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When Europe went to war in 1914, the United States sought to stay out of the conflict. Both sides disregarded American neutrality. Germany's use of unrestricted submarine warfare and economic ties to Great Britain eventually led the United States into the war. Mobilization called for many sacrifices by the American people.
President Woodrow Wilson's War Message
 On February 3, 1917, President Wilson addressed Congress to announce that diplomatic relations with Germany were severed. In a Special Session of Congress held on April 2, 1917, President Wilson delivered this 'War Message.' Four days later, Congress overwhelmingly passed the War Resolution which brought the United States into the Great War
"...It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts—for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other."
— Woodrow Wilson,
April 2, 1917
The Men Who Served
"About 4,000,000 men served in the Army of the United States during the war (Apr. 6, 1917 to Nov. 11, 1918). The total number of men serving in the armed forces of the country, including the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the other services, amounted to 4,800,000. It was almost true that among each 100 American citizens 5 took up arms in defense of the country.
...When the country entered the war it was not anticipated in America, or suggested by France and England, that the forces to be shipped overseas should even approximate in numbers those that were actually sent.
It was not until the German drive was under way in March 1918, that the allies called upon America for the supreme effort that carried a million and a half soldiers to France in six months."
Source: Leonard P. Ayres,
Chief Of The Statistics Branch Of The General Staff,
Second Edition with data revised to August 1, 1919
Washington Government Printing Office
An Episode of The Great War
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"In the Army you are certain to receive what you get."—Trench Proverb.
A rifleman lay snoring in the soft slush on the floor of the trench, his arms doubled under him, his legs curved up so that the knees reached the man's jaw. As I touched him he shuffled a little, turned on his side, seeking a more comfortable position in the mud, and fell asleep again. A light glowed in the dug-out and someone in there was singing in a low voice a melancholy ragtime song. No doubt a fire was now lit in the corner near the wall, my sleeping place, and Bill Teake was there preparing a mess-tin of tea.
The hour was twilight, the hour of early stars and early star-shells, of dreams and fancies and longings for home. It is then that all objects take on strange shapes, when every jutting traverse becomes alive with queer forms, the stiff sandbag becomes a gnome, the old dug-out, leaning wearily on its props, an ancient crone, spirits lurk in every nook and corner of shadows; the sleep-heavy eyes of weary men see strange visions in the dark alleys of war.
Source: "The Great Push, An Episode of the Great War", by Patrick MacGill, New York, George H. Doran Company, 1916. | |
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Click photos to enlarge.
Date: ca.1917-1919
Title: Overseas men welcomed home. Parade in honor of returned fighters passing the Public Library, New York City.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration
Date: ca.1917-1919
Title: Gallant 15th Infantry Fighters Home with War Crosses. The French liner, La France, arrives with 15th Infantry, the Infantry with Negro fighters who won honors in France.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration
Date: ca.1917-1919
Title: 367th Regiment Infantry, The "Buffaloes," presented with colors. The "Buffaloes" singing the National Anthem in front of the Union League Club, New York City.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration
"Let it be your pride therefore, to show all men everywhere not only what good soldiers you are, but also what good men you are."—Woodrow Wilson
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