Monthly Archives: June 2017

Two Roosevelts crossing the Atlantic

24 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by in Archibald (Archie) Roosevelt, Governors Island, J. Franklin Bell (General), Theodore (Ted) Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt Jr (President)

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Archibald and Theodore (Ted) Roosevelt Jr. left for France on 20 June 1917.

Theodore Roosevelt spoke from the pulpit of the Oyster Bay Reformed Church at Brookville on Sunday 24 June 1917 on behalf of the Red Cross. Raising funds and awareness for that relief organization was not his only reason to take to the podium however; with sons Archibald and Theodore now crossing the Atlantic aboard the Chicago to join Pershing’s nascent forces, he could announce that the boys had indeed left American soil. By June it apparent that the Wilson Administration, wisely, was not going to let Roosevelt command a division in France. The Colonel was committed, quite publicly, to sending his sons, so much so that he pulled all the strings he could get his sons to Europe as quickly as possible.

That became a reality when the Chicago left New York for Bordeaux on Wednesday 20 June. The late spring of 1917 had entailed a great deal of back and forth for Archive and Ted. They had spent the past several weeks getting in some final training in Plattsburg before traveling ceaselessly between New York City, Washington, and Oyster Bay as their fate was being decided. Eventually the War Department sent secret orders directing them to report to General J. Franklin Bell on Governors Island. It was there at the Department of the East that they received their final instructions. They had a few more days to pass before the passage of the Chicago and so went back to Long Island to say their final goodbyes to their families. Then it was back to New York. The waiting to go overseas was finally over.

Theodore Roosevelt had been an advocate for American involvement in the Great War since 1914. When he spoke at the Oyster Bay reformed Church one hundred years ago today, he had a personal stake in the conflict that was not there even one week prior.

(image/New York Times)

Remembering Alfred Restaino

21 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Memory, Monuments and Statuary, New York City, Those we remember

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Alfred Restaino is incorrectly commemorated as “Albert J. Restaino” on Eastern Parkway.

Though his tablet is incorrect, Restaino’s tree has fully grown.

I wrote about six months ago about the tress along Eastern Parkway dedicated to Brooklyn boys who had died in the Great War. For my Grand Army Plaza tour I wanted to do a deeper dive and discuss a few of the men. So I did a little digging. Here we have a tablet laid for one “Albert J. Restaino.” When I began checking I discovered sadly that this is an error. The solder is actually Alfred Restaino. Here is the card with his personal information. He was wounded and subsequently died of pneumonia. Note that under Person Notified of Death it lists “Mrs. Restaino–Mother.”

Restaino is on the far right in the second row from the top.

The story only gets more interesting. I wanted to know where Restaino was buried. I never found his final resting place, but did discover that he indeed returned to the United States. In 1920 they held the Summer Olympics in Antwerp in a gesture for all that Poor Little Belgium had suffered during the Great War. In doing an Ancestry search for when or if Restaino came home, Restaino arrived in the United States on the US Army Transport Ship Sherman in September 1920, almost two years after the Armistice. That led me to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in which I searched for any articles about the Sherman published that September. That led incredibly to an article describing the return of the U.S. Olympic Team coming back on the Sherman with the remains of 763 doughboys.

Here is the documentation of Restaino’s return on the Sherman, 11 September 1920.

and an excerpt from the 12 September 1920 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article in which an Olympian describes the journey home.

Stories like this are why monuments and memorials are as poignant as they are.

 

 

Adopting the 27th Division

17 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by in 23rd (106th) New York State National Guard Regiment, 27th (New York) Division, Great War centennial, Libraries

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I mentioned to someone connected to the WW1 Centennial Commission last week of my intention to “adopt” the 27th Division during the Great War 100th anniversary. I intend to blog about the division, especially its 23rd (106th) Infantry Regiment, a great deal over the next two years, from its basic training in Spartanburg, South Carolina through its coming home after the Armistice. The 27th is a natural choice for me; it was the only division sent to France comprised of units from only one state, New York. Its 23rd Regiment was from Brooklyn and its armory is today on the National Register of Historic Places. The 23rd served on the Texas border during the Punitive Expedition in 1916. Its unit chaplain was the Reverend S. Parkes Cadman. When the regiment was called into federal service during the Great War it became the 106th. There were so many men, regiments, and divisions that fought in the war that it seems the best way to tell a doughboy story is by finding the general in the particular. That’s why I selected the 27th. Plus, they fought with the British, which gives me a chance to better explore the international aspects of the war.

Yesterday when we were at the Library of Congress I saw a man standing in front of a wooden trunk outside the exhibit hall. As it turned out, he was a volunteer and the trunk held the accoutrements of a Brooklyn doughboy named Christian F. Stensen, a private in the 23rd. I had an interesting conversation with the man from the Library of Congress, who graciously showed me Private Stensen’s belongings. We did not know for sure, but we were speculating that the Indian was adopted as a logo because the division’s Orion symbol looks something like a tomahawk. I’ll have more on the Orion symbol itself in a future post. You never know what you will see if you get out there. Whether it is the Park Service, the Library of Congress, or some other institution, yesterday’s experience was testimony to the special role that volunteers play in the telling of our history.

An afternoon at the Library of Congress

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Dwight D. Eisenhower, Great War centennial, Libraries, World War One Centennial Committee for New York City, WW2

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I was having a conversation with someone last night who noted how many of the images I have used recently on the blog have come from the Library of Congress. I try to mix up the sources, but indeed most of the best photographs for recent posts have come from the LOC’s extensive collections. As a librarian myself, I understand how valuable these resources are to our nation. Not only have I used the library’s image collections, I have utilized the Library of Congress manuscript collections for my book projects as well. And the best thing is, with the internet at our fingertips many of these resources are available to us regardless of where we live or work. They do such a great job, we almost–almost–take it all for granted. Well today I had the good fortune to go with the Hayfoot to the Jefferson Building to see Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I. The curators did a fine job not just discussing the battles, but the economic, political, and social consequences of the war as well. With our country facing so many issues and uncertainties in our own historical moment, it is comforting to know that we as a nation have weathered times of uncertainty in the past. The challenges vary only in the details.

It is hard to believe the the World War I Centennial Commission Trade Show was three years ago this week, and right here in Washington D.C. no less. Approaching others is not something that comes easily to me, but I made certain at that event to talk to the representatives at every table. I remember having discussions with staff from various museums and cultural institutions, including some people from the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center. The friend with whom I was speaking last night lost his father, a veteran, not long ago. His father was buried in a military cemetery in a Southern state. I was telling my friend that waiting for my bus in Manhattan yesterday morning I struck up a conversation with a man wearing a WW2 cap. He too was waiting for the bus and was headed to Bethesda to see his daughter and her family, presumably for Father’s Day Weekend. Over our coffees I asked him if he had fought in Europe or the Pacific and he said Europe. He said he was nineteen when he entered the war, which would put him now in his early 90s. He looked more like seventy-five at the oldest. I told him I wrote my master thesis on Dwight Eisenhower and he told me he met the general one time. Eisenhower had come to speak to his unit of about 100 men to explain in person why their transport ship home would be delayed for a week. I know my WW2 well enough to know that troop transport delays homeward immediately after V-E Day were a major snag, though I didn’t say that to the veteran that at the coffee shop. Hearing the man tell the story was an incredible experience I will never forget.

I say all this because I noticed in the outstanding exhibit today that the curators incorporated a good deal of material from the Veterans History Project into Echoes of the Great War. Frank Buckles was the last of the American WW1 veterans, and he himself died over six years ago. If you have a chance, make sure to check out the Library of Congress’s outstanding Echoes of the Great War, which runs through January 2019.

Pershing in France

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by in John J. Pershing (General)

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Pershing is hard to make out amidst his entourage aboard the Invicta.

Almost three full years after the First World War began the United States was now set to finally join the fight. General John Pershing arrived in France on June 13, 1917. He crossed the English Channel and arrived in Boulogne-sur-Mer near Pas-de-Calais before moving on to Paris. His last few days in England had been intense. He had lunched with King George and Queen Mary on the 11th, before moving on to the House of Commons, and then the home of U.S. Ambassador Walter Hines Page, where the general met with leaders such as David Lloyd George. Pershing’s engineers, quartermasters, and other key staff had already moved on to Paris. Building an army was no small task and Pershing was eager to put aside the public diplomacy and get down to work. He left London quietly before daybreak, took the train to the coast, boarded his ship, and was in Boulogne by 10:00 am. The stakes were high. Later that very morning a German air raid over London killed nearly 100 people and wounded five times that many.

The dignitaries on hand signal the significance of Pershing’s arrival in Boulogne.

Adoring crowds met Pershing, who was soon off to Paris for the requisite meetings and other affairs with both British and French officials. Field Marshal Joseph Joffre, fresh from his own trip to the United States one month prior, was on hand with numerous others to meet Pershing in the City of Light. There would be numerous strains between the various allies in the weeks and months to come. All had different visions of what the American contribution would look like. For now all that was in the future as Paris turned out to greet America’s leading general.

(images/Library of Congress)

Walking Grand Army Plaza

11 Sunday Jun 2017

Posted by in Heritage tourism

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It was a hot one today as we made the rounds on Eastern Parkway and Grand Army Plaza. The warm weather drew people out of doors. Seeing people enjoying themselves, one can’t but think we’re doing what Olmsted, Vaux, and the others who built the space would have wanted.

We had a great time on today’s tour of Grand Army Plaza. It is a special place in Civil War memory. In researching the walking tour I came up with leads for future posts, articles, and maybe walking tours. There is a lot hiding out there in plain sight waiting for someone to tell the story. I want to thank the Brooklyn Museum of Art for putting the event together.

Pershing meets George V

09 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in John J. Pershing (General)

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King George V, seen here inspecting the American vessel U.S.S. Finland in Liverpool later in 1917, bore a striking resemblance to his cousin Czar Nicholas II.

General Pershing’s whirlwind visit to England continued on 9 June 1917 with among other things a visit to Buckingham Palace and an audience with King George V. The Americans’ arrival could not have come at a better time personally or militarily for the monarch. The king was a first cousin of both Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Czar Nicholas II of Russia. All three were grandsons of Queen Victoria, who had died in 1901. Nicholas had been deposed just three months prior to Pershing’s arrival in England, and it was becoming increasingly apparent that Russia might soon make a separate peace with Germany.

The monarch, seen here again on the Finland, showed himself publicly throughout the war to boost moral.

It is telling that when “Nicky” was forced to abdicate he was not taken in by his cousin George.The monarchs of Europe understood how increasingly fragile their grip on power was and each was afraid he might be next. It appears a deal had been in the works for Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children to live in exile within England. King George V eventually decided otherwise–the czar and the civil unrest in Russia were a third rail he refused to touch. Instead the Romanovs lived under housed arrest in Tsarskoe Selo near Saint Petersburg until being assassinated in Yekaterinburg in July 1918.

One mistake Nicholas had made was taking command of Russian military affairs This meant that when the losses mounted he himself shouldered a great deal of the blame. His cousin was determined not to let that happen to himself. While King George V showed himself publicly throughout the war, he largely kept his affairs to photo opportunities and patriotic events. He visited hospitals frequently, handed out medals, and that sort of thing. He also quite consciously spent most of his time in London, setting an example for his subjects not to live in fear. Even Pershing he did not keep that long. The king shook hands with the dozen or so officers in the entourage in mid-morning before speaking to General Pershing for all of fifteen minutes. Then it was on to other business for each man.

(top image, U.S. Naval Historical Center; bottom image, Library of Congress)

 

The ETO turns 75

08 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Dwight D. Eisenhower, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Marshall, George S. Patton (General), John J. Pershing (General), Theodore Roosevelt Jr (President), William McKinley

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Colonel N.A. Ryan, acting chief of transportation, U.S. Army European theater of operations, and Major General D.J. McMullen, D.S.O., C.B.E., director of transportation, British Army, Great Britain circa 1942

General Pershing’s arrival in first England and then France one hundred years ago this week is often understood to mark a turning point in American-European relations. The coming of the A.E.F. certainly signaled the arrival of the United States on the world stage, a process that had begun almost two decades earlier during the Spanish-American War. The evolving American relationship with Europe dates back to then too; it was John Hay, Secretary of State in the McKinley and Roosevelt Administration from 1898-1905 and, just prior to that, Ambassador to the Court of St. James, who had done so much to build the “special relationship” with Great Britain. Hay and Pershing laid the groundwork diplomatically and militarily for the Allied victory in the Second World War. Pershing’s protégés included George Marshall, George Patton, and Dwight Eisenhower. Today, 8 June 2017, marks another significant moment: the War Department created the European Theater of Operations on this date in 1942.

Dwight Eisenhower, at fifty-one now a major general, took over at director of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in London on June 24. Joseph Stalin had been pressing for a second European front for some time, and now it appeared he would get that some time in 1942. That of course did not come to pass. Roosevelt and his planners decided to make North Africa the first Atlantic offensive. Two years later came the invasion of Normandy and V-E Day less than on year after that. Ike was now a hero and came home to assume the presidency of Columbia University. He was back in Europe as the head of NATO in 1950. For the past three quarters of a century we have taken the work of the U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations granted. It was in Germany as part of the ETO where Elvis was stationed after getting drafted in the late 1950s.

We would do well to remember in our current moment that building alliances is much more arduous and time consuming than tearing them apart. Diplomacy is a funny thing: when done well one does not see it; when done poorly it is all one sees. I only saw one reference to the creation of the European Theater of Operations today. Here is to remembering the work that Roosevelt, Marshall, Eisenhower, and millions of anonymous American uniformed service persons have done over the past seventy-five years.

(image/Library of Congress)