Article Courtesy of the AJC
November 11, 2018 by Danny Robbins, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Army National Guard soldiers Scott Delius (left) and Bobby Christine stand at attention during the 2018 Veterans Day Commemoration at the Atlanta History Center on Sunday, November 11, 2018. This year’s ceremony recognized the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. (Photo: STEVE SCHAEFER / SPECIAL TO THE AJC) Photo: Steve Schaefer
More than 100 veterans, including a Medal of Honor winner, turned out Sunday at the Atlanta History Center for a special Veterans Day observance that marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
On a cool, clear morning, veterans who served in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan gathered with others outside the center for a ceremony that included the sounds of both a military band and a lone bagpiper as well as speakers who sought to assess the conflict’s place in history.
The ceremony also featured an appearance by retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, one of the 74 living Medal of Honor recipients. Livingston, 78, and his wife, Sarah, occupied seats in the center of the front row and were greeted afterward by many of the other vets in attendance.
Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution wait to present the colors before the start of the 2018 Veterans Day Commemoration at the Atlanta History Center on Sunday, November 11, 2018. This year's ceremony recognized the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. (Photo: STEVE SCHAEFER / SPECIAL TO THE AJC)
Often referred to as “the Great War” or “the war to end all wars,” World War I killed 10 million combatants, involved 32 countries in fighting in various parts of the globe. Yet its significance and horrors have been overtaken by more recent events, a theme that those who spoke Sunday wove into their remarks.
Sheffield Hale, the history center’s president and CEO, described how the war ended a century ago in France’s Compiegne Forest “on a day about 15 degrees colder and much mistier than today.” However, since that time, it has “sometimes been lost in our collective memory,” he said.
He added that, while thousands of Georgians died in the war, “we are missing many of their stories.”
Charles A. Dobbins lowers his head throughout the invocation during the 2018 Veterans Day Commemoration at the Atlanta History Center on Sunday, November 11, 2018. (Photo; STEVE SCHAEFER / SPECIAL TO THE AJC)
Keynote speaker Billy Wells, a retired Army colonel, noted that World War I ushered in an era of warfare that included powerful artillery, tanks and air power. But the reparations demanded of Germany left the country in dire economic straits and promoted the rise of nationalism - the prelude to World War II.
“There is no such thing as a `war to end all wars’ … and equally there’s no such thing as a `great war,’” said Wells, senior vice president for leadership and global engagement at the University of North Georgia.
People look over information for the Veterans History Project in the atrium of the Atlanta History Center after the 2018 Veterans Day Commemoration on Sunday, November 11, 2018. (Photo: STEVE SCHAEFER / SPECIAL TO THE AJC)
In an interview after the ceremony, Livingston, who grew up in Lumber City and now lives in Charleston, S.C., also spoke of how World War I led to innovations in weaponry but was misunderstood as an end game for human conflict.
“They said that would be the last war, and look where we’re at today,” he said.
Livingston, who served three tours in Vietnam and was awarded the Medal of Honor for service beyond the call of duty at the battle of Dai Do, said remembering those who served in World War I reminded him of the “legacy” that passes from one generation of soldiers to another and his belief that more people should serve the country.
“I’d like to see more sacrifice in some fashion,” he said. “More (people) should be giving back to our country.”
The ceremony began with the ringing of “peace bells” to mark the timing of the armistice - the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month.
Martin Berning sings the national anthem at the beginning of the 2018 Veterans Day Commemoration at the Atlanta History Center on Sunday, November 11, 2018. This year's ceremony recognized the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. (Photo: STEVE SCHAEFER / SPECIAL TO THE AJC)
Wayne Coleman of Stone Mountain then played a medley of military tunes on his bagpipe, including “Over There,” the patriotic song written by George M. Cohan that became popular during the war.
Bagpiper Wayne Coleman performs during the 2018 Veterans Day Commemoration at the Atlanta History Center on Sunday, November 11, 2018. (Photo: STEVE SCHAEFER / SPECIAL TO THE AJC)
Coleman, who plays the same bagpipes his father played as a soldier during World War II, later closed the ceremony with another medley that also included “Over There.”
Georgia National History Day winner Daniel Wright of Monroe and Katarina Hess, a winner from Washington State, share the stories of World War I soldiers during ceremonies at the national observance in Washington, D.C. (photo courtesy Laura McCarty)
Architect Joe Weishaar and Sculptor Sabin Howard discuss their design and execution of the U.S. World War I Memorial to be built at Pershing Park in Washington, D.C. (photo courtesy Laura McCarty)
Georgia National History Day winner Daniel Wright joins Georgia World War I Centennial Commission advisory board members Virginia Dilkes and Laura McCarty in placing the Georgia WWI wreath on the Arlington Cemetery grave of General Courtney Hodges, Distinguished Service Cross recipient from WWI.
Scenes from the National World War I Sacred Memorial Service held in the National Cathedral. Georgia was represented by Daniel Wright and his family, Laura McCarty and Virginia Dilkes.
Article courtesy of Global Atlanta
November 9, 2018 | Phil Bolton
Winner of Georgia WWI Centennial Commission Contest to Attend Armistice Day Service at the Washington National Cathedral
When Daniel Wright hears the bells ring at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11th at the National Cathedral in Washington this weekend, he’ll be fully aware of their significance — that the bells are ringing for all veterans who have given their lives for their country, and more particularly that they also are ringing on behalf of Armistice Day and the more than 100,000 Americans who perished and the 200,000 who were wounded in World War I.
As the recipient of a special award from the World War One Centennial Commission responsible for his weekend visit to Washington, the 14-year-old home schooled Georgian developed a video that traced World War I from its origins in the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sofia in Sarajevo, Serbia, to its conclusion at the Treaty of Versailles signed on June 28 1919, exactly five years after the archduke’s assassination.
Daniel and family witnessed the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.While many a ninth grade student might have concluded their study of the war with the treaty, Daniel pursued its consequences illuminating not only how the Versailles Treaty led to World War II but also how the United States may have indirectly aggravated Germany‘s belligerence by ceasing its loans supporting the country’s economic recovery during the Great Depression.
Daniel’s award winning video titled “An Unpeaceful Treaty – How the Paris Compromise Ignited Conflict” is the most recent in a family line of winning Georgia National History Day documentaries that go back five years to his brother Nathan‘s video, “A Change of Heart: Vivian Thomas and the Blue Baby Surgeries,” which received a second place in the 2013 Georgia “junior division” contest and was a finalist in the national competition.
National History Day is a College Park, Md., non-profit organization that engages more than a million middle- and high-school students around the world annually in conducting original research on historical topics of their choice. Students enter these projects at the local and affiliate levels, with top students advancing to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
In Georgia, National History Day is a program of the Georgia Humanities Council and LaGrange College, which attracts more than 10,000 middle and high school students annually who delve into historical subject matter by developing research papers, exhibits, documentaries, performances and websites.
Each year an overarching theme is chosen such as “Triumph and Tragedy” for 2019, “Conflict and History” in 2018, or others such as “Taking a Stand in History” or “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”
Born prematurely, Nathan’s choice of the career of Vivian Thomas as a subject for his first documentary seems natural enough since he underwent several heart surgeries as an infant. Mr. Thomas’ skill enabled the first pediatric heart surgeries ever conducted and resulted in the successful development of what is known as the Blalock-Taussig shunt.
The recognition he received at age 12 for the Vivian Thomas documentary encouraged him to compete in following years with documentaries on the life of Rabbi Jacob Rothschild who was the rabbi of the Atlanta Temple when it was bombed in 1958, the military and business careers of General Lucius D. Clay, and the war correspondence of Ernie Pyle.
Daniel and family witnessed the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.Daniel witnessed his older brother’s success creating these videos and in 2017 tried his own hand at a National History Day documentary. He focused on the life of Walter White, an African-American civil right activist, who was light skinned, had blonde hair and blue eyes and who decided to be an African-American activist instead of passing into white society by leading the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1931-55.
In what may now be regarded as a family tradition, Daniel also was awarded last year for this work with a third place finish in Georgia’s junior division. Having tasted the fruits of placing, he entered the competition once again this year with his World War I video.
This time, however, in addition to the National History Day awards, the World War One Centennial Commission was offering a separate inducement promising the winner and members of his or her family a weekend in Washington.
Having won the World War One Centennial Commission’s prize, he and his parents are in Washington, visiting the National Archives in College Park as well as the archives of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration because Daniel already is planning to produce his next documentary on the Space Shuttle Challenger.
In addition, the family will be visiting the Arlington National Cemetery and on Sunday morning attend the service at the National Cathedral. In the afternoon they will be at Pershing Point for a World War One Centennial Commission celebration.
Jason Wright, Nathan and Daniel’s father, told Global Atlanta in a phone interview that he and his wife, Allison, provided only hands-off advice to Nathan and Daniel while they were producing the documentaries of the sort that they would receive from a teacher at school if they weren’t being home schooled.
He also indicated the random way that their children would come up with topics. For instance, the documentary on the life of Gen. Lucius Clay started off as a discussion about Cassius Clay.
“We have found that by concentrating on Georgia connections it is easier to find the research materials,” he said.
Additionally, he praised the National History Day program for forcing the students to do the research, compile lots of information and then “boil it down it something meaningful.”
This discipline, he added, goes beyond merely reacting emotionally to the latest hot topic but to thinking more deeply about the subject they are studying and not be swayed “by conventional wisdom.”
The World War I research particularly forced Daniel to consider the complexity of the origins of World War II, he said.
Bells will be rung throughout Georgia on Sunday at 11 a.m. in honor of the World War I dead on Armistice Day and veterans of other wars. For a Global Atlanta article, on the Armistice Day recognition, click here.
To see Daniel Wright’s video, click here.
Courtesy of UGA Today
November 7, 2018 by Eric Rangus
More than 40 men from the University of Georgia were killed in World War I. A 1921 feature in the Georgia Alumni Record honored their memory.
Georgia Magazine Web Exclusive
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the deadliest conflict the world had ever known came to an end. Even though the United States didn’t enter World War I until 1917, more than 116,000 Americans lost their lives in combat or to war-related disease.
A total of 45 University of Georgia men lost their lives during the conflict. In 1921, the Georgia Alumni Record, precursor to Georgia Magazine, published biographical sketches and photos of 41 of these veterans.
Spread across several issues of the Record, the sketches include photos of each of the fallen along with personal information, such as hometown, family members, degree information, and, in some cases, the details of their deaths. It is a comprehensive, solemn, and respectful remembrance.
To commemorate Veterans Day 2018 and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, each of these sketches is reproduced here.
Photos provided by the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library
You can see the full UGA Today article here.
The Georgia World War I Centennial Commission and the Atlanta History Center host the state's official ceremony to mark the Centennial moment of the armistice that ended World War I -- the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918. The public is invited; admission is free.
November 11, 2018 at 11:00AM - 12:00PM
Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Rd., Atlanta
