About American War Heroes of WWI
- 6 American Heroes of WWIFrom a balloon-busting fighter ace and a Navy escape artist to one of the most Marine Corps’ most legendary sergeants, meet six servicemen who distinguished themselves on the battlefields of World War I.
Books about WWI War Heroes
The Great Rescue
Published in commemoration of the centennial of America's entry into World War I, the story of the USS Leviathan, the legendary liner turned warship that ferried U.S. soldiers to Europe--a unique war history that offers a fresh, compelling look at this epic time. When war broke out in Europe in August 1914, the new German luxury ocean liner SS Vaterland was interned in New York Harbor, where it remained docked for nearly three years--until the United States officially entered the fight to turn the tide of the war. Seized by authorities for the U.S. Navy once war was declared in April 2017, the liner was renamed the USS Leviathan by President Woodrow Wilson, and converted into an armed troop carrier that transported thousands of American Expeditionary Forces to the battlefields of France. For German U-Boats hunting Allied ships in the treacherous waters of the Atlantic, no target was as prized as the Leviathan, carrying more than 10,000 Doughboys per crossing. But the Germans were not the only deadly force threatening the ship and its passengers. In 1918, a devastating influenza pandemic--the Spanish flu--spread throughout the globe, predominantly striking healthy young adults, including soldiers. Peter Hernon tells the ship's story across multiple voyages and through the experiences of a diverse cast of participants, including the ship's captain, Henry Bryan; General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force; Congressman Royal Johnson, who voted against the war but enlisted once the resolution passed; Freddie Stowers, a young black South Carolinian whose heroism was ignored because of his race; Irvin Cobb, a star war reporter for the Saturday Evening Post; and Elizabeth Weaver, an army nurse who saw the war's horrors firsthand; as well as a host of famous supporting characters, including a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Memorials
- National World War 1 Museum & MemorialSoon after World War I ended, Kansas City leaders formed the Liberty Memorial Association (LMA) to create a lasting monument to the men and women who had served in the war. In 1919, the LMA and citizens of Kansas City raised more than $2.5 million in just 10 days. The equivalent of more than $35 million today, this staggering accomplishment reflected the passion of public sentiment for the Great War that had dramatically changed the world.
- World War I Memorial (DC)The centennial of World War I provided the opportunity to give long-overdue recognition to America’s 4.7 million sons and daughters who served in the War to End All Wars. The site eventually chosen for the new memorial was Pershing Park, originally the home of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) Memorial, dedicated in 1981 to honor the American forces who served in Europe during the war and named for their commander, General John J. Pershing. In 2020 the memorial was expanded to honor not just the AEF but all Americans who served, including U.S. Navy sailors, Coast Guardsmen, men and women in uniform who did not serve in Europe and those who served in civilian capacities.
- Verdun WWI Memorial (France)In the heart of the Verdun hills still ravaged by the millions of shells that caused the death of more than 300,000 people and wounded 400,000 in less than a year, the Verdun Memorial traces the history of the most famous battle of the First World War.
Created in 1967, under the aegis of the academician and veteran Maurice Genevoix, it is one of the main European museums of the Great War. For those who seek to feel, understand and transmit what Verdun has been, the Memorial is an obligatory passage.
But after more than four decades of existence, a modernization of the building was necessary to repair the ravages of time and recast the museography in order to create a new link with the younger generations. There are no survivors to remember what the Battle of Verdun was like. While respecting the spirit of Maurice Genevoix's work, it therefore seemed crucial that the Memorial adapt its message in order to bring the elements of interpretation of this Franco-German battle to the youngest.
Tennessee's Sergeant Alvin York
Christian | Sergeant York (sgtyork.org)
Sergeant York was awarded his nation's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions outside the French village of Chatel-Chehery on October 8, 1918, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive against the German forces.
On October 8, 1918, after being pinned down in an attempt to capture a narrow-gauge railroad, York took his fateful walk into history. As the company sharp-shooter, he and 16 other soldiers under the command of Acting Sergeant Bernard Early were given the unenviable task of silencing the machine guns that halted the advance the day before. It was a cold, wet morning. Rain mixed with sleet added to the gloom of the fog that draped the landscape. As the soldiers worked their way around the hill, the men on the left flank stood exposed in the creek bottom. German machine gunners opened fire, wounding or killing nine Americans, including York's best friend Murray Savage. York was on the right flank beneath the crest of the hill in a natural depression, which he used to kill nine of the men who operated the guns. In the meantime, his comrades opened fire on the Germans, and in a few minutes 25 were dead. The Germans surrendered to what they thought was a superior force, and York and the American survivors escorted 132 prisoners to American forces at Varennes some 10 miles away.
WWI Hero | Sergeant York (sgtyork.org)
- Sergeant York Patriotic FoundationSince 1993 the Sgt. York Patriotic Foundation has supported efforts to preserve and promote Sgt. York's Legacy through the York State Park.
Books & Films about Sergeant York
Alvin York
Alvin C. York (1887-1964)--devout Christian, conscientious objector, and reluctant hero of World War I--is one of America's most famous and celebrated soldiers. Known to generations through Gary Cooper's Academy Award-winning portrayal in the 1941 film Sergeant York, York is credited with the capture of 132 German soldiers on October 8, 1918, in the Meuse-Argonne region of France--a deed for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. At war's end, the media glorified York's bravery but some members of the German military and a soldier from his own unit cast aspersions on his wartime heroics. Historians continue to debate whether York has received more recognition than he deserves. A fierce disagreement about the location of the battle in the Argonne forest has further complicated the soldier's legacy. In Alvin York, Douglas V. Mastriano sorts fact from myth in the first full-length biography of York in decades. He meticulously examines York's youth in the hills of east Tennessee, his service in the Great War, and his return to a quiet civilian life dedicated to charity. By reviewing artifacts recovered from the battlefield using military terrain analysis, forensic study, and research in both German and American archives, Mastriano reconstructs the events of October 8 and corroborates the recorded accounts. On the eve of the WWI centennial, Alvin York promises to be a major contribution to twentieth-century military history.
Streaming Media
- Great War StoriesAs the shadow of the First World War stretched across the globe, millions of ordinary people were caught in its wake. Many of their stories have never been told. This film collects together just a few of these untold stories: the surprising revelation of the first civilian killed in the war; the extraordinary transformation of Britain into a military industrial complex and the devastating effect on the women enlisted to work in its factories; and the poignant story of a bundle of letters from a frontline soldier to a little girl back home. This moving film shows how the unfolding conflict of the First World War affected ordinary people caught up on the front line and on the home front. A BBC Production.