18+ Days in AEF's Footsteps, Day 6: Belleau Wood battleground, Retreat? Hell, we just got here!

Memorial Plaque in center of Belleau Wood display of captured German armaments

"Retreat? Hell, we just got here!"

This famous American  response to an order to fall back was offered up at Belleau Wood by a Marine leading his men through this dense forest. Defended by combat-hardened Germans armed with machine guns, the terrain rolls and pitches.

While it is never my intent to recount military battles as I leave that to the experts on strategy, I will tell you that to go to Belleau Wood is to once again see landscape that clarifies a battle's necessity and to understand why so many soldiers...or in this case, Marines and Germans died in this particular battle.

We entered the woods through the entrance to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, often called Belleau Wood Cemetery. (The Aisne-Marne Campaign, so named for the rivers the AEF sought to capture control of, comprises a number of battles including that for Chateau-Thierry, a town a few miles away.)

Captured armaments

Here in this clearing with this memorial are a number of armaments, all German, all captured by the Americans, Marines and Army soldiers. The array of cannon and more is impressive. Other elements of the woods explain much of the battle.

The woods, I will tell you, are very dense. Even on the sunny and humid spring day that we were there, we could not see through the foliage. To fight here must have been an enormously difficult task for both armies.

We walked the pathways into the forest and at every step, you see foxholes, machine gun dugouts and trenches. One hundred years later it is and you marvel that men fought in these conditions.

Bullets remain in the trees.

Today, flowers bloom in the forest. They did before the battle, too. Many men note that in their memoirs. So do nurses. All contrast the beauty of the flowers with the devastation that occurred among the blossoms.

Along this hillside beneath the blue wild lilies, you see the remains of a trench.

At the edge of the forest, you come to a large wheat field. Here, in knee-high growth, the Marines and the Army soldiers advanced with only barrage for cover. The enormous courage a man must have summoned to to charge this field is much beyond my ability to imagine.

Looking toward Lucy Bocage from where the Americans advanced into the wood where this picture was taken.

Do return for the next post, a look at the Aisne-Marne Cemetery in Belleau Wood.

Finally, for those of you who prefer a video with solid historical synopsis and terrific original film footage, I recommend you go here to the Military Channel: http://military.discovery.com/battles-history/videos/world-war-1-videos.htm There are quite a few short films here, but one on the Battle for Belleau Wood.

(I will say one element of this monologue I did take issue with: The moderator claims this is the first battle of which the Germans remarked on Americans' tenacity. Hence the German name for the Marines who captured this wood: Teufel Hunden. Devil Dogs. Actually, it was the battle of Cantigny in which the First Division took that village where the Germans realized that the Americans might truly have the right stuff to wage significant warfare.)

18+ Days in AEF's footsteps, DAY 5: OISE-AISNE American Cemetery, France

     I had girded myself for months before this first venture into an American cemetery where Americans who served in the First World War are buried. I feared the worst: I feared I would sob.

     I knew I would clutch. But I told myself I would be fine. Just fine. After all, over the decades, I had visited Arlington National Cemetery, watched the Vietnam War Unknown Parade and Dedication in Washington. I had gone to sites like Gettysburg, Antietam, Valley Forge, Yorktown, Concord and Lexington and more. I had taken my children, too, and frankly the only other time I ever cried was the day I saw a re-enactment of General Pickett's ill-fated charge at the 130th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. 
       
     No, I was not related to anyone buried in France. I knew no one who knew anyone who had served and was laid to rest here. Furthermore, the topic of nurses who served in France in 1917-1919 had originally been simply a unique bit of American history I liked investigating. As a child I loved to hear my mother tell tales of her childhood and my father tell very salty tales of his. I predicted that walking the cemetaries of those who repose in France would not affect me.
     But the closer the day came to our departure, and the closer the hour arrived when my husband and I would walk into those grounds came sooner than we anticipated. Quite by accident, we drove a different route than planned from Compiegne to Chateau Thierry where we had reservations for a few nights at a B&B. As we sailed down one rolling hill in the Champagne, admiring the miles of forests with pink and white cherry blossoms and yellow flowers and well-tended fields of flax, suddenly there stood a sign, American Cemetery.
     We were stunned. 
     That was not on our map, we told each other. 
     Why and how did I miss that one, I asked myself, in all my detailed planning for this trip?
     My husband, chauffeur extraodinaire and kind fellow, said we'd better go back.
    We did.
     Here far off the main road where we saw that sign is the stunningly peaceful sight of Oise-Aisne Cemetery. With 6,012 of our men and women buried here in Fere-en-Tardenois, this cemetery is the third largest of those serving those who fought and died in The Great War. Named for the rivers the campaigns fought to retain for the Entente, this cemetery was originally a temporary one for the 42nd Division, or the Rainbow Division. While most resting here fought in that Division, many others lie here also, including nurses who served in hospitals and mobile facilities along the front lines.
     The grounds strike you for their pristine beauty. Carefully manicured and lovingly tended, each grave is marked by white marble cut to the exact measurements of every other. The linden trees are an exact square so that they grow in unison and provide a canopy and protection from the summer sun.
     When you go, do enter the reception area and introduce yourself to the director. Here at Oise-Aisne as at all the other  cemeteries we visited, each of the personnel was warm and welcoming. They are, too, a font of knowledge about those whose graves they care for. Do ask them. They love to share their insights and they recommend reading for you, too!
     None of my pictures can possibly portray the grandeur or the solemnity of this site. The vast number of graves shocks your breath from you. The peace, the birds chirping in the trees and the chimes on the hour and quarter hour belie what happened here nearly a century ago. I will simply tell you that you must go when next you go to France. You will feel confident and fulfilled to have paid these men and women your homage. 

     To walk among the graves is heart-wrenching. To read their names, their rank and their duties, reminds you of the variety and the breadth of what is required to prosecute a war. Their ages, their youth startles you, you who have lived so long and so well and they, who died so young to ensure you might endure longer than they.
     
Here are two of the nurses buried here. Both are Army Nursing Corps volunteers.

Gertrude O'Connor, Army Nurse Corps, Base Hospital 7
Massachusetts, February 8, 1919

Alice A. Ireland
Army Nurse Corps, Base Hospital 34
Pennsylvania, February 3, 1919

     Here are a few of their compatriots who aided them in their duties. Note the variety of duties—and the fact that working in medical services could be as hazardous as combat.

William F. Lacey, Private, Field Hospital 44
Rhode Island, March 1, 1919

Paul Farnum, Private, 101 Sanitary Train, 26 Div.
Massachusetts, March 18, 1918

William Carstensen, Wagoner, Camp Hospital
Iowa, July 3, 1919

Thomas E. Wilcox, Private 1st Class, 18 Evacuation Ambulance Company,
Pennsylvania, October 18, 1918

18+ days in AEF's footsteps: Day 4, Cantigny

Soldier of the First Division

One side of the hilltop of Cantigny, France

         Cantigny is a tiny village in the French countryside north of Paris. The tranquil village surrounds the mountain top. At most, twenty homes dot the crown. Most are farmhouses. One church stands amid them.

     In May 1918, just as the American Expeditionary Force was arriving in great numbers, the French faced a formidable attack by Germans. This offensive, part of huge drive by the German forces to win the war before the Americans could arrive in great numbers, was the first of many such efforts along the front lines.
     The First Division, or as it is now known the First Army or Big Red One, came from the south to push the German line back toward the north.
     While it is not my attempt here to describe the battle in any detail (I leave that to your own search of good military records), I will tell you that as the Americans joined the French in this hotly contested area this battle was the first fought by AEF and won by them. It is the first in which the German Army and their general staff took note of American strengths and strategies and it is the first in which the AEF's wounded were aided by the first of the medical teams to sail to France. (For a superb description of the battle, please go to this source: The First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois, http://www.firstdivisionmuseum.org/museum/online/toward_the_front/battle_of_cantigny/default.aspx

One road atop the hill village of Cantigny.
Notice the blue sign!

The Avenue of the First Division, U.S.A.

     I can show you many pictures of this locale. But I can also tell you that for those who wish to see why a certain spot becomes a battleground, this town exemplifies the importance of that. As you stand on this hilltop and look 360 degrees into the surrounding valley south and north to the plain, you realize that this town afforded a great view of the distances in all directions. The roads lead to many strategic places, including the larger town nearby, Montdidier. Here is a picture of the valley across which AEF forces advanced uphill to take and hold the town.

Valley to south of Cantigny, peaceful today and a farm.

    The destroyed village of Cantigny exemplifies the devastation of these campaigns on the people who lived here.

USA, Army photo, Public Domain

    Commemorating the effort of the First Division is this bronze statue of an AEF soldier. An explanation of the battle is accompanied by a map. Please do download the picture to enlarge the type and read the explanation of the battle.

Description of battle.

Atop the hill are other monuments to the men who fought here. In a circle of shrubs and trees is this tall monument. You can see here the view of the church on the hill.

You can view easily the American eagles here on the sides of this monument.

Another view of the monument.

     At one end of this grove atop the hill is this cross and the memorial flowers.

     As we left the village to have lunch in Montdidier and to return to our B&B in Compiegne, we spotted this monument. At first, thinking it a French memorial, we passed it. Every French town has one or more of these obelisks to those of their own countrymen who fought and died in La Grande Guerre. But we thought we spotted an eagle on top of the memorial and so we our drove back to great reward! Here is another memorial to the First Division and their heroic efforts in the Spring Offensive of 1918.

Memorial to First Division in Battle of Cantigny, south of the hill town.

AEF Map, Public domain

18 days in the A.E.F's footsteps: Remembrance of our Doughboys, their devotion and sacrifices as compared to those who fought in WWII

Steve and I in gardens of our B&B, Chateau Marjolaine in Chateau Thierry.
Do note behind us flows the gentle Marne, which millions of men and
women fought, suffered and died to ensure that we might enjoy it in peace.

As my husband and I traveled through France, we met many French and Americans who asked us why few Americans seem to value or understand the devotion of those who fought in the Great War.

As I write, hundreds in Great Britain ask this question of themselves. Many in the UK wonder if their own planned Centennial events will resurrect anti-German sentiment and/or focus too much on the sadness and futility that has come to be the watchword for all those who gave their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to fight in that conflict.
How can we be surprised at this? Frankly, what we teach is what we get repeated back to us. I myself taught high school and college history and know that (especially in public schools) you go with what is written in the course outline and the textbooks and understand that people remember those themes and morals taught to them by word, picture and repetition.

To be specific to the Americans' remembrances and concepts of the Great War effort, I offer my own humble thoughts on this issue. I serve them up not as an academic historian, yet as a professionally trained one and a credentialed one. I also list them because I am a novelist and I see the dynamics of public consciousness through the prism of entertainment, most notably books, fiction and non, offered for sale to the American public.

With those caveats in mind, I suggest that the average American knows only a few things about the Great War. I suggest that this is a result of, and certainly not limited to, the following:

1. In the public mind since the 1998 debut of the very popular and heart-wrenching film "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" and Tom Brokaw's book "THE GREATEST GENERATION" in 2001, those who fought in World War Two changed the world for good. They fought against foes who exhibited radical, racist practices that were anti-democratic and therefore, "deserved" to be eradicated.

We get the concept here that this war was a "Good War." It was heroic, demanding and those who sacrificed did it for noble causes. Because these men and women won this war, they deserved all honor and glory.

Conclusion: Those who fought in World War One may have been brave, may have been heroic, but they fought and won a war that solved nothing and only made matters worse by enabling radicals to rise to power.

Furthermore, I quote and condense from so many I have met over the decades, "World War One is depressing. The generals had no idea what they were doing and too many died for nothing."

2. "Boomers", i.e. the children of those men and women who fought in World War Two, are the consumers of that film and its successors, like "BAND OF BROTHERS" and various others focusing on the war in Europe and war in the Pacific, are the ones who saw those films and read those books.

Conclusion: Boomers are the ones most likely to honor their own parents who fought in that war. They are most likely to have heard the stories of battles won. They are the ones most likely to understand what was at stake. They are the ones who revere what their parents did to transform the American concept of the world and believe that it is Americans' duty to lead the world and prohibit wars.

3. Boomers are the ones who for the past 4-5 decades generationally controlled the school curriculums, wrote the textbooks, ran the Memorial Day and Armistice Day events in the USA. They controlled the concepts taught to children and to the public at large about both World Wars.

Conclusion: Boomers' perspective is that those who fought in World War One were brave and heroic, but their sacrifices mattered little. The world became a worse place. The Greatest Generation finished the work the previous one did not accomplish.

4. "Boomers" have been for more than 3 decades the consumers who buy books more than any other age group.

• They are the ones with the highest literacy rate.
• They are the ones with the most money. (This is especially true since the 2008 financial crisis where, in USA, those who retain their basic wealth are most likely to be over 60 years of age.) I could quote numerous studies on this, sponsored by governmental and financial institutions, but I wish to be brief and encourage you to look for the proofs which I know are there. After all, I am a Boomer myself!)
• They are also the ones who were taught in high school and college that World War One was futile by being required to read the literature written by those who lived during that period. Boomers have read "ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT" and "A FAREWELL TO ARMS." Both books speak of the raw horror of war and its futility in general.
• To pour on more despair, we could add the other novels of the post-WWI generation, all of which speak of ennui and futility. Here I include many of the works of Hemingway (FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, THE SUN ALSO RISES) and Fitzgerald (THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED, THE GREAT GATSBY, TENDER IS THE NIGHT).

Conclusion: What the Boomers know and feel, they have taught their children: World War One produced a lost generation of aimless, self-interested people who never got their act together. The result was another war that had to be fought and won. Grandpa and Grandma did that.

5. "Boomers" are active readers. They buy a lot of books. In fact of all age groups, they buy the most books in stores and now, on line.

• Yes, American men read newspapers and magazines, and to them books come third. They buy thrillers, mysteries and World War Two action adventure plus now stories of current war. 
• But the ones who buy the most books are women. What do women buy? Studies for years by various groups, including national writers organizations, show us that every time a woman walks into a book store, she buys at least 1 book and more often she will buy 2-3. Usually, she is a destination shopper, one with a purpose. She may buy a gift (for a family member), or a specific type of book like a travel guide or a cook book, and she will buy at least one paperback for herself. That paperback is fiction. It is also usually what we call in the trade, women's fiction which includes romance and historical romance.
• Women are the cultural transmitters within their families. They teach social mores, concepts and themes to their children. For a woman reader and her family, this truth stands: If you are what you read, then so are your children.

Conclusion: Until recently when publishers in the UK and Commonwealth countries began to predict their own increased public interest in World War One period, books about it were few and tended to be non-fiction. As more are published, women readers will learn more and perhaps the attitudes toward the war in the USA will begin to change.

While you may now accuse me of carrying a banner to encourage a greater interest and respect for those who gave their all in 1917 and 1918, I will respond by asking, "Why not?"

Last week, when my husband and I stood amid the sea of 4000+ graves of our men and women buried in the St. Mihiel Cemetery near Thiacourt and we asked the administrator how many come here to Eastern France to pay their respects, her response was, "Not enough. Most Americans visit Normandy."

It is time we Americans broadened our horizons, traveled more broadly and thought about war more critically.

2 weeks+ in the footsteps of the A.E.F. front lines!

Climbing up out of jet lag, I begin a series of articles here about the heart-rending, exciting, endearing and oh so informative 18 day trip my husband and I took to France to imbibe details of the American Expeditionary Forces' routes in 1917-1918.

My husband Steve was my right arm and hand, my interpreter, my expert photographer and my chauffeur for this marvelous event. (To add also, that he is my wine expert and...yes, arbiter of all things funny is quite essential to the telling of this tale—and to the completion of this trip.) He was and is invaluable to me in finishing the research for this novel. In fact, I would not have undertaken writing it again had he not insisted that the time was right, that the Centenary of the war was the appropriate moment to ensure that HEROIC MEASURES found the readership that it deserves. Next to him was my dear cousin Kathleen who also read the book decades ago and who loved it then and who is delighted it will see air now.

As a trained historian who has written 18 novels, I know the value of proper research. I also value the essence of truth it imparts to the finished work. And as one who has also written mysteries where the importance of forensic and police procedure is imperative to the veracity of the story, I know that the smallest details are the ones that make a novel live.

What a person wears, how she feels as she boards a ship, or even what she eats helps to set a scene and give the reader the ever valued verisimilitude vital to the plot and characterization.

Here in HEROIC MEASURES, what I will give you are these facts, among others:

• Not just what my heroine wears, but why and how it feels, how she acquired it and yes, paid for it herself!
• What kind of ship she boards when she sails out in the dead of night from an American port—and why she cannot even learn the name of the ship!
• What she will sleep in on that ship. Hint: It is not a plush cabin bunk.
• Where she will get off that ship and how she will travel from the French port to the site where she first nurses the wounded who fought on the hills near Cantigny.
• What Cantigny looks like
• Why she is there with A.E.F. and the British troops in the Somme Sector
• How she is trained to nurse the wounded
• What materials she has at her disposal. Hint: Penicillin was not yet invented.
• How she must have felt to go on leave to Paris through Gare de l'est and see thousands of refugees fleeing the north with only the goods they could carry in their arms.

And yes, there is more, much more to this story, so I will lure you in to read more about precisely where we went. For brevity and for those who follow here who are vitally interested in World War One and our devotion to the wounded American Doughboy and Marines, I will tell you here we went to:

• Paris
• Compiegne
• Cantigny
• Montdidier
• Belleau Wood
• Chateau Thierry
• Ouise-Aisne
• St. Mihiel, Montsec, Thiacourt
• Verdun, Fort Douamont and the Citadel
• Meuse-Argonne, including Montfaucon, Varennes and many other hamlets where our men fought and died and prevailed.

Please return for photos, videos and insights. I will do my best to relate to you the sights, the smells, the environment where more than 1 million Americans, men and women, devoted their lives and their honor to accomplishing the goal of winning the war.

Today, when we Americans think of that war, we owe these men and women the same respect and honor we give to our other men and women in uniform, past and present. After all, these Americans won that war. It was not they who lost the peace.

If this Centennial teaches any moral, I hope the first one, the strongest one we claim is that these men and women fought and did themselves and their cause proud. If the Great War has been branded as sad or senseless, then it was not these men and women who made it so. We owe them the remembrance of what was a heroic measure to go when called, to serve when asked, to devote all to accomplish that goal and to contribute mightily to end a conflict which began too easily, endured too long and ended in a peace which should have been more just, less vengeful.