One down, one to go!

Thanks to your support, the Senate’s Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act passed on September 24! Now all eyes turn to the House of Representatives, where H.R.1572 – To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the female telephone operators of the Army Signal Corps, known as the “Hello Girls” has gained 263 cosponsors as of this writing, 91% of the 290 cosponsors needed.  Will you make the call to your Representative, and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 1572 today? Calls, emails, and letters from citizens like you are what will make this happen!  

Congress does not return to D.C. until November 12, but Representatives can still become cosponsors even while back in their states for the election campaign! That make this a great time to call your Representative while they are back home in their district, and ask them to become a cosponsor H.R. 1572, the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation, now!  Or you can make your voice heard on this issue right from your computer! Go here for our online toolkit that makes it easy to reach out by email to your Representative. The toolkit has links to all Congressional Offices in all states–you can look up their phone number and call, or send them an email message. Either way, it is essential that you make your feelings known to your Representative now!.

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 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 you can join Team Hello Girls in advocating for passage of the Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal legislation!

Two significant ceremonies in October will give long-overdue honors to Grace Banker, Chief Operator of the WWI U.S. Army Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators, America’s First Women Soldiers, known as the “Hello Girls.”

On Thursday, October 3, the World War I Victory Medal that was denied Banker and her fellow Hello Girls when they returned from the conflict will be presented to her granddaughter at a ceremony at Hampton American Legion Post 35 in Hampton, NH at 1:00 pm. Learn more about the event, and the challenging process of getting the medal approved and delivered at this long-awaited ceremony, which is open to the public.

On Saturday, October 26,at 2:30 pm EDT, Grace’s descendants, military and veteran representatives, and supporters will gather to dedicate an official veteran memorial at her (currently unmarked) gravesite at the Green-Wood Cemetery, 25th Street & 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The public is invited to attend. Read more about how century-old injustice is being rectified by honoring Grace Banker with a veteran plaque and medallion to recognize her WWI service.

Our innovative approach earned us the 2024 EdTech Cool Tool award for Best Social Studies Solution. However, we recognized and projected that the rapidly rising bans on smartphones in schools would hinder access to our AR offerings, threatening to diminish our educational impact.  In swift response, we developed the “WWI Memorial: Desktop Explorer“, a Mac and PC application that reimagines our content using video game paradigms. This shift not only preserved the immersive experience but enhanced it with greater speed, quality, and resolution. Find out more about how we adapted lesson plans to leverage the “Desktop Explorer” in classroom settings, and how teachers can now guide students through interactive explorations and discussions using front-of-room displays. Additionally, students can engage with the material on their own devices outside of school for extra credit.

“Imagine that the United States is at war, and you have an essential skill needed to support the military. You volunteer for service, swear an oath, don a uniform, and travel on a military ship overseas or head to a stateside base. Yet, you learn much later that due to your gender, you served as a civilian, ineligible for the veterans benefits and compensation available to those officially in the armed forces. Such was the case for many American women who made vital military contributions during World War I.” Thus begins independent historian Allison Finkelstein’s exploration of the wartime excellence and postwar betrayal of the WWI U.S. Army Signal Corps telephone operators, known as the Hello Girls. Read more and find out why Finkelstein thinks that by honoring the Hello Girls with the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress “would also recognize all women who experienced a similar situation during World War I.“

Some battles require tanks, bombs and ammunition; others require a good lawyer.

Edwin Fountain, a 1990 University of Virginia School of Law alumnus and grandson of two World War I veterans, volunteered to join the battle to build a new national memorial to those who served in the “Great War.” After a legal and logistical saga that involved wading through 46 public hearings and meetings, street protests and a bridge collapse that snagged the mid-Atlantic’s supply chain, his vision was finally realized on Sept. 13, when an expanded memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C. Read more about Edwin’s lifetime journey to key role in building a new national memorial to those who served in the “Great War,” and his continuing work in helping maintain the final resting places of men and women who died overseas in service to their nation.

Two bronze relief sculptures by celebrated American sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney have been installed at The Breakers, her family’s former Gilded Age mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. The sculptures, which had been held at Whitney’s Long Island studio for decades, are now part of a public display at the historic estate, thanks to a recent acquisition by the Preservation Society of Newport County.  Whitney, an artist and philanthropist best known for founding the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, created the original versions of these reliefs for a temporary World War I monument in New York City. Learn more about these two bronze pieces at The Breakers—smaller casts of Whitney’s Victory Arch panels—offering poignant depictions of the human toll of war. 

The day before the belligerent countries declared an Armistice on November 11, 1918, Mortimer Lawrence of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, an aerial observer for the 104^th Aero Squadron, shot down the last enemy aircraft of the war. Sometime after his death in 1960, his papers, which included extensive correspondence and lots of photographs, arrived at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison, Wisconsin. During the fall of 2023, these papers became the focus of two students in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s “World War I Wisconsin” course. Read more about their two resultant papers, which provide insights about World War I from one soldier’s experience, and examine the key role that aerial observers played in winning the war for the Allies.  

Maeve Smith couldn’t have been more excited when, last year, she signed on to direct the musical “The Hello Girls” for Sonoma Arts Live in Sonoma, CA. Smith had discovered the music for the Broadway show a few years earlier and loved it. “I was just blown away,” Smith said. “It was this amazing story, and the music was incredible and helped with the storytelling so much.”  But after Smith began researching the Hello Girls in preparation for her directing role, she discovered something that shocked and excited her: one of the Hello Girls was buried in a unmarked grave in Sonoma cemetery. Find out more about how Smith’s discovery led to a World War I veteran, forgotten for a century, finally getting recognition in her final resting place.

World War I, known for its massive scale and widespread devastation, left behind more than just the physical scars of battle. One lesser-known but significant consequence was a surge in opiate addiction among soldiers who relied on these substances for pain relief during and after the war. The influence of World War I on the opioid epidemic was profound. It marked the beginning of a crisis that still affects veterans of modern conflicts. Veterans from contemporary wars also face similar challenges, with many struggling with addiction due to inadequate pain management and support. Read more about the connection between past and present opioid challenges, the ongoing need for specialized care for veterans dealing with addiction, and how WWI’s impact on public health is far-reaching and still relevant.

Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal campaign was the subject of a substantial interview on Wreaths Across America radio network during the VA Women Veterans Quadrennial Summit in Washington, DC the first week of September. Host Chris Chapman of Wreaths Across America discussed America’s First Women Soldiers with three knowledgeable guests: Catherine Bourgin, granddaughter of Hello Girl Marie Edmee LeRoux; James Theres, Producer and Director of the hello Girls movie; and Colonel Linda Jantzen, U.S. Army Signal Corps (Retired), who has worked for recognition of the Hello Girls for many years. Learn more about and find out where to listen to the interview here. 

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Our Doughboy MIA this month is Private Burwell Canady Jackson. He was born on October 26, 1896, in Lenoir County, North Carolina. He was raised on his family’s farm, where he eventually took over the family operation after his father’s passing in 1911. On April 24, 1917, Private Jackson enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He sailed to France with Company F, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, arriving in St. Nazaire in June 1917.

In November of that year, the 16th Infantry suffered the first U.S. casualties in France following a German raid on their trenches. The regiment later fought in the Battle of Cantigny. In a letter home, Private Jackson shared:

“I have had many exciting experiences since I landed. I wish I could tell you just one, but it’s impossible now. As I was among the first to land, I’ve taken it all in.”

On July 19th, 1918, Jackson’s company was stalled by an enemy machine gun nest during the Aisne-Marne offensive. In a bold move, he single-handedly disabled the nest, earning the Distinguished Service Cross. His citation states:

“For extraordinary heroism in action near Soissons, France, July 19th, 1918. He, alone, captured a machine gun, killed two of the crew, and took the remaining three prisoners. Later in the same day, he was killed while making a similar attempt.”

Shortly after this heroic action, Jackson was killed by enemy fire. Sergeant Karl Elsina witnessed his death and recounted:

Read Pvt. Jackson’s entire story

Would you like to be involved with solving the case of Private Burwell Canady Jackson, 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.

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