Featured Articles
How WWI Soldiers Enjoyed Their Time Off Compared to Soldiers Today
Soldiers need breaks to relieve the stress they experience on the battlefield. This article explores the similarities and differences between how World War I soldiers spent their time off and the activities available to the [...]
Combat-Related Mental Health Issues from World War I to Today
Trauma has always been an inseparable part of war. Throughout history, countless soldiers have developed mental health disorders directly linked to their wartime experiences. However, until the 20th century, few documented and categorized this mental [...]
William Arthur Dietz – Tanker of the Argonne & First Commander of the First American Legion Post in the United States
Tanks are, and have been for over 100 years, an integral tool of warfare. The British, French, and German armies spent a great deal during the final years of the war developing this technology. When [...]
The Pioneer Infantry in the Great War
The World War I Illinois State Normal University Service Records collection is filled with stories of heroism from ISNU students and staff, collected by our first librarian, Ange Milner. Milner also collected files from Black [...]
The ‘Hello Girls’ helped win WWI—why was their service overlooked?
When American women were first deployed into combat zones, the U.S. refused to consider them veterans for more than 50 years. Ethel Elkins was one roughly 25,000 American women who volunteered in Europe during the [...]
Doughboy MIA For June 2024: Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling
Over one hundred years have passed since one the most influential American figures in the history of American air power, went missing in action between two small communes in France’s Somme region. On 26 March [...]
Donuts sparked Salvation Army’s service to military for 110 years, national leader says
Evangelical church seeks to 'do the most good' for those in need The Salvation Army’s 110-year-old gambit of giving American soldiers in World War I a “taste of home” helped fuel this nation’s obsession with [...]
The factors that led the U.S. to join the Allies in 1917
For all its length and ferocity, World War I would probably have ended quite differently had it not been for America’s entry into the war on behalf of the Allies in 1917. Up until then, [...]
Is Captain Eddie Rickenbacker Overrated?
I have mentioned the famous American fighter pilot Captain Eddie Rickenbacker in my writings from time to time over the years, and I always wanted to write an article specifically about him because it is quite common [...]
