The Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act passed this month as Section 5703 of H.R.5009, the “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025,” which was signed by the President on December 24, 2024. Thanks Once Again! to each and every one of you who Made The Call to your Senators and Member of Congress, and asked them to support this vital legislation. Your help made this happen!

A big salute to Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, and Senator John Tester of Montana, for their steadfast dedication to this project. These two lawmakers had sponsored this legislation in the 116th Congress (2019) and the 117th Congress (2021) without success. However, they stuck to their guns, and sponsored the legislation again in the 118th Congress in 2023, and have now seen successful passage of this important legislation.

Said Congressman Cleaver. “As someone whose uncle was a Tuskegee Airman, I know firsthand how important these recognitions are to the families of those who defended our freedom, and I’m thankful that the descendants of the Hello Girls will receive formal appreciation from a grateful nation for their loved one’s service to the United States when we needed them most.”

The United States World War I Centennial Commission recommended to Congress in 2018 that the Hello Girls should be recognized for their essential service in WWI by award of a Congressional Gold medal. The Commission’s recommendation was supported by the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Army Women’s Foundation, the Military Women’s Memorial, the Women Warriors Foundation, as well as other military and women groups. After the World War I Centennial Commission sunsetted in September 2024, the Doughboy Foundation continued the effort for the legislation in Congress that finally bore fruit this month.

The Hello Girls made a transformative difference for the American Expeditionary Forces in WWI. The ability of the bilingual female operators to pass critical tactical information calmly and seamlessly between two allied armies that spoke different languages was a fundamental breakthrough in rapid and secure tactical communications on the Western Front. The service of the Hello Girls helped bring the fighting to an end in the Allies’ favor as much as one year earlier than it might have taken without them, according to General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Even after the Armistice in 1918, the Hello Girls stayed on duty in Europe after most of the other Doughboys went home, so that they could support President Woodrow Wilson during the Versailles peace talks. But when all the Hello Girls finally returned home, these women who had served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and wore U.S. Army uniforms, received a shock. They were denied veteran status and benefits, not receiving them until 1977.  The brave Hello Girls earned and deserve the recognition of a Congressional Gold Medal, and now, thanks to the dedicated efforts of all who supported this legislation, they will get the medal.

Following the passage of the law, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee will review and recommend design concepts for the medal. The Secretary of the Treasury makes the final design decision before the medal is struck at the U.S. Mint. In Philadelphia. A Congressional Gold Medal ceremony and other events will be scheduled. Please check your issue of WWI Dispatch every month for updates on the development process for the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal.

One hundred years later, the spirit of the 1914 Christmas Truce is very much alive in the Belgian–French border towns at Saint-Yvon in the municipality of Comines-Warenton. Every mid-December, British, French, German and local re-enactors convene, wearing their British or German Great War uniforms, on a field with recreated trenches next to the Prowse Point Military Cemetery, on the side of the Chemin du Mont de la Hutte, in order to commemorate the historic event and play football. Photographer Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy, author of In the Centennial Footsteps of the Great War, takes a look at how and why “one of the most iconic moments of World War One” came about, and what lessons it may have for us today.

Marguerite Chenot (left) claimed to be twenty years old when in reality she was only seventeen when she enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps as one of the “Hello Girls” female telephone operators in World War I. Marguerite was far from the only Hello Girl who was “creative” about her age when signing up to serve.  Dr. Jill Frahm explores how some of the applicant “operators invented a past to be the most attractive applicant possible,” and determines that “stretching the truth about an age was not an isolated incident. Several of operators did their best to fit the age thought appropriate for this adventure, even if it meant bending the truth.“

Author and researcher Marvin Barrash has “spent untold hours going through boxes after boxes of original documents” in various archives and libraries, but he “never knew for certain what I would find or how important those documents, books or images would prove to be.” However, “One place that I never expected to find important papers from the past would be in a thrift store.” But guess what? “My visit to a thrift shop in Easton, Maryland, a year ago, did indeed produce an item of historical note.” Learn how a “a slightly large framed item” handed to Marvin by his wife turned out to be a “historical piece of art“: an architectural drawing of the District of Columbia War Memorial by the architect from 1935.

“After learning that my grandfather, Dr. Nines Simmons, fought in World War, I became very interested in learning more,” says Karen Nix. “I found original documents and pictures that were packed away after my mom died. Then I found his diary. I also found letters that were written back and forth between him and my grandmother. I was hooked.” Read more about how her obsession led to the publication of a new book, My Grandfather Was A Polar Bear: A North Dakota Dentist In World War I, and what she learned about how WWI changed the world for dentists.

“In 1918, Will Olsen went off to the Great War, leaving behind his pregnant wife, Gertrude. Fortunately, his letters home were saved.” Judy Olsen, Will’s paternal granddaughter, tells how she “stumbled upon those worn, yellowing letters in a shoebox in the attic of my parents’ house.” Judy’s efforts  “to preserve his words for future generations” resulted in a book Letters Home: From William E. Olsen to his wife, Gertrude Christine Sudor, During World War I. Find out how Judy’s project to flesh out her grandfather’s war-time experiences and show the human side of a soldier during the Great War  ultimately “took a village” to complete, and how it disclosed a “touching surprise” in the letter from a century ago.

As the U.S. entered WWI, men like Charles Cory (left) requested exemptions from military combat service for personal reasons such as religion; these men were known as conscientious objectors (COs). Unprecedented in the history of the United States Military, the U.S. government handled its new “CO problem” poorly during the First World War through a general lack of definition and standardization. The continued poor handling and mistreatment of conscientious objectors during WWI fell completely to the fault of the U.S. government and its, or rather lack of, agency concerning COs. Theodore Xing takes an in-depth look at the challenges that Cory and others faced, suffering intense discrimination and unfair treatment–a direct result of the mistakes of the U.S. government in the handling of conscientious objectors.

Since 2019, John Sterkendries of Belgium has journeyed across the United States on his personal mission to find to places, monuments, and people with a relation to WWI in America to which to give memorial clay figurines created to mark the losses that the people of Belgium suffered during the Great War.  The origin and first three legs of John Sterkendries’ American WWI journeys are chronicled here and here. Now John is back with Part I of an update on the fourth leg of his journey, which diverted him from his planned circumnavigation of the U.S. by motorcycle, and took him instead into the center of the nation.

Relocating for education is an opportunity to enhance your academic and cultural horizons. For history enthusiasts and researchers, living near World War I  museums and archives in the United States offers direct access to invaluable resources. These institutions house extensive collections of artifacts, documents, and interactive exhibits that bring history to life. Emily Carter explores how relocating to cities with these institutions can enable access to hands-on learning and meaningful engagement with history beyond traditional classrooms.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is PFC Leslie Warren Darling. Born on August 23, 1895, in Chicago, Illinois, he later relocated to Shenandoah, Iowa, where he worked as a reporter for a local newspaper and served as secretary for the Methodist Sabbath School. He took the civil service exam for the position of Railway Clerk but enlisted in the Iowa National Guard before he was offered the job. He was assigned to Company ‘E’ of the 168th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Division, and sailed to France aboard the Baltic on November 23, 1917.

In May of 1918, PFC Darling penned a letter to his father detailing the fearlessness he witnessed amongst his comrades. He wrote:

“I want to tell you of the courage and bravery displayed by every man. During the bombardment, no matter what happened, I never saw a man flinch from duty. It was certainly a wonderful spirit, one of which can never be seen only by those who are there…”

On July 26th, 1918, PFC Darling was severely wounded by a bullet near Ferme de la Croix Rouge during the Aisne-Marne Offensive. He died from his wounds two days later in Field Hospital No. 166, ran by the 117th Sanitary Train. In a postwar interview, Sergeant Everett Briggs, also from Shenandoah, Iowa, recalled the event:

Read PFC Darling’s whole story.

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of PVT James Argiroplos, 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.

100 Cities 100 Memorials is the first book to salute America’s official centennial World War One memorials. As selected by the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Chicago, the Congress-appointed World War I Centennial Commission, these 100 diverse monuments represent equally varied and moving stories of dedication, sacrifice, and heroism. With more than 230 archival images, vintage posters, and new photographs, this richly illustrated volume journeys from Hawaii to Maine, Idaho to Florida, and Arizona to Illinois to celebrate tributes formed of metal, stone, and memory. The compelling text provides a deeper understanding of each memorial and salutes the many organizations today that bridge past and present to maintain and honor these expressions of the nation’s heritage. “100 Cities 100 Memorials” is much more than a picture book. Through the powerful and personal narratives it tells, this volume stands as an eloquent testament to those who answered the call of duty and shaped one of the most consequential eras in American history. Purchase a copy of this amazing book now.

Lest We Forget: The Great War World War I Prints from the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. One of the nation’s premier military history institutions pays tribute to the Americans who served and the allies they fought beside to defeat a resourceful enemy with a lavishly illustrated book.  It is an official product of the United States World War One Centennial Commission and is a tribute to those who served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and what would become the Air Force. It serves as a lasting reminder that our world ignores the history of World War I (and the ensuing WWII) at its peril―lest we forget.

Honoring the Doughboys: Following My Grandfather’s World War I Diary is a stunning presentation of contemporary photographs taken by the author that are paired with diary entries written by his grandfather, George A. Carlson, who was a soldier in the U.S. Army during World War I. Jeff Lowdermilk followed his grandfather’s path through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany and returned with these meticulously crafted photographs and his own engaging stories that bring the diary to life for contemporary readers. Lowdermilk’s passion for World War I and military history began as a young boy when he listened to his grandfather tell his stories about serving as an infantryman– a “Doughboy”–in Europe during the Great War.

In the Centennial Footsteps of the Great War

This notable 2-volume work has been included in the Doughboy Shop for awareness. $2 from every copy sold in the United States will go to the Doughboy Foundation. Throughout history, all wars have been given names. But not the one to which Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy’s two-volume book is dedicated. It was simply called the Great War. The events of 1914–1918, also referred to as the First World War or World War One, and the sacrifices made by our forebears a century ago should always be remembered because peace can never be taken for granted. Understanding the reasons, circumstances, and the consequences of the First World War will help us to prevent the Third World War.

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