography.unibe.ch/unibe/portal/fak_naturwis/e_geowiss/c_igeogr/content/e3

9624/e39625/e39626/e496602/e508175/december1916_ger.pdf

The Buzz

Katherine Akey highlights our recent social media activity, including an article from PBS about The Great War documentary, a magazine feature on National WW1 Memorial Sculptor Sabin Howard, and a series of images from the Italian Front on our instagram page.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldman-prelude-red-scare-espionage-and-sedition-acts

https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/contemporary-sculpture-with-astounding-piece/3980

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTn5aTy38lk&t=494s

https://www.instagram.com/ww1cc/

Battle of Belleau Wood: Episode #76 Jun 16, 2018

Show notes

Highlights

The Battle of Belleau Wood - Mike Shuster | @02:15
June 11 Breakthrough at Belleau Wood - Dr. Edward Lengel | @06:00
The birth of the modern US Marine Corps - Alan Axelrod | @10:05
War in The sky: The Ace who ran Pan Am | @16:45
Historian Corner: The Dept. of State in WWI - Thomas Faith | @18:25
100 Cities / 100 Memorials: San Francisco - Ken Maley | @25:55
Speaking WWI: Boot Camp | @32:00
WWI War Tech: Submarine | @34:00
Articles & Posts: Weekly Dispatch Highlights | @37:50
Social Media - Katherine Akey | @43:50----more----
We invite you to use our full interactive transcript at our podcast website: ww1cc.org/cn meanwhile, below you will find links to our guests and our research.

World War One Then The Great War Project

Historian Mike Shuster’s discusses the events of this week in 1918, including the all-important Battle of Belleau Wood, a disastrous outbreak of Spanish Flu in the German ranks, and the dawn of Allied numerical superiority on the Western front. The latter two developments force the German command to make a difficult strategic choice.

http://greatwarproject.org/2018/06/10/belleau-wood-crucial-test-for-the-americans/

America Emerges: Military Stories from WW1

Dr. Ed Lengel explores the battlefield events 100 years ago this week, filling in the details with direct accounts as we witness the fierce fighting determination of the 2nd Brigade’s Marine division- which took the Germans by surprise.

http://www.edwardlengel.com/portfolio/thunder-and-flames-americans-in-the-crucible-of-combat-1917-1918/

http://www.edwardlengel.com/forgotten-heroes-marine-breakthrough-belleau-wood-1918/

https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/

http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/

100 Years Ago: Belleau Wood

The Battle of Belleau Wood became the crucible that transformed the United States Marine Corps, from a small force that primarily served on ships to a highly respected land combat outfit. At this late stage of the conflict, the stakes could not have been higher for either the Germans or the Allies. Author Alan Axelrod describes this ferocious, consequential battle that changed the course of the war and U.S. military history.

https://www.amazon.com/Alan-Axelrod/e/B001IQULA4

https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/belleau-wood

War in the Sky

100 years ago this week, Douglas Campbell, the first US trained Air Ace, scores his sixth and final aerial victory. While Campbell duels the Germans above Europe, Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown make the first non-stop transatlantic flight.

http://ww1cc.org/warinthesky

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Campbell_(aviator)

World War One Now Historians Corner Remembering Veterans: State Dept

Tom Faith, an in-house historian at the State Department, illuminates the pivotal role that the State Department played during the war, from the beginning of the conflict through the Treaty of Versailles. He also discusses the impact of the war on American diplomacy and foreign policy, and the diplomatic implications of illegal poison gas use by the belligerent powers.

https://www.press.uillinois.edu/wordpress/qa-with-behind-the-gas-mask-author-thomas-faith/

https://militaryhistorynow.com/2015/11/16/doughboys-and-gas-american-chemical-weapons-in-world-war-one/

https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/wwi

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917-72PubDip

100 Cities/100 Memorials San Francisco War Memorial Building and Opera House

Ken Maley, coordinator of the San Francisco Armistice Centennial Commemoration, discusses Centennial Commemoration in San Francisco, a city with a strong link to the First World War. Additionally, other restorations are underway in the Bay Area, including memorials in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Carmel.

www.ww1cc.org/100cities

http://alwmcsf.org/world_war_one/

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/1914-war-begins-in-europe

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/1915-1916-swaying-american-opinion

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/1917-america-enters-the-world-war

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/american-women-in-the-war/

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/1917-1918-america-funds-its-war

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/industrial-scale-slaughter

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/1918-armistice-ends-world-war

www.alwmcsf.org/ww1/memorial-to-all-who-served

Speaking WW1 Boot Camp

This week on Speaking WW1 -- where we explore words and phrases that are rooted in World War One -- Our phrase this week is “boot camp”, the slang term for military training camp.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3087941?mag=doughboy-slang&seq=7#page_scan_tab_contents

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-boo4.htm

WW1 War Tech Submarine

For WW1 War Tech, this week we take a look at the U-Boat -- one of the most notorious battle machines to debut in the Great War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_warfare#World_War_I

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/guest-bloggers/the-dakota-hunter-nippons-2nd-attack-plan-on-x.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Mine_Barrage

https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/ww1-submarines.asp

https://mashable.com/2015/09/18/german-u-boat/#zM4hW0tivuqR

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zq3q2hv

Articles and Posts

The headlines from this week’s Dispatch newsletter include stories about digitized WWI Newspapers at the Library of Congress, memorial poppies planted at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, a new exhibition at the Los Altos History Museum, a new WWI book by author Nancy Cramer, early investigations of PTSD, MIA doughboy 1st Lt. Leonard Charles Aitken, and an incredible photograph book by past podcast guest Jeff Lowdermilk.

http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/2015-12-28-18-26-00/subscribe.html

The Buzz

Katherine Akey highlights our recent social media activity, including posts about ongoing archaeological efforts in France and Flanders, a promotional video for Traces of War, and an article from the Telegraph about the bizarre inventions of WWI.

https://www.facebook.com/FlandersFields1418/posts/2603190469694660

https://www.facebook.com/FlandersFields1418/videos/2603065473040493/?hc_ref=ARRCrG55c5X9WQeQLPEOaa6sIfW0xET-0FsWgyqZa7CFhbEot4vxAzLP4uqsi-F5CV4

http://www.inflandersfields.be/en/traces-of-war-wwi-archaeology

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11937199/Secrets-of-World-War-I-Papier-mache-heads-ponies-dressed-as-zebras-and-fluorescent-sea-lions.html

War at U.S. shore! Episode #75 Jun 09, 2018

Show notes

Highlights: War Comes to U.S. Shore! 100 Years Ago This Week: German U-boats on the Eastern seaboard | @01:30 War In The Sky: First American Ace | @07:30 A million men in France - Mike Shuster | @`12:30 Machine gunners at Chateau Thierry - Dr. Edward Lengel | @16:45 Commission Armistice Centennial Plans - Meredith Carr | @21:10 CBS News Radio at Pershing Park - Chas Henry | @27:15 WWI at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum - Dr. Peter Jakab | @29:50 New Mexico in WWI - Jeff Laudermilk | @36:10 100C /100M: Hawaii’s Memorial Natatorium - Donna Ching | @43:00 Centennial in Social Media - Katherine Akey | @51:25----more---- Opening Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - episode #75 - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. This week: Mike Schuster updates us on the fighting fronts around the world Ed Lengel tells the story of the machine gunners at Chateau Thierry Meredith Carr gives us a preview of commemorative events planned for the upcoming centennial of the Armistice Dr. Peter Jakab [jay-cub] introduces us to the WW1 programming at the National Air and Space Museum Jeff Lowdermilk joins us fromthe New Mexico WW1 Centennial Commission Donna Ching shares the 100 cities/100 memorials project in Honolulu Katherine Akey highlights the commemoration of world war one in social media And a whole lot more on WW1 Centennial News -- a weekly podcast brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the Starr foundation. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC] Preface [MUSIC TRANSITION] As we screened the stories running 100 years ago this week, in the NY times and the Official Bulletin, the government’s War Gazette - a major US domestic theme took front and center. The germans were trying to bring the war to our shore! U-boats were cruising off our eastern seaboard, threatening our merchant shipping and sinking ships. Though the loss of life was minimum, the psychological effects were powerful… and the media was speaking to it. With that as a setup, we are going to jump into our Centennial TIme Machine and go back 100 years ago this week in the War that changed the world! [SOUND EFFECT] [TRANSITION] World War One THEN 100 Years Ago [SOUND EFFECT] From the front page of the Official Bulletin - published by George Creel’s Committee for Public Information... Dateline: Monday, June 3, 1918 Headline: three American ships sunk off New Jersey coast by enemy submarines Crews are rescued And the stories reads: Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels authorizes the following statement: The Navy department has been informed that three American schooners have been sunk off this coast by enemy submarines. The secretary’s statement closed with: “The Navy department is taking the necessary steps to safeguard the shipping along the coast.” The next day in the Bulletin [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline Tuesday, June 4, 1918 Headline: Navy announces - now five US ships sunk by submarines off Atlantic Coast One life known lost Steamship Carolina not heard from since reported under fire of U-boat Sunday afternoon. Oil tanker among the vessels reported lost. Later in the same issue of the Bulletin there is a first person account of the attack. It is an account of how these attacks went throughout the week - Headline: Steamer Bristol chased by submarine after picking up Schooner Cole's crew; latter saw the second steamship sunk And the story reads: the captain of the Bristol reported: "on June 2 at 4:30 PM, I cited a lifeboat with 11 men, the crew of the American schooner Edward H Cole, The Cole having been sunk by a submarine at 3:30 PM about 50 miles south east of Barnegat light." "the crew of the Cole say the submarine was about 200 feet long and was armed with two 6 inch guns. About 3 PM the Cole sighted the submarine on the starboard bow about 2000 yards away. He circled around and came up their port side. The submarine commander told the captain and crew to get in their boats, saying that he was going to sink the vessel. He then came aboard and examined the ships papers, and at the same time gave the captain 7 1/2 minutes to leave the ship. About 15 minutes after the crew got away from the Cole it sank. Four bombs had been placed on the vessel, two on each side, and some were placed about the deck. The submarine stayed until the crew rowed to the northwest." One hour later, when we were about 4 miles from the submarine, another steamship appeared close up to the submarine, which fired five times before she altered her course". On Wednesday another front page story in the bulletin [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline Wednesday, June 5, 1918 Headline: US destroyers stops U-boat attack on French steamer Off Maryland coast Warship also takes on board man from the Edward Bayard, bombed and sinking. Another story in the same issue lists 11 US ships reported to navy as sunk by submarines… The article goes on to read off the names of the ships the smallest of which was a 436 tons, schooner and the largest a steamship at 7200 tons. From the NY times: [SOUND EFFECT] Headline: TEXEL sunk, 36 survivors landed Former Dutch steamer attacked by a U-boat 60 miles from the city Fired without warning Shrapnel rained on deck, men reach Atlantic City lighthouse in small boats And the story reads: 36 survivors of the steamer TEXEL, a former Dutch ship which recently had been operated by the United States shipping board, was sunk without warning, 60 miles off New York Harbor, Sunday afternoon at 4:21 p.m., The crew landed at a nearby lighthouse, just before midnight. A cargo of 42,000 tons of sugar, valued at $20 a ton was lost. The total loss was more than $2 million. The stories go on throughout the week and beyond with many articles providing first hand accounts of the attacks - many times, in attacking the unarmed merchant ships, the U-boats would fire warnings from guns, come aboard, examine papers, get the crews to abandon ship and blow them up with bombs rather than wasting torpedoes. If the ships were armed or fought back - the submarines would stand off and torpedo them. The general loss of life was not large, but the disruption to shipping in our eastern seaboard was profound. We have posted a lot of our research links for you in the podcast notes. The most compelling are the many first person accounts of the attacks - as the Germans bring the war to our shore -- 100 years ago this week in the war that changed the world. Other naval stories https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/06/102706915.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707289.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706133.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/06/102706933.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/05/102706533.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706131.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/03/102705767.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/02/102704868.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/02/102704910.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/03/102705842.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/03/102705878.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706134.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706129.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706151.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706155.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706158.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/05/102706538.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/05/102706559.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/05/102706536.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707292.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707298.pdf Fighting Front https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/02/102704870.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/02/102704865.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/02/102704860.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/02/102704879.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/03/102705775.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/03/102705771.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/03/102705775.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/03/102705780.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706126.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/05/102706529.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707272.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/06/102706968.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/06/102706910.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/06/102706903.pdf [MUSIC TRANSITION] War in the Sky This week for the War in the Sky 100 years ago, we can easily stay on the theme of the war at our shore with two stories and then we head overseas to pick up the action there. [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline June 5 1918 Headline: City lights out in air raid test Aviators make observations preliminary to possible darkening of the streets. Anti aircraft guns ready System of siren signals arranged to warn people of danger from the skies And the story reads: Electric signs and all lights, except street lamps and lights in dwellings, were out in the city last night in compliance with orders issued by police Commissioner and at the suggestion of the war Department, as a precaution against a possible attack by aircraft from a German submarine. While the probability of raids by aircraft from submarines is not considered to be great, officers of the Army and Navy urged that every precaution be taken. In spite of the difficulties attending such an operation, to assemble an airplane on a submarine and launch it for a raid is held to be far from impossible. [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline June 3, 1918 Headline: Aero club wants more aviators to hunt U-boats here And the story reads Extension of the airplane mail service is to give long distance flight training to American aviators to fit them for seeking out submarines which now have appeared off the coast and for bombing German cities, This was urged by the post office department today by a committee from the Aero club of America. They said that they had been informed by the military authorities that there were plenty of training planes and that the war Department was more than willing to cooperate with the postal authorities in extending the air Mail service. Meanwhile from the war in the skies over Europe: [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline June 2 1918 Headline: Campbell first Ace of America California pilot honored as well as two others who flew with Lafayette corps. Campbell Downs a fifth adversary And the story reads: The first American trained Ace has arrived. This morning Lieut. Douglas Campbell, of California, brought down his fifth Bausch plane in a fight back of our lines. Besides Campbell, America has two other cases, maj. William Thaw and Capt. Peterson, but both Thaw and Peterson got their training in the Lafayette escadrille. Campbell on the other hand, never trained with any other outfit than the Americans, and never did any air fighting before he arrived on the American front a few weeks ago. Campbell is the son of the chief astronomer of the lick Observatory, near Pasadena California. He joined the American air service after the United States entered the war and came to France and began practice flying last fall. He is 22 years old. He is the first to get the credit of being a Simon pure American Ace. In a final story from the NY times we have a front line correspondent story about the allied air superiority in France. Dateline June 7, 1918 Headline: air superiority rewon Allied bombers operate with impunity on the French battlefront "In the valley of the Savierre, our bombardment squadrons threw more than 17 tons of bombs on enemy troop concentrations." Says last nights communiqué. The New York Times correspondent today visited one of the finest aviation groups in the French army and learn a first-hand story of that exploit. In the early afternoon, the airmen were informed that a large number of Germans were assembling in the valley of the Savierre, a little river whose course is almost parallel with the front. Owing to the configuration of the ground they were sheltered from the fire of artillery and it was evident that they intended to reinforce the German move westward into the forest of Viller-cotterets. A first squadron of Bomb planes were sent out. Then a second... At first, no Germans were visible, then circling low, the air men discovered the enemy hiding in the horseshoe woods on the Eastern side of the valley. Again the German battalions were subjected to a terrible bombardment amidst trees that gave no protection. Before the decimated units could reform the first squadron had returned with a new load and once more the wood was filled with the roar of explosion. No human morale could stand such triple strain. In vain, the German officers tried to reform their panic stricken men. When the French infantry counter attacked they had an easy victory over the weakened forces that had made the advance. And those are some of the stories -- 100 years ago this week From the war in the sky! https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707275.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/04/102706151.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/02/102704861.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/05/102706536.pdf [SOUND EFFECT] Great War Project Let’s move on to the great war project with Mike Shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project blog. Mike, your post this week includes a very interesting and relatively unknown skirmish near the village of Montsec - when the US forces get thrown off a hill there for one night and the germans use that for propaganda that the American’s can’t fight. Of course that turns out quite incorrect, but things are far from rosy at this point, aren’t they Mike! That’s true Theo! The headlines this week read... [thanks Theo - The headlines read] [MIKE POST] Mike Shuster, curator for the Great War Project blog. The link to his post is in the podcast notes LINK: http://greatwarproject.org/2018/06/03/a-million-americans-now-in-france/ America Emerges: Military Stories from WW1 Now for - America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI with Dr. Edward Lengel. The Americans turn out to be fierce fighters -- despite all initial uncertainty coming from their French and British allies - and of course the German propaganda that these are not fighters. Ed’s here to tell us about how one division, the 3rd, proved their worth in battle -- Ed? [ED LENGEL] [MUSIC TRANSITION] Dr. Edward Lengel is an American military historian, author, and our segment host for America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI. There are links in the podcast notes to Ed’s post and his web sites as an author. Links:http://www.edwardlengel.com/chateau-thierry-american-machine-gunners-action-1918/ https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/ http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/ [SOUND EFFECT] World War One NOW And that’s what was happening 100 Years ago this week - It is time to fast forward into the present with WW1 Centennial News NOW - [SOUND EFFECT] This part of the podcast focuses on NOW and how we are commemorating the centennial of WWI! https://militaryhistorynow.com/2018/05/27/the-war-that-changed-the-world-americas-ww1-centennial-commission-gears-up-fo…

Full show notes at the publisher

June 1918 Overview: Episode #74 Jun 02, 2018

Show notes

Highlights: June 1918 Overview June 1918 Overview roundtable - Dr. Edward Lengel, Katherine Akey, Theo Mayer | @01:35 Not all quiet on the western front - Mike Shuster | @15:30 National Memorial Day Parade | @19:55 369th Experience Memorial Weekend concerts | @22:05 East Indians in WW1 - Tanveer Kalo | @25:35 Belgian Children’s “Thank You” - Nancy Heingartner | @32:15 100C/100M in Bismarck, ND - Susan Wefald | @39:25 Speaking WW1: Cantonment | @44:50 WW1 War Tech: FlammenWerfer | @46:15 Dispatch Newsletter Highlights | @48:45 The Buzz: Social Media - Katherine Akey | @51:40----more---- Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - episode #74 - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. This week: Dr. Edward Lengel, Katherine Akey and I sit down for our June 1918 preview roundtable Mike Schuster updates us on the fact that it is NOT all quiet on the Western Front Tanveer Kalo tells us about American immigrants from East Indians and their WWI experience Nancy Heingartner shares the story of her great-grandfather, the US Consul in Liege, Belgium in WW1 Susan Wefald [wee-fald] tells us about the 100 Cities/100 Memorials project in Bismarck, North Dakota Katherine Akey with the commemoration of world war one in social media And a whole lot more on WW1 Centennial News -- a weekly podcast brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the Starr foundation. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC] Preface The first week of every month, we invite you to our preview roundtable where Dr. Ed lengel, Katherine Akey and I talk about the upcoming month and the key events that happened 100 years ago. The question on the table as we sat down was, “ what WERE the big stories and themes in June 1918… What follows is our conversation. [MUSIC TRANSITION] [TRANSITION] World War One THEN June 1918 Roundtable [Ed Lengel, Katherine Akey, Theo Mayer take an overview of June 1918] [MUSIC TRANSITION] Great War Project Let’s move on to the great war project with Mike Shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project blog. Mike - in your post this week you talk about Pershing telling the Allies that the American Forces would not really be ready till the end of the year - maybe not until 1919 - which totally freaks everyone out. The French are quite certain that they cannot last till then, aren’t they Mike? [MIKE POST] Mike Shuster, curator for the Great War Project blog. The link to his post is in the podcast notes LINK: http://greatwarproject.org/2018/05/27/americans-not-ready-until-1919/ [SOUND EFFECT] World War One NOW And that’s what was happening 100 Years ago - It is time to fast forward into the present with WW1 Centennial News NOW - [SOUND EFFECT] This part of the podcast focuses on NOW and how we are commemorating the centennial of WWI Commission News Memorial Day Follow Up: This past weekend we celebrated Memorial Day -- and WWI commemorations were front and center in communities all across the country. The Commission had a pretty busy weekend as well! First of all we had a float to commemorate the centennial of WWI in the National Memorial Day parade in Washington, DC. Besides being joined by a number of very cool WW1-era trucks and vehicles, General John J. Pershing himself -- and a bunch of reenactors - We also introduced America’s National WWI Memorial -- asking crowds - “Did you know that every major war of the 20th century has a Memorial in the Nation’s capitol except WWI?” The unbelieving shock at this revelation was pretty universal. Everyone assumes that there is one! But there’s not [video clip of anchors] [SOUND EFFECT] Now New York City always has quite a Memorial Day - Besides their own parade, the Navy coming to town for the much beloved Fleet week - this year the Commission was instrumental in sponsoring a very special event for the occasion. The musicians of the 369th Experience brought turn-of-the-century ragtime and Jazz onto the decks of the USS Intrepid at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at Manhattan’s Pier 86. Carrying on the legacy of the famous Harlem Hellfighters Regimental band, the 369th Experience pulled together talented modern-day musicians from HBCU’s - Historically black colleges and universities, all around the country. The musicians competed to participate in this 369th regimental band tribute -- and a number of amazing and amazed young men came to New York for a truly memorable experience! [Video clip from PIX 11 News] We collected the social media posts about the 369th Regiment, regimental band and the Memorial day concerts from everywhere, and put them in a special gallery at ww1cc.org/369th or follow the various links in the podcast notes to learn more. Links: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/369th-experience-gallery.html http://pix11.com/2018/05/28/young-jazz-musicians-recreate-music-of-harlem-hellfighters/ www.IntrepidMuseum.org https://www.369experience.com/ http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/369th-experience.html Remembering Veterans East Indian Americans in WW1 with Tanveer Kalo This week For Remembering Veterans -- We want to end the month of May-- which is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month-- with a focus on Indian American immigrants in WW1. Our guest for this segment has an unusual background in his WWI expertise… He has become one of the leading “ Go To Guys” when it comes to indian participation in WWI. He just graduated as the Ronald E. McNair Scholar from St. Lawrence University - but before that - he was an intern at our own World War One Centennial Commission. His name is Tanveer Kalo, Tanveer, thank you for joining us! [greetings] [Tanveer-- it is so exciting to see an intern from the commission continuing their passion fanned to flame by that experience. Can you tell us the story of of your intern experience and how it shaped this interest of yours in the Indian American experience of a hundred years ago?] [When you interned, you helped the noted journalist Suruchi Mohan put together one of our publishing partner site called Vande Mataram and dedicated to the Indian American experience.] [The site features the story of the “Hindoo” conspiracy -- can give us an overview of the incident?] [You recently wrote up a profile on Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind -- who was he, and why did you choose to focus on his story?] [Tanveer… What’s next on your horizon?] [Tanveer - we are all very proud and excited about your growing work and recognition in this area. Thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us today!] [goodbyes/thanks] Tanveer Kalo just graduated as the Ronald E. McNair Scholar from St. Lawrence University and a former WW1 Centennial Commission Intern. Read his articles and learn more about Indian American service in WW1 at the links in the podcast notes. Links:http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/strange-nexus-indians-germans-the-great-trial.html http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/4310-re-discovering-the-unknown-world-war-i-s-south-asian-soldiers-in-the-us-military.html http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/indians-who-served.html Special Remembering WWI Belgian Children’s Project In a special Remembering WWI segment -- we’re going to hear about a very touching and heartfelt tribute made by Belgian refugee children from one hundred years ago. For this, we are joined by Nancy Heingartner, the Assistant Director for Outreach at the University of Wisconsin Madison's Institute for Regional and International Studies. Nancy also happens to be the great-granddaughter of Alexander Heingartner, the U.S. Consul in liege, Belgium, in 1915. Her discoveries in a family attic has gifted her with a very special collection of letters sent to Alexander Heingartner -- letters of thanks -- from Belgian school children 100 years ago. Nancy - welcome to the podcast! [greetings/welcome] [Nancy, could you start off by telling us a bit about your great-grandfather? Was he in Belgium when the war broke out?] [The children writing him letters were thanking him for the support and provisions given to them by the Commission for Relief in Belgium -- Now that was the organization that was led by a young engineer and mining consultant named Herbert Hoover - what is that Commission, and how was your Great-Grandfather involved in it?] [Tell us about the letters! We’re audio only, but we hear that they are really delicate and beautiful objects.] [What are your plans for the letters now?] [thanks/goodbyes] Nancy Heingartner is the Assistant Director for Outreach at the University of Wisconsin, Madison's Institute for Regional and International Studies. Learn more about her discoveries by following the links in the podcast notes. Link: https://www.facebook.com/usembassybelgium/photos/a.119544323109.103769.39878083109/10153509217488110/?type=3&theater https://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/years-compassion-1914-1923 https://www.hoover.org/events/glory-and-gratitude-united-states https://airandspace.si.edu/events/world-war-i-legacy-letters-and-belgian-war-lace 100 Cities / 100 Memorials World War Memorial Building - Bismarck, ND Moving on to our 100 Cities / 100 Memorials segment about the $200,000 matching grant challenge to rescue and focus on our local WWI memorials. This week we’re profiling a project from Bismarck, North Dakota - it is the capital city of North Dakota located on the bluffs of the Missouri River.. With us to tell us more about the World War Memorial Building project is Susan Wefald, vice chair of the North Dakota World War I Centennial Committee, an active volunteer, and a retired elected state official. Susan, Welcome to the Podcast! [Susan, your project involves a WWI memorial building rather than a statue or a monument. What made your community decide to build a WWI memorial building in 1929?] [In its early years, the building housed the state legislature for a time, how did that come about?] [Susan, you have clearly been the spearhead for a lobby restoration efforts, how did you get involved.] [Has there been any community reaction to the site being selected as a WWI Centennial Memorial site?] [What stage is the work at?] [Do you plan a rededication?] Thank you Susan for coming in and telling us about the project. [goodbyes/thank you] Susan Wefald is vice chair of the North Dakota World War I Centennial Committee. Learn more about the 100 Cities/100 Memorials program by following the link in the podcast notes. Links: www.ww1cc.org/100cities Speaking WW1 Welcome to our weekly feature “Speaking World War 1” -- Where we explore the words & phrases that are rooted in the war --- After April 6th of last year, we started talking about the Cantonments that the US government was building all around the country to train our millions of new recruits. Everybody got the idea that Cantonments were big ol’ training camps from the context we used it in - All the historians. and military experts around me were using the word like it was something I should have known - but you know, when I started asking around, who the heck uses the term Cantonment on a regular basis!? Seriously - turn out that the word cantonment comes from a 16th century middle french term for a corner or angle - which leads to an area - then a section of land - then a segment of a region - By 1917, Cantonment was the name for a permanent military camp or garrisons -- and for World War One the US built some 30 of these camps to accommodate the training for our new army. Cantonment - but a pretty esoteric term for my money! - this week’s word for Speaking WWI Next week we are going to look at the word Boot Camp - which also shows up at this time, and unlike Cantonment - it sticks around and is popular today! Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonment [SOUND EFFECT] WW1 War Tech Flammenwerfer Now for WW1 War Tech -- This week we’re looking at one of the truly horrific ww1 weapons - tweaked up by the Germans and called - Der FlammenWerfer - which quite literally translated as the flame thrower. 100 years ago as the Americans entered the fray at Cantigny, French flamethrower troops were part of the offensive forces used against the Germans. Now The idea of the flamethrower goes WAY back… to the 5th century BC, with some of the earliest working examples dating back to the Byzantine era --- by the 1st century AD hand-pumped flamethrowers on board ships were being used and known as Greek Fire. The more contemporary version of the weapon was developed in the early 1900s by the German inventor Richard Fiedler. There were two types, the Kleinflammenwerfer and the Grossflammenwerfer, which appropriate to very literal nature of the german language means the small flame thrower and big flame thrower. The small ones were one-man portable backpack devices and the large ones were three-man, big hose, big pressure, long throw monsters. Although it was initially placed into the German arsenal in 1911, the flamethrower wasn’t used extensively until the summer of 1915. The shock, fear and terror caused by the cascading sheets of fire led to quite a panic among the defenders. It really is a horribly grizzly weapon! And like so many other devastations of WWI, the Allies quickly began developing their own flame throwing machines. Meanwhile, flamethrower operators typically do not live very long. The first threat is not from the enemy but from potential fatal malfunctions of the weapon -- after all, with the portable ones, you were essentially carrying around an explosive backpack with a lit fuse. - with the big ones - well it’s just sort of nutty to squirt huge quantities of flammable liquids out a nozzle and then light it on fire… Enemy gunfire is a pretty big threat too - You know that nicely lit-up guy with the flame stick -- well he’s just a natural target to shoot at first. The Flammenwerfer - another horrific WWI weapon and this week’s subject for WWI War Tech -- Learn more at the links in the podcast notes. Link:http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/flamethrowers.htm https://mashable.com/2016/02/04/wwi-flamethrowers/#r9GQDQ6KUqq7 Articles and Posts For Articles and posts -- here are some of the highlights from our weekly Dispatch newsletter. [DING] Headline: In DC Memorial Day Parade, heir to the Pie Man from Georgetown recalls efforts which provided ‘Dough for the Doughboys’ Writer Anthony Hayes, in the Baltimore Post Examiner tells the amazing World War I history behind the quaint pie truck-- a black Model T box truck – replete with it’s creamy-white “Connecticut – Copperthite Pie Company” WWI logo. [DING] Headline: POLITICO article offers in-depth look at current status of new national World War I Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington, DC POLITICO published a broad-ranging and insightful article on May 28 that takes a hard look at the obstacles facing progress of the new national World War I Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington, DC, and the opportunities which may emerge from moving forward on the project in the coming months. [DING] Headline: Lowdermilk book aims to "shine the light of awareness" of WWI for next generation Upon receiving the diary of his grandfather, a World War I veteran, writer and photographer Jeffrey Lowdermilk was inspired to honor his grandfather’s memory by taking the same journey across Europe. mLearn about his book, Honoring The Doughboys: Following My Grandfather’s WWI Diary. [DING] Headline: "There But Not There" silhouettes honor WWI fallen, and support military charities A new nationwide campaign to commemorate the centennial of World War One and raise funds for military charities was launched across the United States this week -- read the article titled… There But Not There [DING] Headline: This week in the WWrite Bl…

Full show notes at the publisher

A lotta shelling going on: Episode #73 May 26, 2018

Show notes

Highlights 100 years ago this week: Drafting the young and the “idlers” | @01:15 War in the Sky: From Signal Corps to US Army Air Service | @07:40 Cantigny: AEF on the offensive - Mike Shuster & Dr. Edward Lengel | @11:15 Great War Channel: The Fightin-est Marine - Indy Neidell | @17:15 369th Experience in NYC memorial weekend | @18:25 The Moralist: New Woodrow Wilson Book - Prof. Patricia O’Toole | @21:15 Update from the States: Artillery, dissenters and shells - Michael Hitt | @27:15 Remembering Vets: PTSD and Trauma - Dr. Jason Crouthamel | @32:45 Speaking WWI: Some onomatopoeia -Whizzband, Crump and Dud | @39:35 WW1 War Tech: The bicycle in WW1 | @41:15 Weekly Dispatch: Article highlights from the newsletter | @44:25 The Buzz: Commemoration in Social Media - Katherine Akey | @46:25----more---- Opening Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - episode #73 - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. This week: Mike Schuster and Dr Edward Lengel fill us in on the action at Cantigny Patricia O’Toole tells us about her book The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made Michael Hitt updates us on the great state of Georgia in the war Dr. Jason Crouthamel shares his expertise on PTSD, Trauma and WW1 Katherine Akey with the commemoration of world war one in social media All on WW1 Centennial News -- a weekly podcast brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the Starr foundation. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC] Preface Although we know that the fighting in WWI is going to end this coming November - 100 years ago this week, the world did not! The United States continues on it’s war effort, changing industry, society and nearly every aspect of life in the country. This includes continuing to draft young men into the military service. With that in mind, let’s jump into our Centennial Time Machine and go back 100 years to see what’s leading in the news this week 100 years ago in the War that Changed the World! [MUSIC TRANSITION] [SOUND EFFECT] [TRANSITION] World War One THEN 100 Year Ago This Week [SOUND EFFECT From the pages of the Official Bulletin - the government’s war gazette - published by George Creel and the Committee on Public information - our government propaganda ministry, this week the headlines are full renewed vigor for pushing the war effort forward! I want to stop and give you a note we have not mentioned for many weeks: The US WWI Centennial Commission is republishing this amazing primary source of information on what the US Government was thinking, saying and promoting 100 years ago. We re-publish a new issue, every day on the centennial of its original publication date… So if you want to read the governments daily newspaper (except Sunday of course), go to ww1cc.org/bulletin and you can follow the war effort in a wholly unique and very interesting way. [SOUND EFFECT] DATELINE: Tuesday, May 21, 1918 Today the headline of the Official Bulletin reads: President, in opening Red Cross campaign, calls German peace approaches insincere; no limit on size of Army going to France! In the story President Woodrow Wilson says: Quote: There are two duties with which we are face to face. The first duty is to win the war, and the second duty, that goes hand in hand with it, is to win it greatly and worthily, showing the real quality of not only our power, but the real quality of our purpose and of ourselves. Of course, the first duty, the duty that we must keep in the foreground of all of our thoughts until it is accomplished, is to win the war. I have heard gentleman recently say that we must get 5 million men ready. I ask, why limited to 5 million? He continues with: We are not diverted from the grim purpose of winning the war by any insincere approaches upon the subject of peace. I can say with a clear conscience that I have tested those imitations, and have found them insincere. The president goes on to describe the full commitment and focus of the nation to carry out our mission. All this prefaces a proclamation the President will make the very next day - setting up a new call to arms to young men who have turned 21, and to all men who are not engaged directly in the war effort as you are about to hear. [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline, Tuesday, May 21, 1918 The headline reads: President’s proclamation fixing June 5 as date for registering young men who have reached the age of 21 during the past year Only persons exempt are the officers and enlisted men in naval and military service The proclamation includes: It is resolved by the Senate and House representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled that during the present emergency all male persons, citizens of the United States, and all male persons residing in the United States, who have, since the fifth day of June 1917, and on or before the day set for the registration, attained the age of 21 years, shall be subject to registration in accordance with the regulations to be prescribed by the President, stating the time and place of such registration. It shall be the duty of all such persons, except such persons as are exempt from registration, to present themselves for and submit to registration under the provisions of set act approved May 18, 1917. The guy in charge of pulling off this new draft registration is the Provost Marshall - a General Enoch Herbert Crowder from Missouri. He seemed determined not to let anything slip by as the next article illustrates: [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline Thursday, May 23, 1918 A headline in the New York Times reads: Work or fight, warning to all on draft rolls Gen. Crowder issues sweeping order aimed at idlers and those in non-useful pursuits. Goes into effect on July 1 Includes gamblers, waiters, service, store clerks, elevator men, and those with no occupation. Maybe blow to baseball. In the article it reads: Idlers, unemployed and those of draft age not engaged in a central or useful employment will be rounded up for military service unless they apply themselves at some sort of labor that will dovetail into the plans of the administration for winning the war. All such youths of draft age we'll either have to serve in the army or work. There is resistance to the draft around the nation, but for the most part, the young men of America join up, and loyally help the war effort in the best way they can - and they are put on notice… 100 years ago this week. in the war that changed the world. See the May 20 to may 24 issues of the official bulletin at ww1cc.org/bulletin and see other links in the podcast notes. [MUSIC TRANSITION] War in the Sky Also - One hundred years ago this week, the war in the sky takes a turn for America, not on the battlefields of europe but in the halls of administration back home. [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline May 20, 1918 A headline of The New York Times reads: Wilson recasts aviation service Takes all control of operations and production away from signal core President acts under the Overman law to bring about improvements in the situation Pres. Wilson today took what he regards as definitive action towards the improvement of the Army aircraft program when he issued a presidential order stripping the chief signal corps officer of the Army, Major Gen. George O. Squier, of every function pertaining to aircraft and aviation. The functions were transferred to two new offices, Bureau of military aeronautics and The bureau of aircraft production Created directly under the Secretary of War. “The signal Corps”, said Sec. Baker this afternoon, “will now have only to do with signals, and nothing to do with any phase of the production or use of aircraft.” The order gives Brigadier General William Kenley all of the property pertaining to the use of aircraft and all money in connection therewith. This development essentially creates the US Army Air Corps. Our regular listeners may remember from our March 9, episode #62 - how the Signal Corps, one of the real technology innovators was also the founding pioneer in the use of aircraft for the military… Here is a clip from Episode #62 [change sound EQ] By the turn of the century the US Army Signal Corps had taken on a leadership role not just with visual signalling but also with the telegraph, telephone, cable communications, meteorology, combat photography and had even sprouted an aeronautical and aviation section. Nearly a decade before American Forces engaged the enemy, the wright brothers made test flights of the army’s first airplane built to Signal Corps’ specifications. Tests appropriately performed at Fort Myers. Army aviation stayed with the Signal Corps until May of 1918, when the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps is transformed by President Wilson’s Executive order, into the Army Air Service - the forerunner of the United States Air Force. Well, that moment in May of 1918 is now… driven partially by the previous “scandals” about the effectiveness of US investment in its airplane development, production and training, and partially by the fact the aircraft - once seen primarily as reconnaissance devices are taking on a strategic offensive warcraft role - now put under the US Army Air Service and later to become the US Air Force. A transition that takes a major turn this week 100 years ago in the war in the sky.See the podcast notes for a simple 50 year timeline showing how the use of aircraft evolved from 1907 to September 1947 when the US Air Force is established as a separate branch of the US Armed Forces. Timeline: Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps (1 August 1907 – 18 July 1914) Aviation Section, Signal Corps (18 July 1914 – 20 May 1918) Division of Military Aeronautics (20 May 1918 – 24 May 1918) Air Service, U.S. Army (24 May 1918 – 2 July 1926) U.S. Army Air Corps (2 July 1926 – 20 June 1941)* U.S. Army Air Forces (20 June 1941 – 17 September 1947) US Air Force - established as a separate branch on September 18, 1947 http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/airserv1.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Air_Force#World_War_I_and_between_wars https://media.defense.gov/2010/Oct/13/2001329759/-1/-1/0/AFD-101013-008.pdf NYTimes Air Service Articles https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/21/102703124.pdf Battle of Cantigny This week, 100 years ago in the war on the Western Front-- the American forces attack for the first time at Cantigny, in France. Both Mike Shuster and Ed Lengel tell us the story of the battle, a first test of American mettle-- but they each explore the event using different sources. So this week, we are going to blend the together the Great War Project with Mike Shuster - and America Emerges with Dr. Edward Lengel into a single story about the battle of Cantigny. [MIKE SHUSTER] [ED LENGEL] Mike Shuster, is a former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War Project blog and Dr. Edward Lengel is an American military historian, author, and our segment host for America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI. There are links in the podcast notes to both their sites. LINK - Mike Shuster: http://greatwarproject.org/2018/05/20/pounded-to-hell-and-gone/ LINK - Dr. Edward Lengel http://www.edwardlengel.com/assault-cantigny-1918-u-s-army-comes-age/ https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/ http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/ Updates on fighting front in the NY Times https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/21/102703093.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/22/102703392.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/21/102703022.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/21/102703024.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/21/102703021.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/23/102703788.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/24/102704171.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/24/102704174.pdf The Great War Channel This week the Great War Channel on Youtube released a wonderful bio episode on the US Marine Corps’ legendary Dan Daly - the recipient of two Medals of Honor and probably deserving of more. The episode is called: The Fightin-est Marine - Dan Daly: [RUN CLIP - INDY NEIDELL] To see the whole clip, search for “the great war” on youtube or follow the link in the podcast notes! Link:https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar World War One NOW And that’s the news from 100 Years ago this week - so now let’s fast forward into the present with WW1 Centennial News NOW - [SOUND EFFECT] This part of the podcast focuses on NOW and how we are commemorating the centennial of WWI! Commission News 369th Experience in NYC This week in Commission News -- we want to highlight a special Memorial Day centennial event happening in New York City! It’s the 369th Experience -- Three musical performances depicting the African American and Puerto Rican experience in World War I through the eyes and ears of the 369th U.S. Infantry Regimental band. Named by their German enemies as the HellFighters, the “Harlem Hellfighters", the 369th regiment was formed out of the volunteer 15th New York National Guard. While they were “Over There” fought heroically and ferociously in the trenches of France - under french command - through some of the most brutal combat, in some of the most important battles, of the entire war. Their story is a powerful one as they faced staunch racism during training, in a segregated military and sadly- after their exemplary performance as American Soldiers…. on their return home from the war. The 369th famously had as part of their unit a regimental military band -- made up of some of the most influential & talented musicians of their day. The military band became legendary for their unique sound, and their warm reception by the people of the war-torn regions “over there” -- under the care of band leader, Major James Reese Europe,they introduced French listeners to American jazz, and ushered in the Jazz Age in europe. Carrying on their legacy, the 369th Experience pulls together talented modern-day musicians from colleges around the country. They competed to participate in a 369th tribute - which will perform and highlight the original band’s music This Memorial Day Weekend. The U.S. World War One Centennial Commission is proud to sponsor the performances by the 369th EXPERIENCE at the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Complex in New York. The concerts are free and are sure to be awesome! If you are in the big apple this memorial day weekend - perhaps attending fleet week - Performances are schedule for Sunday, May 27th, at 1:00 pm and on Monday at 1:30pm & 3:30 pm at the USS Intrepid. There are reference links in the podcast notes and we will be doing a follow up story next week to tell you how it went. Links: www.IntrepidMuseum.org https://www.369experience.com/ http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/369th-experience.html Spotlight on the Media Book: The Moralist For this week’s Spotlight on the Media -- we are turning our attention back onto the President of the United States during World War One, Woodrow Wilson. We’re joined by Professor Patricia O’Toole, a biographer and professor emerita in the School of the Arts at Columbia University and author of three acclaimed biographies including her new book: The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made Welcome to the podcast! [welcome/greetings] [Patricia - let we start with an overview question - Woodrow Wilson doesn't always show up on the list of the most important presidents in US history - Do you think he was? And why?] [When you call Wilson “the moralist” -- what do you mean?] [He was also one of the few “professional” ] [Wilson seems like a bundle of contrasting ideas - He campaigns with - He keep us out of war” - but t…

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Submarine Chasers of WWI: Episode #72 May 18, 2018

Show notes

Highlights: Submarine Chasers of WWI The 1918 Sedition Act | @01:35 Darkest before the dawn - Mike Shuster | @07:45 America Emerges - Dr. Edward Lengel | @11:445 Memorial Day Parade | @15:50 Hunters of the Steel Sharks - Todd Woofenden | @17:05 Remembering Major Raoul Lufbery - Raoul Lubery III | @24:40 Centenary News website - Peter Alhadeff & Patrick Gregory | @31:20 Speaking WWI - “I’m in a flap” | @38:15 Highlights of the Dispatch Newsletter | @39:30 The Buzz: The commemoration in social Media - Katherine Akey | @41:45----more---- Opening Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - episode #72 - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. This week: Mike Schuster, from the great war project blog tells us about the on-going German aggression, the allies desperation and Pershing’s plan to provide CERTAIN troops to be commanded Directly by the allied forces. Dr. Edward Lengel with a story about American troops that land in the UK. Todd Woofenden introduces us about the US Navy’s submarine chasers Tanveer Kalo helps us commemorate Asian Pacific Heritage Month Raoul Lufbery III tells us about a recent event in Connecticut commemorating his great-uncle, Raoul Lufbery Peter Alhadeff (AL-adeff) and Patrick Gregory join us from the WWI website “Centenary News” Katherine Akey with the commemoration of world war one in social media All on WW1 Centennial News -- a weekly podcast brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the Starr foundation. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC] Preface The United States constitutional Bill of rights was passed and adopted on December 15, 1791 This included the first amendment which reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances 126 years later, in 1917, under the pressures of entering WW1 - this constitutional right of the American people came under attack in profound ways. It began in June of 1917 with the passage of the Espionage Act, prohibiting any American from saying or doing anything to undermine the war effort, with the threat of 20 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both . 4 months later, in October 1917, congress followed up with the “Trading with the Enemy Act “, which empowered the government to confiscate the property of any person who engages in trade or any other form of financial transaction with an enemy nation during wartime. Overall, about $500 million worth of property was seized by the federal government in World War I from german immigrants and companies with ties to enemy nations, an amount equal to the entire federal budget before the War. But the most onerous attack on the first amendment was coming. With that as background let's jump into our Centennial Time Machine and roll back 100 years ago this week to learn more about the new Sedition Act! [MUSIC TRANSITION] [SOUND EFFECT] [TRANSITION] World War One THEN 100 Year Ago This Week [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline: May 21, 1918 A tiny obscure 4 line article appears in the New York times with the headline: President Signs Sedition Bill The entire article reads: President Wilson today signed the Sedition bill, giving the government wide powers to punish disloyal acts and utterances. Let me read that again… “Giving the government wide powers to punish disloyal acts and utterances.” That sounds downright unconstitutional… and if I had said that in May of 1918, I could have been prosecuted, fined $10,000 (the equivalent of $180,000 today) and imprisoned for up to 30 years! Though President Wilson and Congress regarded the Sedition Act as crucial in order to stifle the spread of dissent within the country in that time of war, modern legal scholars consider the act as contrary to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution, namely to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. A part of the act also allowed the Postmaster General to refuse to deliver mail that met those same standards for punishable speech or opinion effectively blocking the mail dissemination of dissenting newspapers, pamphlets and flyers. It was directly applied to trying to control the socialist leaning organized labor movement, and one of the most famous prosecutions under the Sedition Act during World War I was that of Eugene V. Debs, a pacifist labor organizer and founder of the International Workers of the World (the IWW) who had run for president in 1900 as a Social Democrat and in 1904, 1908 and 1912 on the Socialist Party of America ticket. After delivering an anti-war speech in June 1918 in Canton, Ohio, Debs was arrested, tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison under the Sedition Act. Debs appealed the decision, and the case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, in January of 1919. In March of 1919, 101 years ago this month the court ruled Debs had acted with the intention of obstructing the war effort and upheld his conviction. In the decision, Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes referred to the earlier landmark case of Schenck v. United States (1919), when Charles Schenck, also a Socialist, had been found guilty under the Espionage Act after distributing a flyer urging recently drafted men to oppose the U.S. conscription policy. In this decision, Holmes maintained that freedom of speech and press could be constrained in certain instances, and that The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger --- which will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. Eugene Debs’ sentence was commuted a few years later in 1921 when the Sedition Act was repealed by Congress. Major portions of the Espionage Act remain part of United States law to the present day, although the crime of sedition was largely eliminated by a famous libel case in 1964, which determined that the press’s criticism of public officials was protected speech under the First Amendment — unless a plaintiff could prove that the statements were made maliciously or with reckless disregard for the truth—. Your right to free speech.. A very precious right and one that was effectively legislated against 100 years ago this week, in the war that changed the world! We have links in the podcast notes a BUNCH of articles from the NY times where the espionage, trading with the enemy and sedition acts were applied. NYTIMES Sedition Articles: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/22/102703485.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/08/102699810.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/08/13/97017110.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/13/102701408.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707634.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/11/102708351.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/11/102708489.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/28/102715535.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/07/01/102715561.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/07/06/102717028.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/07/16/102722083.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/31/118143506.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/07/102707383.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/14/102701611.pdf Links on Sedition Act: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-congress-passes-sedition-act https://www.politico.com/story/2012/05/congress-passes-the-sedition-act-may-16-1918-076336 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/social_conflict_and_control_protest_and_repression_usa http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/uscode/uscode1940-00505/uscode1940-005050a002/uscode1940-005050a002.pdf https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-confiscated-half-billion-dollars-private-property-during-wwi-180952144/ https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2017/06/15/defining-a-spy-the-espionage-act/ https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/capitalism/sources_document1.html https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/labour_movements_trade_unions_and_strikes_usa https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wilson-eugene-debs/ https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/249us211 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-eugene-debs-socialist-bernie-sanders-per-flashback-0131-20160127-column.html [MUSIC TRANSITION] Great War Project It’s time for Mike Shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War Project Blog. Mike, your post points out that the Germans are far from out of the fight and the allied troops are very near collapse - While Pershing, standing fast on his determination not to put American troop under British and French command turns out not to apply to all troops equally. You point to a palpable Allied desperation - It seems like, on the western front it truly is darkest before the coming dawn. [thanks Theo - The headlines read] [MIKE POST] Mike Shuster curator for the Great War Project blog. The link to the blog and the post -- are in the podcast notes. LINK: http://greatwarproject.org/2018/05/13/another-german-attack-on-the-western-front/ [SOUND EFFECT] America Emerges: Military Stories from WW1 Now for - America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI with Dr. Edward Lengel. Not all the troops landed in France - Many of them arrived “Over There” in England including a yet unknown hero-to-be… As you will hear in Ed’s story. [ED LENGEL] [MUSIC TRANSITION] Dr. Edward Lengel is an American military historian, author, and our segment host for America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI. There are links in the podcast notes to Ed’s post and his web sites as an author. Links:http://www.edwardlengel.com/100-years-ago-alvin-c-york-arrives-great-britain/ https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/ http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/ The Great War Channel From the Great War Channel on Youtube - videos about WWI 100 years ago this week, and from a more european perspective --- New episodes this week include: The Ostende Raid and the Peace of Bucharest Another episode is Marie Curie in WW1 and Who Killed the Red Baron Finally Evolution of French Infantry during World War One See their videos by searching for “the great war” on youtube or following the link in the podcast notes! Link:https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar World War One NOW That’s the news from 100 Years ago this week - It is time to fast forward into the present with WW1 Centennial News NOW - [SOUND EFFECT] This part of the podcast focuses on NOW and how we are commemorating the centennial of WWI! Commission News Memorial Day Parade in DC This week in Commission News -- The National Memorial Day Parade in Wshington DC is coming up on Monday, May 28th! The parade will be huge -- including marching bands, flags, celebrities, veterans of all ages, 300,000 cheering visitors, and TV cameras that will broadcast the parade across the country. This year, the parade will feature a special tribute to the American veterans of World War I, including several World War I-era military vehicles -- and for the first time ever -- a parade float to emphasise the centennial of WWI and America’s National WWI Memorial, which the Commission is building in Washington DC. Commission volunteers will walking the parade and giving out free packets of Poppy seeds as a symbol of remembrance and sacrifice of those who served in WWI. This parade is our nation’s largest Memorial Day event, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the National Mall to pay tribute to those who serve and have served. Read more about the 2018 National Memorial Day Parade at the link in the podcast notes. Links: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/4441-centennial-commission-to-be-represented-in-2018-national-memorial-day-parade.html Spotlight on the Media Submarine Chasers[AUDIO CLIP] That was a 1918 radio style dramatization of a submarine attack on a US ship - from a cylinder recording we found. For a more contemporary take, and for this week’s Spotlight on the Media -- we are going to learn more about the US Submarine Chasers of World War One. Joining us is Todd A. Woofenden, editor of The Subchaser Archives website and author of the book Hunters of the Steel Sharks: The Submarine Chasers of WWI. Great book title, Todd! Welcome to the podcast! [welcome/greetings] Todd-- the submarine warfare conducted by the Germans helped push America over the brink and into war -- so, once we were in, how did the US respond to the continuing submarine threat? The fleet set out to chase the submarines was pretty unique -- Why did we pick small, wooden vessels for the job? WWI was all about new tech…. What was the TECH side of chasing and attacking submarines? What should we remember about this endeavor - and what did it lead to in the future? [thank you/goodbyes] Todd A. Woofenden is the editor of The Subchaser Archives website and author of the book Hunters of the Steel Sharks: The Submarine Chasers of WWI. We have links for you in the podcast notes to learn more and how to get a copy of the book for yourself! Links: https://www.subchaser.org/ https://www.signallightbooks.com/hunters Events Lufbery Memorial This week we want to feature a commemoration event that took place recently in Wallingford Connecticut -- the event honored the centennial of the combat death of French American pilot Raoul Lufbery, the 8th pilot to join the Lafayette Escadrille. Lufbery went on to command the 94th Aero Squadron when the Escadrille was disbanded in 1918, and was an Ace three times over. He was killed in an aerial dogfight over Maron, France 100 years ago this week on May 19, 1918 -- Here to tell us about his life and the commemoration in Connecticut is his great-nephew, Raoul Lufbery III. Raoul, welcome to the podcast! [greetings/welcome] Raoul, what a wonderful namesake you carry - Raoul Lufbery was quite a colorful character -- please tell us about your great-uncle -- - what’s his story? The commemoration took place in Wallingford, Connecticut -- how was it? why was it held there? what did it include? Raoul, you’ve worked on compiling and editing a couple of photo albums about your great uncle -- can you tell us about them? Raoul - Thank you for joining us! [goodbye/thanks] Raoul Lufbery III is the great-nephew of WW1 Ace and Lafayette Escadrille member Major Raoul Lufbery. Learn more about the recent commemoration of his life, and about his service in the war, by following the links in the notes. links:https://connecticuthistory.org/world-war-i-flying-ace-raoul-lufbery/ https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/lufbery-gervais-raoul/ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/lufbery.php International Report Centenary News This week in our International Report -- we’re going back across the pond as we’re joined by the creators of a wonderful web site “Centenary News”. it’s a super centralized resource for all things WW1 -- filled with news, articles, events listings, book reviews and more -- Joining us to tell us more are Peter Alhadeff (AL-adeff) , Editor for Centenary News, and Patrick Gregory, former BBC news editor, contributor to Centenary News and co-editor & author of the book ‘An American on the Western Front’. Gentlemen - thank you so much for joining us! [welcome/greetings] Let me start by saying that your site is really wonderful. It very broad in perspective and a wonderful resource - especially for our listeners. Peter, how did Centenary News start? Who is behind it? As kindred public histor…

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Scouts, Planes and Sculptors: Episode #71 May 12, 2018

Show notes

Highlights The sculptor and the airplane industry: Gutzon Borglum | @01:40 General compromise - Mike Shuster | @09:15 Marshall’s plan for Cantigny - Dr. Edward Lengel | @13:15 James Reese Europe Tribute Concert - Ron Wasserman | @18:50 WWI Carnegie Council Fellowship program - Dr. Reed Bonadonna | @25:35 A granddaughter's history of the Boy Scouts - Dr. Julie Seton | @31:35 14-18 NOW: UK Centenary Art Commission - Jenny Waldman | @38:00 Speaking WWI: Cup ‘a Joe | @46:05 Dispatch Newsletter: highlights | @47:50 The Centennial in Social Media - Katherine Akey | @49:35----more---- Opening Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - episode #71 - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. This week: Mike Schuster, from the great war project blog tells us about General Pershing’s “compromise”, unpopular with the French and British command Ed Lengel with the story about the man who plans the Attack on Cantigny Ron Wasserman tells us about the upcoming James Reese Europe musical tribute in New York Dr. Reed Bonadonna introduces us to the WWI fellowship program from the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs Dr. Julie Seton shares a history of the Boy Scouts Jenny Waldman joins us from the UK to tell us about the amazing WW1 public arts projects from 14-18 NOW organization Katherine Akey with the commemoration of world war one in social media All on WW1 Centennial News -- a weekly podcast brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the Starr foundation. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC] Preface In July of 1917, shortly after America enters the war, congress passes a massive $640,000,000 aviation bill which is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson. That is over $13.5 Billion in 2018 dollars and at the time it is one of the largest appropriation for a single idea that the country has ever made - It passes congress with little or no objection - This is in no small part - because there are so many advocates that believe this incredible new technology of flying machines can be pivotal in the war. In support of the idea, famed airplane pioneer Orville Wright declares: “When my brother and I built and flew the first man-carrying machine, we thought that we were introducing into the world an invention which would make further wars… practically impossible since both sides know exactly what the other is doing. “ Orville reasons further: "If the allies' armies are equipped with such a number of airplanes as to keep the enemy planes entirely back of the line, so that they are unable to direct gunfire or to observe the movement of the allied troops— in other words, if the enemy's eyes can be put out — it will be possible to end the war. “ With that as background let's jump into our Centennial Time Machine and roll back 100 years ago this week to see how the US is doing in realizing that idea... [MUSIC TRANSITION] [SOUND EFFECT] World War One THEN 100 Year Ago This Week It is the second week of May, 1918. The pages of the Official Bulletin, the government's war gazette, the newspaper, the New York Times and the magazine Aerial age Weekly are all filled with a story of scandal involving the US aircraft manufacturing industry. Charges of waste, incompetence, malfeasance and graft are being bandied about. And one of the more interesting parts is that a key character leading the charges against the government's Aircraft production board and the airplane manufacturers is none other than Gutzon Borglum. Who the heck is Gutzon Borglum? You may ask.. Well, he is the sculptor who is going to become famous for a little sculpture he will do between 1927 and 1941 in South Dakota where he will sculpt four heads into the crags of a mountain called Rushmore… But in May of 1918, already an established sculptor - he is busy accusing the US Airplane industry of incompetence! [SOUND EFFECT] Dateline: May 6, 1918 A headline in the NY times reads: Wilson orders Borglum aircraft charges sifted And the story reads: The demand for an investigation of allegations of graft in connection with the production of military aircraft was heeded by Pres. Wilson today when he decided to turn the whole matter over to Atty. Gen. Gregory, who was instructed to make a thorough investigation of the "wholesale charges" in regard to the production of aircraft. The charges were made by sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Another sensational feature was added to the case tonight when it became known that Maj. General George O Squier Chief signal Officer of the Army, who was accused by Mr. Borglum of hampering the work of investigation undertaken by the latter, had countered the accusations with a request for a military court of inquiry. The story is the big buzz in all the national news and aeroplane industry media. And as we started to explore it, it gets ever more strange - Clearly something is up because, the US has spent an incredible fortune and only delivered 5,000 planes - mostly trainers not fighters - what’s up with senate investigation? The justice department probe? The President’s statements? The army’s court of inquiry? What are the roots of this nearly frenetic situations??? Well… Let’s take a little closer look at our buddy the sculptor Gutzon Borglum - seriously! He is actually the center of the story! In a biography on him that we found - and we have the link for you in the podcast notes, here is what we learn. Borglum makes drawings for a new plane he called the “fish”. His idea is rejected by the government's Aircraft production board, that is in charge of approving plane design for govt money -- Borglum notes many, many other designers get rejected too. Apparently, he thinks of a way to capitalize on the airplane manufacturing chaos -- So he complains through some Washington contacts that he has, about the terrible wastage going on with all with that money earmarked for plane design and building in the US. The bad buzz reaches all the way to President Wilson and in Autumn 1917-- BORGLUM himself runs an investigation and submits a report to the government on the lack of airplane production. Now… Apparently Borglum postures that he has been given full govt authority to do this investigation -- but actually he hasn’t. He just seems to be running on self-appointed bravado and posturing as if he DOES have officially sanctioned authority. Now President Wilson actually corrects him in the spring -- but damage has already been done to many, many aeronautical companies who have been dragged through the mud very publicly. This week in 1918, on May 10th-- it comes to light that Borglum, in fact, is using his influence with the president to get contracts for himself and a new company -- for which he is a silent partner. The scheme, apparently is that he is managing to discredit company after company with the govt’s blessing-- leaving HIS company to pick up contracts in the aftermath. Even as this comes to light, Borglum “stonewalls” all of the accusations and accused his detractors as purveyors of “fake news” and of being liars and just continues his attacks on other aeronautical companies. A lot of reorganization takes place in the wake of this controversy - and probes and official investigations will continue -- but we wondered -- what ever became of Borglum!? He continues to be shaker, mover and influencer all the way… here are some highlights In 1918, he was one of the drafters of the Czechoslovakian declaration of independence (despite being an american by birth to Danish immigrants), he continues to make sculptures and memorials, famously sculpting an amazing and striking work called “The Aviator” which sits on the University of Virginia campus, of course he gets permission and funding to carve up an entire mountain at Mount Rushmore creating a historic and iconic work of public art. He also happens to be a very high ranking member of the KKK, a Freemason, and an organizer of the Armory Show in New York. Gutzon Borglum - an genuinely amazing and fascinating character --- banging on a hornets nest in aeroplane manufacturing industry 100 years ago this week - In the war that changed the world! Aerial Age weekly https://books.google.com/books?id=GpJMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA490&lpg=PA490&dq=gutzon+borglum+aircraft+manufacturing&source=bl&ots=06w8Xcz_qU&sig=g9EwA4S3_ofnZQZq3Ecs391tqnA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr3qCr2PfaAhVE4mMKHbQ3DZQQ6AEISjAD#v=onepage&q=gutzon%20borglum%20aircraft%20manufacturing&f=false Book excerpt on Borglum: https://books.google.com/books?id=9y8cBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=gutzon+borglum+airplanes&source=bl&ots=cEvEjx-DYI&sig=CiuaEx_6hlFRoeuDkdRZLmfErAY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY-fXvu_jaAhUHk1kKHdNqDYg4ChDoAQhAMAQ#v=onepage&q=gutzon%20borglum%20airplanes&f=false NYTimes Articles: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/07/102699430.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/08/102699763.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/08/102699805.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/08/102699806.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/10/102700511.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/11/102700842.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/05/12/98263681.pdf [MUSIC TRANSITION] Great War Project Moving across the Atlantic to “Over There”, Mike Shuster, former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War Project blog takes a look at General Pershing’s “compromise” with the French and British command, mutiny among the Austrians and Armenian nationalist fighters - An interesting post Mike! [MIKE POST] Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog. The links to Mike Shuster’s Great War Project blog and the post -- are in the podcast notes. LINK: http://greatwarproject.org/2018/05/06/compromise-of-the-allies/ [SOUND EFFECT] America Emerges: Military Stories from WW1 Welcome to our segment - America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI with Dr. Edward Lengel. Many of you may have heard of the “Marshall Plan”, This was a major $13 billion strategic initiative to help western europe rebuilt after WWII… Well the architect and namesake of that monumental strategy was just a young, but brilliant officer in WWI, developing his strategic chops, as Ed story this week shows. [ED LENGEL] [MUSIC TRANSITION] To be continued…. Dr. Edward Lengel is an American military historian, author, and our segment host for America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI. There are links in the podcast notes to Ed’s post and his web sites as an author. Links:http://www.edwardlengel.com/george-c-marshall-plans-attack-cantigny-may-1918/ https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/ http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/ The Great War Channel From the Great War Channel on Youtube - videos about WWI 100 years ago this week, and from a more european perspective --- New episodes this week include: Pershing Under Pressure-- the End of La Lys Our Trip to Turkey Recap The Western Front Awakens -- Peace in the East See their videos by searching for “the great war” on youtube or following the link in the podcast notes! Link:https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar World War One NOW That’s the news from 100 Years ago this week - It is time to fast forward into the present with WW1 Centennial News NOW - [SOUND EFFECT] This part of the podcast focuses on NOW and how we are commemorating the centennial of WWI! Spotlight on the Media James Reese Europe 100th Anniversary Tribute Event Music: Castle House Rag and One Step, by James Reese Europe from the CD “Take a Bow” by the New York Jazzharmonic Trad-Jazz Sextet. That clip was from Castle House Rag and One Step composed by James Reese Europe who is the subject of our spotlight on the media with an upcoming James Reese Europe 100th Anniversary Tribute concert. Who is James Reese Europe? Well, his Library of Congress biography opens with a quote from Eubie Blake, another famed American composer, lyricist, and jazz man: "James Reese Europe was our benefactor and inspiration. Even more, he was the Martin Luther King of music." Europe earned this praise by being an unflagging innovator not only in his compositions and orchestrations, but in his organizational ability and leadership. One of America's greatest musicians, he progressed from strength to strength but was pointlessly cut down at what seemed like the pinnacle of his career.” Well that is just a setup up - To tell us about the man, and the Tribute concert, which will take place on June 8th, 2018, in New York City is Ron Wasserman, artistic director for the New York Jazzharmonic. Welcome, Ron! [welcome/greetings] [Ron-- our intro to Mr. Europe was sort of a tease - can you tell us about the man please?] [OK.. Now about the tribute - where is it, what is it and if we are lucky enough to be in NY to attend - what will we experience?] [How did this come about?] [Ron: Any closing thoughts about the legacy of the Harlem Hellfighters on music?] [thank you/goodbyes] Ron Wasserman is the artistic director for the New York Jazzharmonic. The tribute concert is co-sponsored by the New York Jazzharmonic, the NYC Veterans Alliance, and the National WWI Centennial Commission. We have links for you in the podcast notes! Links:www.symphonyspace.org/event/10003 http://www.nyjazzharmonic.org/index.html Remembering Veterans Carnegie Council WW1 Fellowship Program This week For Remembering Veterans -- We have invited Dr. Reed Bonadonna to join us. Dr. Bonadonna, Ph.D. and a retired US Marine Corps Colonel, is a Senior Fellow with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. He is managing their project, "The Living Legacy of the First World War”. We were very proud of and excited for her, when our own Katherine Akey announced that she was one of the nine recipients selected for a fellowship under the project Reed! Welcome to the Podcast. [greetings] [To start -- What’s the program and what’s its goal? ] [Reed - Can you tell us about some of the fellowship projects?] [When the fellowships are done - what happens to the work?] [I know the program is still in mid-stride - but what do think it will show us about the Living Legacy of WW1 is today?] [Thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us today!] [goodbyes/thanks] Dr. Reed Bonadonna is a Senior Fellow with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and the manager for their "The Living Legacy of the First World War” project. Learn more about the program and the nine fellows’ projects by following ==--the links in the podcast notes. Links:https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/programs/WWI Education Dr Seton boy scouts history Let’s talk about the early days of scouting and WWI - Joining us is Dr. Julie Seton , granddaughter of Ernest Thompson Seton who was a co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America and other youth organizations in the early 1900's. She is an expert on Scouting's early history as well as her grandfather's life as a naturalist, artist and, at one time, an internationally acclaimed literary figure, and she recently edited and published his autobiography, Trail of an Artist-Naturalist: The Autobiography of Ernest Thompson Seton Welcome, Julie! [greetings/welcome] [Julie - The history of the boy scouts - actually begin in England with Lord Baden-Powell in the early 1900s, but your grandfather is also said to have influenced him - can you tell us the story?] [So when the the Boy Scouts of America officially organize? [if it did not come up in the previous question] [It’s a little off-topic but I wanted to ask… I read a fascinating account about your great grandfather - who apparently decided to presen…

Full show notes at the publisher

General John J. Pershing: Episode #70 May 05, 2018

Show notes

Highlights May 1918 Preview Roundtable - Ed Lengel, Katherine Akey, Theo Mayer | 02:50 General Rumblings - Mike Shuster | 18:00 War In The Sky - Eddie Rickenbacker | 21:45 Documentary: “Blackjack Pershing: Love and War” - Prof. Barney McCoy | 25:55 The big influenza pandemic - Kenneth C. Davis | 32:15 WW1 War Tech - Fed billions, killed millions: The tragic story of Fritz Haber | 39:25 100 Cities / 100 Memorials from Brownwood, Texas - Dr. Steve Kelly | 44:15 Speaking WW1: Binge | 50:00 Articles and Posts: Highlights from the Weekly Dispatch | 51:50 The Commemoration in Social Media - Katherine Akey | 54:15----more---- Opening Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - episode #70 - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. This week: Dr. Edward Lengel, Katherine Akey and I sit down for our May 1918 preview roundtable Mike Schuster, from the great war project blog with a story of conflict within the Allied forces. Author Kenneth C. Davis shares the story of influenza in 1918 Professor Barney McCoy gives us insight into the upcoming documentary, Blackjack Pershing: Love and War Dr. Steve Kelly with the 100 Cities / 100 Memorial project from Brownwood, Texas. Katherine Akey with the commemoration of world war one in social media And lots more... on WW1 Centennial News -- a weekly podcast brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the Starr foundation. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC] Preface Before we get going today, I wanted to tell you about some great new features for the WW1 Centennial News Podcast. First of all, you can now listen to the latest episodes of WW1 Centennial News on YouTube - if you happen to prefer listening that way! And something I think is really exciting and useful when you go to our podcast web site at ww1cc.org/CN (Charlie Nancy). When you click the “read more” of the episode, just below the highlights you will find the full and accurate transcript of the show - interactively linked to an audio player. With it, you can scan OR search --- the text of the transcript and wherever you double click - the audio will play. Or if you are listening and want to copy and paste a segment of the transcript for you newsletter, school report or blog, just pause and scan down the scranscript, The section you were hearing is highlighted in blue. This very cool, new interactive transcript technology has been provided by a great little startup called Jotengine… and we have added it to make our podcast even more useful for students, teachers and everyone who wants to share the story of the war the changed the world. World War One THEN 100 Year Ago This Week Roundtable with Katherine, Theo and Ed [SOUND EFFECT] Alright... The first week of every month, we invite you to our preview roundtable where Dr. Ed lengel, Katherine Akey and I had talk about the coming month and the key events that happened 100 years ago. The question on the table as we sat down was, “ what WERE the big stories and themes in May 1918… What follows is our conversation. [roundtable - see transcript for details] [SOUND EFFECT] Great War Project So that is an overview for the coming month - but now let’s join Mike Shuster - Former NPR corresponded and curator for the Great War Project blog as he explored another key battle that plays out on the Western Front… The battle between the Allied Generals and American General John J. Pershing. They did not see eye-to-eye at all… and Black-Jack Pershing was not going to waver from his belief about how the US army needed to engage. It sound like it was more than just a little contentious Mike! [MIKE POST] Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog. The links to Mike Shuster’s Great War Project blog and the post -- are in the podcast notes. LINK: http://greatwarproject.org/2018/04/29/the-allies-quarrel/ [SOUND EFFECT] War in the Sky America's Top-Scoring Ace Scores his First Victory It is a changing of the guard, for the War in the Skies over Europe 100 years ago this April and May. In April 1918, Germany’s Manfred von Richthofen falls, and in May America’s Raoul Lufbery. One of the new names that rises among these ashes is that of a Columbus Ohio native every bit as much of a flamboyant character as the early fliers. Before joining the service, he was a famed race car driver who set a land speed record at Daytona of 134 miles per hour - a tough guy, technically too old to be accepted into flight school, and a guy who claimed he was afraid of heights - His name was Eddie Rickenbacker… Born the oldest son of 5 siblings 1890 -- young Eddie had to step up to become the major family breadwinner, quitting school at only 12 years old, when his father died in a construction accident. A tough beginning for what would turn out to be quite a guy! Having developed a passion for the new technology of the internal combustion engine - by 16 he had landed a job with a race car driver named Lee Frayer, who liked the scrawny, scrappy kid - and let him ride in major races as his mechanic. By 1912 - the young 22 year old was driving his own races and winning! and crashing! and surviving! When war broke out in 1917, Rickenbaker volunteered - but at 27 years old -- was already too old to get accepted to flight school - something the speed demon really wanted to do! Because he had a reputatioh as a race car driver - he was enlisted as a sergeant and sailed for Europe as a driver. There is a lot of lore that he drove John J. Pershing, but that is generally disputed. However, he DID get an assignment to drive Billy Mitchel's flashy twin -six -cylinder packard and talked himself into flight school through the boss! His WWI flying exploits are legendary and the kid from Ohio came home a national hero But that was just the beginning of a colorful life for a scrappy and scrawny kid, turned Ace of Aces, airline President, famed raft suvivor of a plane ditching in the Pacific, potential presidential candidate - who lived large in living color..,, and finally died in 1973 at the age 83 having launched his career as a WWI fighter pilot in the war in sky one hundred years ago this week. Link:http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/rickenbacker.htm http://www.historynet.com/captain-eddie-rickenbacker-americas-world-war-i-ace-of-aces.htm http://acepilots.com/wwi/us_rickenbacker.html The Great War Channel For videos about WWI 100 years ago this week, and from a more european perspective --- check out our friends at the Great War Channel on Youtube. New episodes this week include: The first tank-on-tank battle in history -- Tank crew training and more German tank prototypes Plus…. The Finnish Jägers in World War 1 See their videos by searching for “the great war” on youtube or following the link in the podcast notes! Link:https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar World War One NOW Alright - It is time to fast forward into the present with WW1 Centennial News NOW - [MUSIC TRANSITION] This part of the podcast isn’t the past --- It focuses on NOW and how we are commemorating the centennial of WWI! [SOUND EFFECT] Commission News Belleau Wood Tree -- Missing but will return This week in Commission News -- We heard, with great distress that the lovely Oak sapling from Belleau Wood, that had been planted by President’s Macron and Trump on the white house lawn last week - had mysteriously GONE MISSING~!! One day it was there - the next - it wasn’t! Much to our relief, the mystery was resolved quickly. It turns out that the tree - which has made it’s journey from Europe with Macron had to be put into temporary quarantine - a typical procedure for living agricultural goods imported from overseas. It’ll be put back to its original spot as soon as it get out of detention! We put a link to the story in the podcast notes! Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mystery-solved-why-trump-macron-friendship-tree-vanished/ar-AAwxbt3?OCID=ansmsnnews11 Spotlight on the Media Blackjack Pershing: Love and War We have a spotlight on the media for you! The spotlight is on US General of the Armies, the American Expeditionary Forces commander General John J. Pershing. [RUN AUDIO CLIP FROM TRAILER] That clip is from a new documentary “Black Jack Pershing: Love and War” - and today -- we’re joined by the film’s producer - Barney McCoy professor of journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Welcome, Barney! [welcome/greetings] [Barney-- I understand your film looks is not just about Pershing the General but also Pershing the man, who also suffered and endured great personal tragedy and heartbreak in his life. Can you give us an overview of the story in the film?] [Now, you made this documentary by incorporating hundreds of U.S. Army Signal Corps photographs and films from the National Archives -- what was the research process like? And did you come across anything surprising as you were poking around the archives?] [How did you get involved in this film? How did it happen?] [A very important question… When and where can people see the film?] [thank you/goodbyes] Barney McCoy is professor of journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the producer of “Black Jack Pershing: Love and War”. We’ve included links to the film’s trailer, website and upcoming screenings in the podcast notes! Links:https://www.archives.gov/calendar/event/black-jack-pershing-love-and-war https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru3DzGSwdeE https://jjpershing.com/ Remembering Veterans The Influenza of 1918 This week For Remembering Veterans -- we’re turning our attention away from the battlefield and looking at a phenomenon that took more lives than the bullets or shells. With us to explore the story of the Flu pandemic 100 years ago, is Kenneth C. Davis, bestselling author of the “Don’t Know Much About” book series. In fact, during our editorial meeting, when we were discussing the interview our intern, John enthused that these books were on his shelf as he was growing up… Well, Kenneth’s new book is coming out on May 15th and it is called: More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War .. a fascinating subject by a wonderful writer! Kenneth! Welcome to the Podcast. [greetings] [Ken- Let’s start with the name of this flu pandemic - Patient Zero was not from Spain were they?] [How big and bad was it? I have heard a lot of varying numbers but whatever they are, the scale staggers the imagination!] [We have a global war - we have a global pandemic - how do the dots connect? ] [Ken - what made this particular flu so especially deadly?] [Well, a quick follow up on that - and Katherine our line producer asked about this - with so many advanced in medicine in this particular moment in history - why did medicine not get ahead of this one?] [Do you think this deadly global event still echoes today? ] [Thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us today!] [goodbyes/thanks] Kenneth C. Davis is the bestselling author of the Don’t Know Much About Book series. Don’t miss his upcoming - More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War available at your favorite bookseller May 15th! We have put links to his work and upcoming events in the podcast notes. Links: www.dontknowmuch.com http://dontknowmuch.com/books/more-deadly-than-war/ http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/kenneth-davis-more-deadly-war/ https://www.amazon.com/More-Deadly-Than-War-History/dp/1250145120/ref=sr_1_6 WW1 War Tech Fritz Haber For WW1 War Tech -- we are going to tell you the amazing and tragic story of a WW1 era technologist, the German chemist Fritz Haber! Fritz Haber is one of the most underappreciated actors of World War I whose discoveries spanned from the life giving to the life taking. He was celebrated with Nobel Prize for developing chemical fertilizers -- and equally vilified for another invention, chlorine gas. Tragically one of his most vocal critics was his wife, Clara, who was not only an ardent pacifist but an accomplished chemist herself. The invention of what is known as the “Haber Process” was the result of wartime necessities. Even before World War I, German military strategists recognized the potential of a total British naval blockade on their country, which would do tremendous damage to their ability to import the materials required to manufacture weapons. One particularly vulnerable commodity were the nitrates imported from South America, used in the development of ammonia for explosives. Haber discovered a new method of creating ammonia by combining nitrogen and hydrogen gases. Since ammonia is also used as a fertilizer, the Haber Process allowed for the mass production of agricultural fertilizers, transforming agriculture both inside and outside Germany. Much of the reason behind why the world is able to support a population of more than seven billion is the use of these fertilizers, which all have their roots in the Haber Process. And for his method of creating artificial ammonia, Haber was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918. But as we said, another of Haber’s invention would come to overshadow this incredible discovery. When World War I finally broke out in 1914, the quick victory expected by many military generals soon became a slow, bloody struggle to shift the frontlines only a few miles either way. The German High Command quickly realized they needed a new, fearsome weapon to break the stalemate. It was the strongly patriotic Haber who came up with the solution: by combining the ammonia he extracted from the air with chlorine, he could produce a gas that would asphyxiate all who encountered it-- Haber was on hand personally when his Chlorine Gas was first released by the German military at the Second Battle of Ypres. Over 5,000 men, not recognizing this new weapon’s true danger, were quickly overcome, and were found by their fellow soldiers with their faces turned black and shirts torn open in a desperate search for air. Germany’s use of poison gas at Ypres would set a precedent for an unprecedented tactic, one that would scar many men for a lifetime after the war ended. People around the world were horrified by Harber’s new, deadly invention, but among the most repelled was Haber’s own wife, Clara. At a party celebrating his promotion to Captain as a result of his work in poison gas nine days after the test at Ypres, Clara directly confronted her husband, calling him morally bankrupt and his efforts monstrous. Haber ignored her. Later that night, no longer able to stand her marriage, Clara shot herself in the garden with her husband’s pistol. Haber left the next day to supervise another gas attack on the Western Front, leaving his young son to grieve alone. After the war ended in Germany’s defeat, a brokenhearted Haber would try to single handedly pay back the burdensome war reparations by inventing a process to distill dissolved gold floating in the ocean, an ultimately unsuccessful endeavour. There is a final, tragic and ironic twist on Haber’s legacy… during WWII - When the Nazi regime was looking for ways to best murder their many classes of undesirables, they came upon one of Haber’s products, a pesticide called Zyklon. The Nazi authorities used this chemical to gas millions of innocent victims in the Holocaust, including the Jewish German Haber’s own friends and family. Fritz Haber, a brilliant man whose fertilizer invention have fed billions, who’s weaponized inventions killed million, whose wife shot herself in protest and whose family and friends were finally gassed in concentration camps with his own invention… an epic, tragic and another amazing story of the war that changed the world and this week’s WWI War Tech. We have links for you in the podcast notes. Links:https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/…

Full show notes at the publisher

The “Sweetheart of the doughboys”: Episode #69 Apr 28, 2018

Show notes

Highlights US Telephone in WWI - Dr. Sheldon Hochheiser, AT&T | @02:25 The tide begins to turn - Mike Shuster | @10:10 The “Sweetheart of the doughboys” - Edward Lengel | @14:25 The Women’s Land Army - Elaine Weiss | @22:55 Anzac Day - Group Captain Peter Davis & Commander Peter Kempster | @30:30 100 Cities / 100 Memorials: Granite, OK - Phil Neighbors & Perry Hutchison | @37:40 Speaking WW1: Kiwi & Aussie | @44:25 WW1 War Tech: Geophone | @45:35 Dispatch Newsletter Headlines | @47:20 WWI Centennial in Social Media - Katherine Akey | @50:05----more---- Opening Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - episode #69 - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. This week: Dr. Sheldon Hochheiser tells us about an iconic American company and its role in the war -- AT&T. Mike Schuster, from the great war project blog updates us on German morale as Operation Georgette comes to a close. Dr. Edward Lengel with the story of Elsie Janis, the “sweetheart of the doughboys” Elaine Weiss introduces us to the Farmerettes, the women’s land army Group Captain Peter Davis and Commander Peter Kempster on the Australian and New Zealander commemorations for ANZAC day Phil Neighbors and Perry Hutchison with the 100 Cities / 100 Memorial project from Granite, Oklahoma. Katherine Akey with the commemoration of world war one in social media And lots more... on WW1 Centennial News -- a weekly podcast brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and the Starr foundation. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC] Preface Today we are going to explore the US telephone system during the war -- and unlike most nations where the phone systems are typically government owned --- The US Telephone system has always been privately owned - well, not always - for 1 year during WWI - the US government took over the nation’s telephone system… but perhaps most amazing of all - a year later, after the war, the US government privatized it again! With that as a setup, let’s jump into our centennial time machine and look at the America’s telephone story 100 years ago - in the war that changed the world! [SOUND EFFECT] [TRANSITION] World War One THEN 100 Year Ago This Week It is the summer of 1918 and the House Committee on Interstate Commerce is holding hearings about a government take over of the nation’s privately held telephone system. Only three witnesses are called to testify - Albert Berleson - The Postmaster General, Newton Baker, the secretary of war and Josephus Daniels, the secretary of the Navy. These three men, eventually backup up by President Wilson - are pushing for the takeover of the phone system - citing among other things - national security concerns including the protections from spies using this incredibly powerful technology that is rapidly spreading across the land. Most remarkably --- that representatives of the phone company are NOT asked to participate in the discussion. Well, to help us tell this amazing story, we invited Dr. Sheldon Hochheiser, the corporate Historian from AT&T to join us on the show. AT&T During the War Welcome, Dr. Hochheiser! [greetings/welcome] [Dr. Hochheiser - from an AT&T historical perspective - what was the story here?] [Were the company executives on record about this? What did they say? How did this nationalization actually work? The government suddenly declared that they owned the phone lines, but operations continued to be run by AT&T? Or were they? ] [What happened as a result of the postmaster General’s involvement?] [The most interesting part of all this FOR ME - is that control was returned to AT&T again as the war ended. How did that happen?] [During the war, how did telephone facilities rise to meet wartime needs? ] [Dr, Hochheiser - We just got in a question from our Live audience. Frank Krone wants to know what happened to AT&T’s chief technologist John Carty - after the war?] [How did this 1-year event help shape AT&T as a company?] [goodbye/thanks] Dr. Sheldon Hochheiser is the corporate historian at AT&T. Learn more about the company and its WW1 history at the links in the podcast notes. Links: https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1466&context=faculty_scholarship https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/inventions-flourished-due-wwi.html http://soldiers.dodlive.mil/2014/03/world-war-is-hello-girls-paving-the-way-for-women-in-the-u-s-army/ https://www.corp.att.com/history/history1.html [MUSIC TRANSITION] Great War Project It is time for Mike Shuster -- former NPR correspondent and curator for the Great War project Blog…. Mike: Your post this week indicates a turning point for the Spring Offensive. As Ed Lengel pointed out previously in our roundtables, the German goal was to split the French and the British armies and drive the british to the ports and off the mainland. But it looks like that plan has failed! What is going on Mike? [MIKE POST] Mike Shuster from the Great War Project blog. The links to Mike Shuster’s Great War Project blog and the post -- are in the podcast notes. LINK: http://greatwarproject.org/2018/04/22/german-morale-is-flagging/ [SOUND EFFECT] America Emerges: Military Stories from WW1 Welcome to our segment - America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI with Dr. Edward Lengel. Ed: Mike Shuster pretty much covered the fighting front here at the end of April - - but your story this week offers us a wonderful and completely different perspective on the events in Europe and a very, very special person - The “Sweetheart of the Doughboys” - Singer and entertainer Elsie Janis. What is her story Ed? [ED LENGEL] [MUSIC TRANSITION] Dr. Edward Lengel is an American military historian, author, and our segment host for America Emerges: Military Stories from WWI. There are links in the podcast notes to Ed’s post and his web sites as an author. Links:http://www.edwardlengel.com/elsie-janis-becomes-sweetheart-doughboys-1918/ https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLengelAuthor/ http://www.edwardlengel.com/about/ The Great War Channel For videos about WWI 100 years ago this week, and from a more european perspective --- check out our friends at the Great War Channel on Youtube. New episodes this week include: Knocking out the Hejaz Railway Another of the very popular “Out of the Trenches” episodes where host Indy Neidel takes questions from the audience And finally Felix Graf Von Luckner -- Who did what in WW1? See their videos by searching for “the great war” on youtube or following the link in the podcast notes! Link:https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar World War One NOW Alright - It is time to fast forward into the present with WW1 Centennial News NOW - [SOUND EFFECT] This part of the podcast isn’t the past --- It focuses on NOW and how we are commemorating the centennial of WWI! Commission News Gift from French President recalls WWI USMC heroics in Battle of Belleau Wood This week in Commission news-- we were excited to see that French President Emmanuel Macron brought a special gift to the White House during his visit to Washington -- one that bears great World War I significance: it was a European Sessile Oak sapling from the Belleau Wood in France. Presidents Trump and Macron - ceremonial shovels in hand - planted the commemorative tree on the White house lawn. The Battle of Belleau Wood is one of the most important American engagements of World War One -- it was the first major battle for the US Marines during the conflict and is still viewed as a seminal moment in Marine Corps history. Fighting alongside British and French troops, America suffered more than 9,700 casualties. You can read more about this meaningful and symbolic gift, and see pictures of the ceremonial planting at the White House, by following the links in the podcast notes. link:https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/4376-special-gift-from-the-president-of-france-recalls-american-wwi-heroics.html Remembering Veterans Farmerettes and Suffrage with author Elaine Weiss This week For Remembering Veterans -- As we have pointed out before --- there are actually more veterans of WWI than just the soldiers and sailors - As the men headed off to training camps and to Europe - The women of America needed to pick up the role of their missing men -- Especially when it came to feeding the nation. And that is the story of the “Farmerettes and the Women’s Land Army”. With us to explore that story is Elaine Weiss, journalist and author of multiple books including Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army in the Great War --- as well as The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote. Welcome to the podcast, Elaine! [greetings] [Elaine-- Feeding the nation AND sending desperately needed food to our allies was strategically critical - how did American Womanhood stand up to that task?] [Where did the idea to create a Women’s Land Army come from? ] [How did the Women’s Land Army experience play into the suffrage movement? Were the Farmerettes paid for their work? Equal pay for equal work?] [What was the reception the women received -- both on the ground, by the farmers, the public, and the government?] [What became of the farmerettes once the war ended… especially when the men came home?] [Did the legacy of these women set a precedent when the second world war came around? ] [How about their influence on the women in the workforce today?] [goodbyes/thanks] Elaine Weiss is an award winning journalist and author of multiple books, including the recently published The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote from Viking Books. Read a rave review of her new book, and learn more about her work by following the links in the podcast notes. Links:http://elaineweiss.com/ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/books/review/womans-hour-elaine-weiss.html Events NC State University This week from our WWI centennial events registers at ww1cc.org/events -- there is a great one at North Carolina State University, on May 1st! Back in Episode #64, we spoke to Thomas Skolnicki [SKOAL-nick-ee], the Landscape Architect for the University -- retired US navy Rear Admiral -- Benny Suggs, the director of NC State's Alumni Association and US Air Force Veteran, World War One Centennial Commissioner Jerry Hester -- All three men are NC State University Alumni, and all involved in the school’s 100 Cities, 100 memorials project. They told us about the restoration of the school’s belltower -- and about this upcoming rededication event. The event will include a full military ceremony with a 21-gun salute and a flyover of F-15s from the 4th Fighter Wing stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, in Goldsboro, NC. It’s an opportunity for all to learn about the sacrifices made by NC State students and the commitment that the school has made since its inception to military service and leadership. Nearly 2,000 students and alumni served in WWI, and the Bell Tower includes the names of the 34 who died in that service. So if you’re in the area -- be sure to check it out! We have links for further details in the podcast notes. Link:https://news.ncsu.edu/2018/04/belltower-event-commemorates-end-of-wwi/ https://www.alumni.ncsu.edu/s/1209/16/interior.aspx?sid=1209&pgid=6092&gid=1001&cid=9908&ecid=9908&post_id=0 International Report In our International Report-- This past Wednesday, April 25th is a day of special remembrance that has its roots in World War One- It is known as ANZAC day which stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers are known as Anzacs. and here to tell us more about the past, present and future of ANZAC day are Group Captain Peter Davis of the Australian Defense Staff and Commander Peter Kempster of the New Zealand Defense Force. Gentlemen, welcome to the podcast [greetings/welcome] [So what’s the story of ANZAC day? What’s the origin?] [How is ANZAC day celebrated in Australia and New Zealand? And does the commemoration differ between the two nations?] [[This is the last centennial year-- what were commemorations like on Anzac day this year?] [I think many people may be familiar with the ANZAC’s involvement at Gallipoli-- but that engagement was over by 1916. Where did the forces deploy to after that?] [Personally, what does ANZAC day mean for you?] [thanks/goodbye] Group Captain Peter Davis is the Assistant Defense Attache and Chief of Staff of the Australian Defense Staff at the US Australian Embassy and Commander Peter Kempster is the New Zealand Naval Attache to the US for the New Zealand Defense Force. Learn more about ANZAC day and the centennial organizations of both countries by following the links in the podcast notes. Link: https://www.awm.gov.au/index.php/about/our-work/projects/centenary-projects http://www.anzaccentenary.gov.au/ http://www.defence.gov.au/events/centenaryofanzac/ProgramOfEvents.asp https://ww100.govt.nz/ https://mch.govt.nz/what-we-do/our-projects/current/first-world-war-centenary-projects 100 Cities 100 Memorials This week for our 100 Cities / 100 Memorials segment --- the $200,000 matching grant challenge to rescue and focus on our local WWI memorials ---we are going to profile the World War I Memorial project from Granite, Oklahoma. With us tell us about Granite, Greer County and their inspiring WWI story are Phil Neighbors, pastor of the Valley Baptist church and a native son of Granite, and Perry Hutchison, retired Army Colonel and former professor at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth Officer Training School. Gentlemen, welcome to the podcast [greetings/welcome] [Phil: In your grant application you describe Granite, Oklahoma as a small community of heroes - that’s an intriguing opening line! What did you mean?] [Phil: American Legion Post 121 in Mangum Oklahoma is placing a new monument in the World War 1 Memorial Park in Granite. Can you tell us a little about those specifics please? [Well, Phil - As I we talked off line, there is another Oklahoma 100 Cities / 100 Memorials awardee from Towson, Oklahoma. So this is interesting - It seems that Oklahoma has a big WWI story to tell - but doesn’t seem to have a WWI centennial organization or Website - maybe this will help stimulate something to come together!] [Phil: Thank you for bringing us the story of the heroes from your corner of the country. It’s been great to have you on!] [thanks/goodbye] Phil Neighbors is pastor of the Valley Baptist church and a native son of Granite, Oklahoma and Perry Hutchison, retired Army Colonel and former professor at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth Officer Training School Learn more about the 100 Cities/100 Memorials program by following the links in the podcast notes or by going to ww1cc.org/100Memorials Link: www.ww1cc.org/100cities Speaking WW1 It’s time for our weekly feature “Speaking World War 1” -- Where we explore the words & phrases that are rooted in the war --- We are sticking with our ANZAC theme... New Zealand, as were all the Dominion nations of the British Empire, was thrown into World War 1 by Britain’s own declaration of war on August 4, 1914. When the New Zealanders arrived in Europe - Their uniforms were emblazoned with badges, emblems, and insignias of Kiwis - and NO… It’s not an egg-shaped fuzzy fruit - It’s the big, flightless and quite unique national bird of New Zealand! And one of our two Speaking WWI Words this week - these soldiers were instantly nicknames the Kiwis! As for the Australians, Also a dominion nation - their WWI soldierly nickname and that stuck ever since is our second Speaking WWI word this week - Aussies. Kind of obvious - and you know it -- but I’ll bet you didn’t know t…

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