Our Forgotten Heroes: Why don’t we talk about WWI?
By Jessica Manfre
via the We Are the Mighty web site
During the "Great War", the United States of America lost over 116,000 of her troops in a span of only 19 months. While initially remaining neutral and refusing to enter into World War I when it began in 1914, that changed after repeated attacks on America's ships. In 1917 the U.S. entered into the fray, declaring war against Germany.
It can be argued that without American's force beside the allies, the war wouldn't have ended in victory, but a stalemate. History has documented this impressive and vital piece of our story. So why don't we talk about it and those incredible heroes that turned the tide for an entire world in the name of democracy?
Why don't we discuss how more Marines were killed or wounded in the battle of Belleau Wood than their service's entire history at that point? That battle alone claimed over 10,000 American casualties in just three weeks. It should also be known that France refused to enter into this particular battle because they felt it was too dangerous. Instead, they insisted that the Americans do it.
We did, but it came at an extremely heavy cost.
In September of 1918, 1.2 million American troops entered into the deadliest battle in its history. Many were undertrained and not yet battle-tested – but their sheer numbers and grit did what other armies could not in four years. It was an incredible offensive effort as the Expeditionary Forces of the United States actually caught Germany completely by surprise with their attack.
America's troops took an area that had been held for four years in just two short days. This battle ended the war, but America lost 26,277 of their own to win it. We also had 192,000 casualties. It was this specific battle at Meuse-Argonne, or The Battle of Argonne Forest, that pushed Germany into literally pleading for an end of World War I. America brought Germany to its knees.
Read the entire article on the We Are the Mighty web site.
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