How a Wounded Pigeon Named Cher Ami Saved the Lost Battalion in WWI
On the afternoon of Oct. 4, 1918, American artillery hit a ravine in France’s Argonne Forest. The rounds were falling directly on roughly 500 U.S. soldiers that had been trapped behind enemy lines for two days. Maj. Charles Whittlesey, a New York lawyer commanding the surrounded force, had one way left to stop the bombardment. […]
The Battle of Hamel: Australian Soldiers Taught American Doughboys to Fight Germans in WWI
At 3:10 a.m. on July 4, 1918, American soldiers climbed out of their trenches in northern France. Most had never seen combat before. They had arrived in Europe weeks earlier. Now they were attacking German positions alongside battle-hardened Australian troops and were under the command of an Australian general. For the first time in American […]
The Last American Killed in WWI Charged a German Machine Gun Seconds Before the Armistice Took Effect
At 10:59 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, a German machine gun crew fired a burst of rounds at approaching Americans. One bullet struck 23-year-old Pvt. Henry Gunther in the left temple. He died instantly. Sixty seconds later, the guns fell silent across the Western Front. Gen. John Pershing would officially designate Gunther as the last […]
Rescued From a WWI Battlefield, This Dog Became Hollywood's Biggest Star and Saved Warner Bros. From Bankruptcy
On Sept. 15, 1918, Corporal Lee Duncan walked through the bombed-out ruins of a German camp near Flirey, France. There, he found a kennel that housed military-working dogs meant for the German army. Most were dead, but he discovered a starving German shepherd mother with her litter of five newborn puppies. Their eyes hadn’t even […]
Pennsylvania State Senator Sues Critics of His Book About WWI Hero Sgt. York
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania state senator and former GOP gubernatorial candidate whose support for Donald Trump drew him to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has sued a Canadian university and nearly two dozen academics over criticism of him and his research into World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York. Sen. Doug Mastriano’s defamation, […]
These Women Answered the Call in WWI. Should They Receive the Gold Medal?
One hundred years ago, a huge crowd gathered in Armory Park in Passaic to hear U.S. Army General John J. Pershing praise the men who fought so bravely in World War I. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces that defeated Germany and its allies to end World War I, came to Passaic on Memorial […]
Army Renames Louisiana Base for Black WWI Hero Who Received Medal of Honor
FORT JOHNSON, La. — A U.S. Army base in western Louisiana was renamed Tuesday to honor Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black hero of World War I who received the Medal of Honor nearly a century later. Fort Johnson had previously been named after a Confederate commander, Leonidas Polk. The renaming is part of the […]