Histories of American Army Units

Histories of American Army Units
Author: Charles Emil Dornbusch
Publisher: Washington : Department of the Army, Office of the Adjutant General, Special Services Division, Library and Service Club Branch
Total Pages: 330
Release: 1956
Genre: United States
ISBN:

Minnesota History Bulletin

Minnesota History Bulletin
Author: Solon Justus Buck
Publisher:
Total Pages: 640
Release: 1920
Genre: Minnesota
ISBN:

Vols. 2-6 include the 19th-23d Biennial reports of the Society, 1915/16-1923/24 (in v. 2-3 as supplements, in v. 4-6 as extra numbers)

Yesterday There Was Glory

Yesterday There Was Glory
Author: Gerald Andrew Howell
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2017-09-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1574417045

In 1946, World War I veteran and self-described “buck private in the rear rank” Gerald Andrew Howell finished a memoir of the experiences of his squad from the 39th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, and their “moments of horror, tragedy, humor, amour, [and] promiscuity” in Europe. This was “the old Army as it used to be,” Howell explains—the saga of the “down-trodden doughboy.” A few months later Howell was dead, his manuscript unpublished. Jeffrey Patrick discovered the memoir and the author’s correspondence with publishers and took on the task of bringing it to publication at last. Yesterday There Was Glory is an unpretentious account of men at war, from training camp to the occupation of Germany. It includes graphic descriptions of the battlefield, of shell fire, gas attacks, and lice. “Between the attacks the men would lay in their wet holes and pray for relief. But no relief came,” Howell remembers. He recalls much more than the horrors of combat, however, chronicling the diverse collection of heroes, professional warriors, shirkers, and braggarts that made up the American Expeditionary Forces. Howell and his comrades longed for wounds that would allow them to escape the war, but resolutely engaged the Germans in hand-to-hand combat. They poked fun at their comrades, but were willing to share their last can of food. They endured difficult marches, pursued “mademoiselles” and “frauleins,” and even staged a “strike” to protest mistreatment by their officers. They were as “ribald as any soldiery in any army,” Howell admits, but “underneath this veneer, they were really patriotic, steadfast and sincere.” Patrick provides an editor’s introduction and annotations to explain terms and sources in the memoir. Howell’s account preserves the flavor of army life with conversations and banter in soldier language, including the uncensored doughboy profanity often heard but seldom recorded.

A Postcard View of Hell: One Doughboy’s Souvenir Album of the First World War

A Postcard View of Hell: One Doughboy’s Souvenir Album of the First World War
Author: Frank Jacob
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2019-09-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1622735951

For many the postcard may seem trivial, little more than a mundane souvenir or a way to keep in touch with friends and relatives while on vacation. But if we look carefully, postcards offer valuable insights into the time periods in which they were created and the mentalities of those who bought or sent them. Frank Marhefka, while serving in the U.S. Army Motor Transportation Corps during the First World War, amassed a collection of more than 150 postcards and photographs while in France, and bound them into a souvenir album. Marhefka's collection provides a diverse and vivid look into a period of history that - in many soldiers' accounts - is not usually visualized with all its cruelties. Emphasizing the pictorial turn of the Great War, this album offers personal insight into a conflict that caused so much death and destruction. The book begins with an introduction providing a history of postcards and their extensive use by soldiers during the Great War. Then, after a biography of Marhefka, his postcard collection is presented in its entirety. Accompanying the images are brief texts that place them into historical context, as well as suggestions for further reading.As a visual artifact of the First World War and the perspective of one U.S. soldier, this book is aimed at students, scholars, postcard collectors, and general readers alike who have an interest in military history and popular culture.

Minnesota History

Minnesota History
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 682
Release: 1919
Genre: Minnesota
ISBN:

Vol. 6 includes the 23d Biennial report of the Society, 1923/24, as an extra number.