The Doughboy Foundation’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that after a four-month rigorous, national search, Clair S. Sassin has been selected as our new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective October 20, 2025. “Clair brings a deep passion for our mission, a profound respect for the military, veterans, and history along with experience in strategic planning, fundraising, and team management, the collection of which is critical as she guides us the into our next chapter,” said  Denise Doring VanBuren, Chair of the Doughboy Foundation. “Aligned with the Foundation’s strategic goals, Clair will lead efforts to expand the mission of the organization beyond the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC and bring the story of the Doughboys to a wider audience across the county.” Read more about the Doughboy Foundation’s new CEO here.

Powerful storytelling, breathtaking music, rare and iconic archival film and images, unforgettable characters, and meticulously researched history all come together in American Heart In WWI: A Carnegie Hall Tribute, a panoramic musical and visual account that brings America’s World War I story to life, premiring November 11, 2025 Veterans Day, on PBS, and streaming on PBS.org and the PBS app. Find out more about this new WWI program created, written, and narrated by historian John Monsky, and see where you can watch it on November 11.

This Veterans Day, the Alliance for New Music-Theatre in Washington, DC will transport audience members back in time some hundred years in our nation’s history in a special program commemorating the story of Victor Chapman, who joined the Foreign Legion in September 1914. After a year in the trenches, he joined the “Lafayette Escadrille,” the Legion’s American Aviation Corps, and was the first American aviator to perish in the conflict, all before the United States entered the war in 1917. Read more about this music-theatre program in remembrance of ancestors and others lost to commemorate what was known as “the war to end all wars,” and learn how you can attend the performance..

The Inaugural World War I Symposium, presented by the Doughboy Foundation, hosted at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, DC on September 12, 2025, was a resounding success, establishing itself as a premier gathering for historians and enthusiasts of the Great War. The full-day event offered a rich program of presentations from leading experts, providing deep insights into various facets of the war. Attendees praised the high quality and variety of the talks, making it a true day of immersive historical learning. Find out more about this highly successful WWI educational event, and learn when the 2026 WWI Symposium will take place, so you can plan to attend.

Embark on a journey through history with The Doughboy Foundation’s meticulously crafted itinerary, designed to illuminate the pivotal moments of World War I. This trip offers a unique opportunity to walk the hallowed battlefields, explore restored medieval cities, and gain profound insights at key museums. The journey culminates in Paris, with visits to the Lafayette Escadrille Cemetery Memorial Cemetery and the Army Museum (Les Invalides), reinforcing the Doughboy Foundation’s mission to honor and remember the heroes of WWI. This trip not only offers a rich historical experience but also serves as a tribute to the enduring legacy of those who fought for freedom. Join us in commemorating their valor and ensuring their stories are never forgotten. Learn how you can join us and walk some of the most significant battlefields of WWI, and  experience the historical sites from the Somme to the Marne to Verdun, guided by noted military historian Mitch Yockelson.

We are just days away from the Elevating Innovation Virtual Conference, hosted by Verizon Innovative Learning. The Doughboy Foundation’s colleague and Education Program Manager Theo Mayer has been invited to present a session titled: Conversations with the Past: Exploring History through AI.  This presentation will introduce The WWI Professor — an AI avatar trained on the vast body of information developed during the WWI Centennial by the Doughboy Foundation and the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission. Learn more, and find out how, drawing from this deep knowledge base, the Professor brings America’s WWI story to life through dialogue and exploration.
And you can ask him questions!

2025 has become the year for The Hello Girls at the Twin Falls Theatre Collective in Idaho!  Collective founder Chris Ayers describes how he discovered the musical about America’s First Women Soldiers, and determined “We have to do this show!”
So the theater “set out 6 months before the show to bring it to life, creating unique set pieces for a tough stage, hand sewing and creating bespoke costumes for each character and pouring their heart and soul into delivering an incredible production—all to honor these amazing women.”  Read more, and find out how to get tickets for this very limited performance in a very small theatre. Answer the call!

At Bob Hope Veterans Chapel, Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA, September 24, 2025, Lieutenant (nurse) Elizabeth Dorothy Sandelius, US Army Nurse Corps, WWI, received, posthumously, the Silver Star Medal for heroism under fire in WWI France. She is now among the first four American servicewomen to receive the Silver Star Medal: the successor to the WWI Citation Star. LTC Ed Saunders, US Army (retired) spent many years researching the service of LT Sandelius and prepared the successful medal recommendation to the Army. Read more about how Sandelius, for eight consecutive days and nights in 1918, endured enemy ground and aerial bombardment to care for desperately wounded American and allied soldiers.

Felix Rigau Carrera was born in 1894 in Puerto Rico. Carrera showed interest in aviation as a child when he would use the local cathedral as a launching pad for his small fixed-wing aircraft replicas. After serving as a pilot in the pre-war U.S. Army Signal Corps, when World War I broke out, Carrera enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. FInd out more about Carrera, and learn of his remarkable “firsts” as a pilot and a Puerto Rican in World War I.

During a quarter century of researching the mysterious disappearance of the Navy’s collier U.S.S. Cyclops, author Marvin Barrash has looked at a lot of archival materials in every conceivable format: paper documents and ships’ log books, microfilmed materials, and now more modern resources like online repositories. During that time, he has stumbled over more than a few surprises.  Learn how, five years ago, looking at glass-plate photos taken at several Navy Yards pre-WWI, Barrash happened upon a remarkable coincidental connection between two ships at the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1916.

Tony-nominated actress, recording artist, and writer Melissa Errico performed a mini-concert of her “The Story Of A Rose,” a musical play which relates the story of World War I, at the Dutch Club’s Gilded Age Dinner October 7 in New York. “The Story Of A Rose” was created for The Doughboy Foundation.  Read more about Errico’s performance at the prestigious club, and see pictures of a very ritzy event.

CW4(ret) Alexander F. Barnes gives a presentation on the service of foreign-born men and woman in the U.S. military during the First World War. It will take place at the Belmont Recreation Center, 1600 Hilliard Road, Henrico, Virginia at 2:00 p.m. on 16 November 2025. The United States is a nation of immigrants, and the U.S. Army during World War I certainly reflected this.Learn why the story of “aliens” in the AEF is compelling, and points to a further definition of what citizenship implies, as discussed by the author of an award-winning book on the topic.

Jon Roark is an artist and retired high school art teacher in Lynchburg, VA, where he has spearheaded a “memory project” based on the African-American citizens of Lynchburg. On the local WWI memorial  the last two names on the list of the dead, separated by the designation “colored,”  are the names Robert Henry Franklin and Pannell Rucker Jones.  “Aggravated because these two men were called to serve and did so, and didn’t make it back home, only to be listed on the monument under the title: ‘colored,‘” Roark is trying to find photos of the two that will enable him “to create a painting that gives faces to these two men who made the ultimate sacrifice.” Read more about this project,  see other Roark paintings, and find out why there is a possibility that photos of the two soldiers are still out there to be found, even a century after World War I ended.

When the United States entered WWI, its military strength drew much attention. But behind the scenes, a quieter war was underway in factories and stockyards far from the trenches. One of the least noticed yet most vital contributions came from Chicago’s meatpacking industry, which became a “hidden frontline” supplying food, fats, and by-products essential to the war effort. This sector deserves a place alongside munitions and shipyards in our memory of that great conflict. Read more, and discover why Chicago’s meatpacking industry deserves to be remembered not just as a commercial force, but as a wartime backbone whose labor, engineering, and networks helped shape America’s war effort.

When students flip through their history books and arrive at World War I, they often see sepia-toned photos of trenches, muddy battlefields, and soldiers writing letters home. It might feel like a distant story – a time of bayonets, telegrams, and black-and-white maps. But beneath the uniforms and dates lies a treasure trove of lessons about resilience, creativity, and human connection that remain strikingly relevant today. Find out how World War I, though more than a century ago, has big lessons that should remain alive in every classroom for modern students.

Have you ever wanted to see the green fields of France? To walk where the Doughboys, the Tommies, the Poilus, and the Frontschwein of the Great War walked? Then please keep reading. Lost Battalion Tours (LBT) is one of the very few tour companies out there that focus exclusively on the American battlefields of the First World War, taking guests to the places where the American Doughboys marched, fought, bled, and died. Run by two WWI enthusiasts, LBT has as its goal to create unique and affordable World War I battlefield tours. Learn more about LBT, and why its small group tours are “like no other when it comes to remembrance and learning: we put you right where the Doughboys, the Germans, or the French were, and you will soon understand why they made the decisions they did at the time”

Online gaming brings history to life in ways textbooks never could. Players can now experience World War I battles through realistic simulations and strategy games. These digital experiences help people understand the scale and impact of the Great War. Gaming companies work hard to create authentic historical content that respects the sacrifices made during this conflict. Modern technology allows us to walk in the footsteps of soldiers who fought over 100 years ago. Learn more about how online gaming transforms the way we learn about World War I, and how digital experiences still honor the memory of those who served while educating new generations.

The National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, VA, is an award-winning facility with the theme “Soldiers Stories,” highlighting the experiences of the men and women who have served since 1775. Along the walkway from the parking lot is a Wall of Honor holding Unit Tributes to active and historic military units. Two sites have been established to raise money to create and install Unit Tributes for the two African-American divisions which fought in World War I. Find out more about these two WWI units that fought bravely for their country on multiple fronts, why they deserve plaques on the Wall of Honor at the National Museum of the US Army, and how you can help.

For many, the term Pilates conjures up an image of leggings-clad women and pricey studios filled with intimidating-looking equipment. While that’s true in some ways (a single studio mat class may cost you upwards of $20, especially in big cities), its the largest of any workout type across the United States. But Pilates is a form of exercise with a fascinating history–and yes, indeed, it has its origins during the dark days of World War I. Learn how a German circus performer stuck in a British internment camp was inspired by cats to develop a unique form of exercise that used body weight as resistance.

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is Second Lieutenant Eric Halbert Cummings. Born the sixth child of nine children on 25 November 1890 in Dallas, Missouri, Eric and his farming family moved to Grainfield, KS in the early 1900’s. Graduating as his high school Valedictorian in 1909, he worked on farms and attended several colleges, graduating from now-Fort Hayes State University in 1917. But he did not attend the graduation ceremony as he had just enlisted in the Army after giving a patriotic speech to thousands of people at a Loyalty Mass Meeting in Fort Hayes. Two weeks after Congress declared war on Germany Eric Cummings enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private on 20 April 1917 at the recruiting office in Ellis, Kansas.

Read Eric Cummings’ whole story.

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of 2LT Eric Halbert Cummings, 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.

Celebrate Armistice Day with The Doughboy Foundation!
11% off everything in the store from now until November 16!

All items are available at a special 11% discount for the recognition of The Doughboy Foundation’s Annual Bells of Peace ceremony at the National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C.  This includes our first Doughboy Foundation Keep Faith With The American Doughboy
custom “WWI Doughboys” holiday ornament. This exclusive wooden ornament is approximately 3’ X 3 and1/2” and features a WWI bugler in a field of radiant poppies. It comes with a gold ribbon ready for gift wrapping or hanging on your own Christmas
tree. Supply is limited, so order now, and get that 11% discount!

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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