11/14/18

Along the 700 kilometers of the former Western Front, ceremonies mark 100 years since the end of a conflict that traumatized and transformed the world.

U. S. involvement came late but proved vital in boosting Allied manpower and morale. On September 26th, 1918, the United States army launched the Argonne Offensive led by US General John Pershing,

to this day the deadliest battle in US Army history. Essentially, the first few days, the gains were relatively good. Not as much good as General Pershing wanted, but they were relatively good.

But then, the Germans moved in more reinforcements. Gaulke conducts tours of the battlefields uncovering the scars and ruins of war that still litter the front lines.

Like this, Germans narrowed age-old railroad station on the edge of Varennes-en-Argonne used to supply the vast network of trenches and artillery positions. The 47-day Argonne Offensive recaptured hundreds of square kilometers.

As French and British divisions also advanced, Germany realized defeat was inevitable and signed the Armistice on November 11th, 1918. The guns fell silent.

Varenne was among the first towns liberated in the Argonne Offensive captured by US troops. It is a place of pilgrimage for Americans visitors, including this group of re-enactors who have toured the battlefields to mark the centenary.

In the United States, the First World War is kind of overshadowed by the Second World War. I had relatives who came over quite literally with the ideal of. . . you know. . . making the world safe for democracy.

I mean, they came with very high ideals. Over 116,000 Americans were killed in the First World War. More than 14,000 are buried at the Meuse-Argonne Americans Cemetery.

WWI was the first time that the United States had deployed troops in these numbers to defend foreign soil. By the end of the war in 1918, there were some two million American soldiers on French soil.