The Second Infantry Division in World War I
The Second Infantry Division in World War I

Author: George B. Clark

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2007-08-17

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0786429607

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When the United States entered World War I in 1917, it sent the American Expeditionary Force to relieve the worn and beleaguered Allied Forces. On September 20, 1917, Congress approved the creation of the Second Division of the American Expeditionary Force. A hybrid Marine/Army unit, it was conceived and ultimately formed overseas, primarily from units in France. Giving themselves the nickname "Second to None," the Second Division effectively stopped the German drive on Paris in June 1918, becoming the first American unit to fight the enemy in a major engagement and revitalizing the Allied war effort. This volume details the fighting experiences of the Second Division, from its creation in the fall of 1917 through 1919. The book follows the unit from training in Toulon through the major campaigns including Chateau Thierry, Soissons, Blanc Mont and Meuse Argonne and records the experiences of the men who served. Appendices provide information regarding the pedigree of the division and its units; a syllabi of the Second Division's experiences; and a list of major awards received by Second Division personnel. Detailed maps and period photographs are also included.

The United States in World War I
The United States in World War I

Author: James T. Controvich

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2023-05-08

Total Pages: 657

ISBN-13: 0810883198

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With the centennial of the First World War rapidly approaching, historian and bibliographer James T. Controvich offers in The United States in World War I: A Bibliographic Guide the most comprehensive, up-to-date reference bibliography yet published. Organized by subject, this bibliography includes the full range of sources: vintage publications of the time, books, pamphlets, periodical titles, theses, dissertations, and archival sources held by federal and state organizations, as well as those in public and private hands, including historical societies and museums. As Controvich’s bibliographic accounting makes clear, there were many facets of World War I that remain virtually unknown to this day. Throughout, Controvich’s bibliography tracks the primary sources that tell each of these stories—and many others besides—during this tense period in American history. Each entry lists the author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, and page count as well as descriptive information concerning illustrations, plates, ports, maps, diagrams, and plans. The armed forces section carries additional information on rosters, awards, citations, and killed and wounded in action lists. The United States in World War I: A Bibliographic Guide is an ideal research tool for students and scholars of World War I and American history.

The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II
The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II

Author: William C. Meadows

Publisher: Univ of TX + ORM

Published: 2009-03-06

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 0292798504

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The true story of the US Army’s Comanche Code Talkers, from their recruitment and training to active duty in World War II and postwar life. Among the allied troops that came ashore in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, were thirteen Comanches in the 4th Infantry Division, 4th Signal Company. Under German fire they laid communications lines and began sending messages in a form never before heard in Europe?coded Comanche. For the rest of World War II, the Comanche Code Talkers played a vital role in transmitting orders and messages in a code that was never broken by the Germans. This book tells the full story of the Comanche Code Talkers for the first time. Drawing on interviews with all surviving members of the unit, their original training officer, and fellow soldiers, as well as military records and news accounts, William C. Meadows follows the group from their recruitment and training to their active duty in World War II and on through their postwar lives up to the present. He also provides the first comparison of Native American code talking programs, comparing the Comanche Code Talkers with their better-known Navajo counterparts in the Pacific and with other Native Americans who used their languages, coded or not, for secret communication. Meadows sets this history in a larger discussion of the development of Native American code talking in World Wars I and II, identifying two distinct forms of Native American code talking, examining the attitudes of the American military toward Native American code talkers, and assessing the complex cultural factors that led Comanche and other Native Americans to serve their country in this way. “Of all the books on Native American service in the U.S. armed forces, this is the best. . . . Readers will find the story of the Comanche Code Talkers compelling, humorous, thought-provoking, and inspiring.” —Tom Holm, author of Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War

Immortal Valor
Immortal Valor

Author: Robert Child

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-01-06

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1472852869

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The remarkable story of the seven African American soldiers ultimately awarded the World War II Medal of Honor, and the 50-year campaign to deny them their recognition. In 1945, when Congress began reviewing the record of the most conspicuous acts of courage by American soldiers during World War II, they recommended awarding the Medal of Honor to 432 recipients. Despite the fact that more than one million African-Americans served, not a single black soldier received the Medal of Honor. The omission remained on the record for over four decades. But recent historical investigations have brought to light some of the extraordinary acts of valor performed by black soldiers during the war. Men like Vernon Baker, who single-handedly eliminated three enemy machineguns, an observation post, and a German dugout. Or Sergeant Reuben Rivers, who spearhead his tank unit's advance against fierce German resistance for three days despite being grievously wounded. Meanwhile Lieutenant Charles Thomas led his platoon to capture a strategically vital village on the Siegfried Line in 1944 despite losing half his men and suffering a number of wounds himself. Ultimately, in 1993 a US Army commission determined that seven men, including Baker, Rivers and Thomas, had been denied the Army's highest award simply due to racial discrimination. In 1997, more than 50 years after the war, President Clinton finally awarded the Medal of Honor to these seven heroes, sadly all but one of them posthumously. These are their stories.

Twenty-Nine, Let’s Go
Twenty-Nine, Let’s Go

Author: Joseph H. Ewing

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2018-12-01

Total Pages: 759

ISBN-13: 1789125324

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The 29th Infantry was on the front lines on D-Day, Battle of Normandy, and was the first division to cross the Elbe into Germany. When, on January 17, 1946, the 29th Infantry Division was deactivated, 28,776 soldiers had been killed, wounded, taken prisoner or missing. In September 1944, Joseph H. Ewing joined the famed 29th Infantry Division of the Maryland-Virginia National Guard as the unit was readying to storm the port city of Brest, France. In Germany, he led his rifle platoon in making an assault crossing of the Roer River at Julich, which led to the division’s drive on Munchen-Gladbach. During quiet periods on the Roer, Col. Ewing typed and edited a newspaper he titled Chin Strap. The scant-copy newspaper was circulated within the company and also caught the eye of battalion headquarters. The publication earned Col. Ewing the nicknames “Strap” and “The Strap.” At the end of World War II, Col. Ewing was assigned to Fort Meade and the War Department Historical Division in the Pentagon, and decided to author the official history of the 29th Division in World War II. This fascinating account of the division’s wartime history is the result of Col. Ewing’s combat experience and civilian career in journalism.

The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II
The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II

Author: Elliott V. Converse

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-06-14

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 147660732X

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The purpose of this study, commissioned by the Army, was to document the process by which the Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded from December 7, 1941, through September 1, 1948; to identify units in which African Americans served; to identify by name all black soldiers whose names were submitted for the medal and to document any errors in the processing of their nominations; and to compile a list of all black soldiers who received the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award. Based on this work, in January 1997 President Clinton awarded seven African Americans the Medal of Honor. The authors were selected by Shaw University of Raleigh, North Carolina, to conduct this study under a United States Army contract.