AEF Commander General John J. Pershing (class of 1886) and Army Chief of Staff General Peyton March (class of 1888)
West Point classes before the Great War was the main source of officers guiding the U.S. Army. The huge mobilization meant an equal increase in the officer corps which West Point could not begin to cover. But the officers with West Point in their background – much as was the case during the American Civil War – did account for most of the upper leadership positions within the Army and the AEF. Also, like the Civil War, there was a certain animosity between West Pointers and those without the pedigree in World War One, too. I, however, want to focus on the West Pointers here. This is a brief rundown of several who helped the American efforts during the Great War.
High above the cold, wind-driven waves of the Irish Sea, sitting atop rocky vertical cliffs on a southern peninsula with the odd name of the Mull of Oa on the Scottish island of Islay, a forgotten stone monument fashioned in the shape of a lighthouse. The American Red Cross erected the monument in 1920 to honor the memory of those who died in two separate troopship sinkings – the Tuscania and the Otranto – off the coast of Islay. Designed by a Glasgow architect as a monumental cairn recognizing the importance of those dead in the cold waters off Islay. Most who see the monument see a lighthouse peering into the dark and icy seas. America intertwined with Islay.
Emilio Lussu as an officer with the 151st Italian Infantry Regiment of the Brigatta Sassari
ITALIAN OFFICER, POLITICIAN AND WRITER OF THE GREAT WAR AND BEYOND
A UNIQUE WORK
Perhaps the best novel written about the Italian Great War front – not in English is The Sardinian Brigade by Emilio Lussu. The book’s title in ItalianUn anno sull’altipianowhich translates to A Year on the High Plateau with other English editions are titled A Soldier on the Southern Front.
Drive on US 30 as the highway meets US 101 underneath the Oregon side of the Astoria-Megler bridge over the Columbia River and you pass a small statue of a World War I soldier. The monument is “the Doughboy” or Astoria’s Doughboy. Doughboy refers to the nickname given to American infantrymen during the Great War. The nickname continued to refer to American soldiers until the Second World War nickname “G.I.”.
World War 1 was a major event in the country’s history. The war pushed a somewhat unwilling nation onto the international stage. Not since the American Civil War had something like World War 1 transfixed the US. During that war, some 10% of the population of the Union served in the Federal Army. By 1918, with 4.8 million serving in the armed forces, 4.7% of the population had served.
Paul preaching in the streets of Ephesus – by Eustache le Sueur.
Continuing on, for our last week following in the footsteps of St Paul, our group based in Kusadası, certainly one of the busiest tourist centers in all of Turkey. Package tourism is the order of the day. Leviathans of the cruise ship industry lumber into port daily. Thousands are dumped onto the local scene for a wander about the town or a quick shore excursion. Development has swamped Kusadası for better and/or worse. Our visits in search of St Paul here centered on trips to Ephesus and the ancient Greek cities of Priene, Miletus and the Temple of Apollo at Didyma.
The theater at Saglassos with the city beyond high in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey
DISCOVERING PAUL
Following in the footsteps of St Paul brought us to Turkey. Christianity did not begin with Paul of Tarsus. But the movement got a huge jump start from his evangelizing journeys and the letters he wrote to various communities he had helped start. Paul figures in more of the New Testament than almost Jesus, himself. It was through Paul’s efforts the Way was expanded beyond the Jewish world, the original target for both John the Baptist and Jesus. Paul allowed non-Jews – Gentiles – to join the party without fully following Jewish law – the crucible being circumcision. By opening this door, the Way evolved into an entirely new religion. Actually, a new family of religions developed, far different from the original stream Jesus or even Paul had drifted along.
If the war had come just a little later, Ernest Psichari might have avoided his fate at Rossignol entirely by already not being a part of this world but cloistered as a monk in the next. Psichari was one of the up-and-coming French writers who fell early in the war.
Note – this is an article I wrote for the Oregon LIONS monthly magazine back a couple years ago. It seems like a nice place to launch this blog from.Helen Keller truly smiles.
“HISTORY – an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.”
Ambrose Bierce from The Devil’s Dictionary
“To remain ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain a child. For what is the worth of a human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?”
Cicero from Orator
“What’s past is the Prologue”
William Shakespeare
Welcome to my blog
Lake Bled with Bled Castle across the Lake – same picture as on the first Lonely Planet volume on Slovenia
Blogs tend to focus on specific subjects. My focus tends to encompass my own learning as I make my way about in the World. Living in Portland, Oregon, there tends to be a quite a few stories regarding the Pacific Northwest. Show what you know?
My years have allowed me to visit many places around the world. Travel can push you to learning a lot about that world. The ‘learning’ doesn’t end with the travel. One story leads to another and so it is here on this site. There is a wide array of topics already covered. Easiest way to navigate through the topics is to use the sitemap here. I hope you find some of the entries as entertaining as I did in writing (and maybe visiting). Good journeys.
quick note:
A recent trip took me to Egypt with the pyramids and a Nile cruise in upper Egypt serving as the main agenda items. Those and other items on the menu will be inserted into the blog scheme in the foreseeable future. Enjoy reading about them as much as I did on the ground.
