The Hello Girls were the U.S. Army Signal Corps telephone operators in France during World War I who made critical battlefield tactical comms work effectively for U.S. and French military forces on the front lines, saving many American lives by helping bring the long war to a quicker end. But to make that international forces coordination work, the operators had to speak both English and French fluently. As the U.S. Army scrambled to find bilingual telephone operators across the nation, they got a helping hand from across the northern border. Click here to learn how many women of Canadian heritage, who grew up speaking both languages, answered the call, and helped populate the first unit of Hello Girls that went to Paris in 1917,

When the Hello Girls (of both American and Canadian heritage) returned home after WWI ended, the women who had served in U.S. Army uniforms were denied veterans status and benefits until 1977. The Hello Girls earned and deserve the recognition of a Congressional Gold Medal, and you can join Team Hello Girls in advocating for passage of the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation in 2024. You can make your voice heard on this issue right from your computer! Click here for our toolbox that makes the process of reaching out to your Representative and Senators very straightforward. You can also reach out by phone to the local and district offices of your Senators and Representative, and tell them that you want them to answer the call, and cosponsor the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation in the 118th Congress.

Jay Korff of Washington, DC's ABC 7NEWS television station filed a report March 8, beginning: "Every day a bugler plays Taps at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. at exactly 5 p.m. In February, they reached a remarkable milestone thanks to a non-profit called the Doughboy Foundation. Feb.19 marked the 1000th consecutive day a bugler played that call, with 24 notes dedicated to those who serve and sacrifice."  The report goes on with a fine story on Daily Taps, exploring why it is being sounded every day, and looking at the Doughboy Foundation organization that makes it happen. Click here to read the entire article, watch Jay's video report, and view great photos of the Memorial and World War I.

Long-time professional trumpet player and music educator Dr. P. Bradley Ulrich was idly watching TV one evening at his home in North Carolina several years ago when he "stumbled upon a captivating 10-part documentary series on the history of WWI." That chance digital encounter has led to a personal mission: playing the Last Post and Rouse on an authentic WWI bugle at all the Commonwealth WWI cemeteries in the Ypres Salient, located in the West-Flanders region of Belgium. Click here to learn more about this personal musical mission undertaken to "uphold the belief that these soldiers are remembered and honored."

Marvin Barrash, well-known expert on the Navy collier USS Cyclops that vanished during WWI, has previously written articles for the Doughboy Foundation website (see here and here). Now he has taken the story of the Cyclops to a much larger audience: the story of the ill-fated vessel was featured in episodes of the History Channel series The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters. Barrash participated in two episodes of the series that focused on the search for the wreckage of the USS Cyclops. Click here to find out more about the search for the lost World War I ship, and Barrash's experience working with the series' production team.

To commemorate ANZAC Day 2024, the Embassies of Australia and New Zealand will hold an ANZAC Day Dawn Service on Thursday, April 25 at 5:20 AM (for a 5:40 AM start) at the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC, located at 1449 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The Consulates-General and expat community groups of both nations will host services and events elsewhere throughout the United States on April 25. Click here to learn more about ANZAC Day, and where there will be commemorative events taking place April 25. 

Ever heard of the Yeomanettes? These pioneering women were the first officially recognized female U.S. Navy service members. For this Women’s History Month, the History Of Life YouTube channel dives into their world, exploring what daily life was like for a Yeomanette during World War I. Click here to read more about this Women’s History Month special, and watch the video What Life Was Like in WWI: 1st Women in the Navy.

Mary Helen Fee was an English and History instructor who traveled to the Philippines to take up teaching duties in August 1901. Back in the United States again, in 1917 she sailed for France to take up canteen work in support of the newly-deployed American Expeditionary Forces after the United States entered World War I. Click hear to learn more about Fee's WWI service in Europe, and how she may have suffered from PTSD after returning to America when the war was over.

Built in 1918 as part of the Navy’s effort to build up Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads – what’s now Naval Station Norfolk – the baseball park was known in the beginning, simply as “the athletic field.” Eventually, it got a name: the stadium was dedicated as “McClure Field” on May 4, 1944, in honor of Navy Cross recipient and World War I hero Captain Henry McClure.
Click here to learn how, all these decades later, Henry’s granddaughter Patricia McClure Romano and her husband got to visit the facility named after the WWI hero for the very first time.

An annual ceremony takes place on November 11 in the Town of East Hartford at the Doughboy monument called Ready. The event is held not only to pay tribute to those East Hartford volunteers who went off to fight in the “war to end all wars”, but to those who are serving and have served in many capacities in our armed forces whether on land, sea, or in the air. Ready was installed in 1929, and was restored in 2018. Click here to find out more about Ready, read about the memorial's origin and restoration, and learn of a poignant moment at the 2018 rededication ceremony.

A bronze World War I memorial outside Obama Academy in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood is getting a facelift for its 100th anniversary. The memorial bears the names of more than 500 World War I veterans who were students at the former Peabody High School, now Obama Academy, on North Highland Avenue. Click here to learn more about the pending restoration work, hoped to be completed in time for a rededication ceremony scheduled for May 30, exactly 100 years after the memorial’s dedication.

The iconic phrase, “Uncle Sam, I Want You,” has become a part of American culture, symbolizing a call to duty and patriotism. This iconic image, featuring Uncle Sam pointing directly at the viewer, was first used during the First World War and has since been turned into a rallying cry for military recruitment. Beyond its recruitment poster beginnings, the symbol has permeated several aspects of American life and has evolved over time to represent more than just a call to arms. Click here to read more, and learn how the iconic WWI image has adapted to the changing times while maintaining its core message of American identity and patriotism.

"As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its third year, the war’s tactics increasingly seem to match scenes from the First World War: soldiers huddle in trenches along stagnant front lines and navigate intense barrages. Beyond trench warfare, however, the Ukraine conflict resembles the strategic, operational and tactical situation faced by Allied commanders immediately prior to the 100 Days Offensive, and its lessons remain applicable to contemporary wartime political and military leaders." Click here to read John Long Burnham's entire examination of how WWI "offers several strategic, operational and tactical lessons that remain highly applicable to the Ukrainian War."

Jocke Hallberg operates the Swedes At The Western Front website, exploring and chronicling the lives and service of men of Swedish origin who served with the U.S. Army during World War I. He recently received a 1959 book written by Bernt Johnson, a Swedish-born soldier in the 130th Infantry regiment USNG, 33rd Division, AAEF, who fought on the Western Front from August to November 1918. But the book had "a mystery inside, that I haven’t been able to sort out yet." Click here to read more, and learn about the (so far) untold story of Bernt's "best friend, Dan, who fought and fell in a very tragic way, November 10th, 1918."

Derek Leebaert on the via the SpyTalk website takes a look at the new book by historian Mark Stout, titled World War I and the Foundation of American Intelligence. Leebaert says that in the new book, the author "offers not only a profound work of scholarship that illuminates the origins of today’s U.S. intelligence community, but he puts this larger canvas to good use to reveal much that’s generally unknown about America’s rise to global primacy." Click here to learn more about this book that analyzes "the growing intelligence capabilities and professionalism that arose from what was all too briefly called “The Great War.” 

The granddaughters of legendary Harlem Hellfighter James Reese Europe — Patricia Europe Pearson, Lynn Europe Cotter, and Theresa Europe — visited the Harlem Regiment Armory in New York Feb. 24, 2024. Leaders of the successor unit to the Hellfighters, the 369th Sustainment Brigade, gave them a tour of the armory. Their visit inspired a nice article on the National Guard website that looks at how the legend and legacy of the Hellfighters lives on in America. Click here to read the article, and see how, over 100 years later, their story "is spreading across mass media, reaching those who never knew about it."

During the First World War, the Winchester M1897, fitted with the M1917 bayonet, (colloquially called the “trench gun” by collectors) became perhaps the most iconic and immediately recognizable American small arm of the conflict. It is unusual, it is intimidating and from the very start was surrounded by myths, misconceptions, and mystique. Click here to learn more about what actually went on “over there” with the bayonet-tipped shotguns, and why the German foe threatened "death to any Doughboy caught with either shotgun or shotshells in their possession."

National K-9 Veterans Day was celebrated on March 13, commemorating the service and sacrifices of American military dogs. That service started in World War I, though the United States only had an unofficial canine force until March 13, 1942, when the K-9 Corps was born. Often referred to as the “unsung heroes of the battlefield,” war dogs stand beside their handlers facing danger and providing protection for thousands of men and women in combat. Click here to read more, and see how one canine hero of WWI set the standard for honor and courage among our country’s military working dogs.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is Private John Raniere. Born June 20th, 1892 in Grognardo, Italy, John Raniere came to America in 1916. Raniere was a coal miner, and entered the service on September 21st, 1917, going to Camp Taylor, Kentucky for training with Company C, 151st Infantry. He was then transferred to Camp Shelby, Mississippi and from there went overseas with the Camp Shelby June Automatic Replacement Draft on June 19th, 1918. He landed ‘Over There’ 12 days later and his final assignment was to Company H. 18th Infantry regiment, 1st Division, with whom he was killed in action July 18th, 1918. No further details are known.

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of PVT John Raniere, 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.

Bugler/Poppy Commemorative Coin

A great keepsake to commemorate 
Daily Taps at the National World War
One Memorial in Washington, DC.

• A Doughboy.shop Exclusive Commemorative Coin
• The double-sided design showcases the iconic Doughboy Bugler / Poppy design
• Soft enamel color detailing
• Measures 1 3/4″
• Bronze alloy w/ nickel-silver finish

Proceeds from the sale of these items will complete 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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