If you will be coming to downtown DC on July 4 for the Freedom 250 festivities, please plan to be at the National World War I Memorial at 5:00 pm ET to witness the solemn sounding of Daily Taps in person.  This will be an unforgettable start to the evening's amazing activities and displays, honoring all those whose service made the day possible.

You can watch the solemn sounding of Daily Taps on YouTube every day, but if you can't make it to the Memorial on July 4, please watch the ceremony at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube.  After watching, leave a comment  to share your thanks for all who have served our nation the past 250 years, and all who continue to serve her now. This will make a permanent record of your participation in this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Can't make the first concert? No problem! There are three more Summer Concerts at the National World War I Memorial through September that you can RSVP to attend, in person or via live stream.  Check out the scheduled concerts, plus see other opportunities throughout the second half of 2026 to hear music from Doughboy Foundation's American Expeditionary Forces Headquarters Band in DC and elsewhere.

To commemorate America's historic Semiquincentennial, the Military Order of the World Wars and its supporting organizations are organizing and promoting a coordinated national bell-tolling ceremony across the country and internationally. These America 250 celebrations begin at 12:00 noon LOCAL time and can serve as the opening of a larger gathering, a featured moment within a community program, or the culmination of a breakfast, luncheon, or commemorative event. Learn more about Freedom Bells on July 4, find out how you and any organization can participate in the event, and get the great app designed to manage the whole thing for you!

Two years ago, M-HARP researcher Diane Boettcher discovered that an African American woman served as a Signal Corps Telephone Operator. Renee Messelin – born Ellarane Caldwell – turned out to be the only daughter of a prominent African American couple in Chicago. (See Diane's original article here.)  This year, after further research by Diane and many other members and friends of M-HARP, a more complete picture of Messelin's life has emerged. Read more about this amazing woman who served her nation in disguise, and the appropriate recognition and honors being planned for her in Chicago in July.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, a newly remastered edition of Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero will return to audiences nationwide through a series of theatrical and community screenings as part of America 250 programming marking the nation's Semiquincentennial. Based on the true story of a stray dog who became the most decorated canine of World War I, the film follows Stubby's journey from the streets of Connecticut to the trenches of France, where his loyalty and courage made him a symbol of resilience and companionship during wartime. Learn more about this updated movie realease, and find out where you can attend a screening, or how you can bring Sgt. Stubby to your community.

In the Somme River region in France and in the Flanders region in Belgium are among the most famous and bloodiest battlefields of the First World War. Retired U.S. Army Signal Corps Colonel Linda Jantzen will be leading a small group on a "deeply personal" bicycle expedition along the Western Front Way from Amiens, France, to Bruges, Belgium, to remember and honor those who fought and fell. Read more about this upcoming commemorative journey, and see how it was inspired by an author's journey on foot along the Western Front.

"My National History Day project began with a Doughboy Foundation article about the Hello Girls, a group of bilingual women who served as U.S. Army Signal Corps telephone operators during World War I.
I had never heard of them before." But Ana Spiride of Plano East Senior High School in Texas ended up learning a lot about the Hello Girls, discovering that "the story behind it was serious, complicated, and still present in the lives of their descendants." Find out how her deep research and presentation skills made her a Top 10 finalist out of about 100 Senior Individual Exhibit projects at the National History Day 2026 finals at the University of Maryland in June. Well done!

"This is a small group of ephemera belonging to David Renwick Kerr, a Canadian-born American officer who served as Aide to 2nd Division Major General Omar Bundy from September 1917 to June 1918, and then again from September 1918 to December 1918, and yet again after the war at Fort Crook."  Michael Santoro explores more of the hidden history to be found in WWI artifacts. Read more about how Kerr, after his service in WWI documented by these keepsakes, continued in the Army through WWII and beyond in a 35-year career of service to his nation.

Long before the Garden State Parkway was a gleam in any planner's eye, New Jersey was already becoming a commuter state — and the engine driving that transformation was a war fought an ocean away. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the state's factories, shipyards, and munitions plants went into overdrive. Workers poured in from across the country, settling near rail lines that connected industrial hubs to quieter towns inland. Read more, and learn how the patterns laid down between 1917 and 1919 — where people lived, how they got to work, and which communities grew fastest — would define New Jersey's identity for the rest of the twentieth century.

In June 1917, Milo Lemert enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard following President Woodrow Wilson's call for volunteers during World War I.  Training at Camp Sevier, South Carolina, his natural leadership abilities helped him quickly rise to the rank of sergeant.  Busy as he was training, he found some time to meet and marry Nellie Snodgrass on September 29th, 1917.  One year later, near Bellicourt, France, Milo would perform the actions for which he would be awarded the Medal of Honor.  Read Milo's story of patriotism and heroism, and learn how "Single-handedly destroying three machine-gun positions and helping assault a fourth, Lemert's actions saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers."

"As part of my research into Dr. Frank Boston and the Officers of Fort Des Moines, I recently visited the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. The museum contains more than 300,000 artifacts connected to World War I, and every room opens another window into a part of history many of us never fully learned."  George Whitehair of the Boston Legacy Foundation offers a reflection on his recent visit to America's premininent WWI museum. Learn why his time at the facility reminded him that "As America marks its 250th anniversary, we should also remember the First World War and the men and women whose lives were shaped by it. Their stories are part of our story. Remembering them is part of remembering America."

When Andre Burner joined MyHeritage four months ago, he "was looking for a platform that could help me break through the walls I kept hitting on other genealogy sites. I'm still in the learning phase of my family history journey, but the early successes have been thrilling—I've already connected with distant cousins and uncovered documents I never knew existed. Yet, out of all the records, censuses, and military draft cards I've collected, nothing compares to the incredible, almost unbelievable story of my two grandfathers" in World War I. His maternal grandfather, Sgt. James R. Mansfield (top photo at left) and paternal grandfather, Jean Burner, "had been less than a mile apart in the mud of Montfaucon" on opposite sides of the Front. Read the entire story of how "the universe pulled these two former battlefield adversaries into the exact same circles," revealing "a staggering battlefield coincidence, and ultimately, reconciliation in America."

In Burlington, VT, World War I veteran Edward James Irwin, Jr. finally received the honors he earned nearly 45 years after he died. His remains sat unclaimed in a funeral home basement until funeral director Walter Ducharme decided to make it right. Watch the video, learn who showed up to be Irwin's "family" at the Vermont Veterans Cemetery for the long-overdue ceremony, and why this final salute was so delayed.

America's schoolchildren served on the home front during World War I. Although American children were geographically removed from the physical destruction of the European front, WWI deeply impacted their lives.They were ceaselessly encouraged to actively contribute to the war's home front by planting Victory Gardens, collecting scrap metal, and participating in the Junior Red Cross to raise millions in war bonds. This, along with the government's call for children to help with the war effort, meant, quite simply, that children were forced to grow up quickly. Read the entire article, and learn how World War I became life-changing for hundreds of thousands of children throughout the country, many of whom would see another, even larger war later.

Ranked by the American Film Institute in 1999 as the single greatest male screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema, Humphrey Bogart forged a screen persona unlike any that had come before him: tough yet tender, cynical yet principled, world-weary yet capable of deep feeling. In a career spanning nearly four decades, he transformed from a forgotten stage juvenile into an irreplaceable cultural symbol of American masculinity, moral ambiguity, and romantic complexity. Learn how Bogart's service in the U.S. Navy during World War I was a formative experience for a young man who had known only the comfortable routines of upper-middle-class New York life.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is First Lieutenant Ernest Armond Giroux of the 103rd Aero Squadron. Giroux was the only American aviator of World War I listed as Missing in Action to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Born on December 4, 1895, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Giroux was the second of three sons born to Ernest H. Giroux and Jessie F. Stuart. After his father's death in 1911, the family moved to Somerville, Massachusetts, where Ernest attended Somerville High School, graduating in 1915. He later enrolled at Dartmouth College as a member of the Class of 1919. However, in March 1917, during his sophomore year, he left school to join other Americans supporting the war effort in France.

Giroux sailed for France on April 21, 1917, as a member of the American Field Service. Holding the rank of sergeant, he drove five-ton trucks for Transport Militaire Unit (TMU) 526B, transporting ammunition to the front lines. During this period, he applied to become an aviator in the Aeronautique Militaire (French Air Service) as part of the Lafayette Flying Corps. After being accepted, he trained at Avord, Tours, Issoudun, and Cazaux. Desperate for trained pilots, the United States granted Giroux a commission as a First Lieutenant in the United States Air Service (USAS) on November 20, 1917.

After completing his flight training, 1LT Giroux was temporarily assigned as a ferry pilot on April 7, 1918. This duty required pilots to deliver new replacement aircraft to forward combat squadrons and return worn, combat-exhausted aircraft to rear-area maintenance facilities. On April 26, 1918, Giroux received an assignment he considered especially fortunate: the newly formed 103rd Aero Squadron.

Read Lt. Giroux's whole story

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of First Lieutenant Ernest A. Giroux, and all the other Americans still in MIA status from World War I? You can! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization today, and help us bring them home! Help us do the best job possible and give today, with our thanks.  Remember: A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Poppy Lapel Pin

A Doughboy Shop Exclusive!

Commemorative Poppy Lapel Pin features the iconic poppy design.

• Red and white coloring.
• Soft enamel color design
• Approx. 1.5 inch in diameter
• Standard military clasp

Wear this beautiful pin on July 4, 2026 to remember all who have served the United States of America in uniform over the first 250 years of our history!

Proceeds from the sale of these items will help us keep watch over the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the Doughboy Foundation.

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