Technical_Exhibit_3.pdf

DRAFT: FOR INTERNAL USE BY ABMC & ANC HISTORIANS ONLY

Arlington National Cemetery Visitor Center Panels FINAL EDITS Script approved by ANC/ABMC historians after 7 Jan 2016 editing meeting.

CAO: 14 Jan 2016

Panel 1: Arlington National Cemetery Overview

Arlington National Cemetery is America’s most sacred shrine. Represented in the ordered headstones that grace the landscape are over 400,000 service members and their families who rest here in honored glory. They include veterans of every major military conflict in which the United States has participated, from the American Revolution to current operations.

This property once belonged to Mary Custis, the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Occupied by Union troops at the onset of the Civil War, the Army converted select areas of the plantation into a national cemetery. The first military burials here occurred in May 1864.

Following the close of the Civil War, the U.S. Army continued to utilize the property. As the cemetery expanded, its reverential status grew. Notable graves include two presidents, William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and over 400 Medal of Honor recipients.

Today, Arlington is one of the nation's busiest cemeteries with up to 30 funerals each weekday, and up to 8 on Saturdays. The United States Army administers Arlington National Cemetery.

Please show proper respect, dignity, and decorum as you walk through the cemetery, the most hallowed ground in the nation.

Panel 2 Engulfed: World War I Explodes (1914-1917)

In June 1914, after years of European rivalries and tensions, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This spark quickly ignited war in Europe. The Austro-Hungarians, alongside their allies Germany and the Ottoman Empire, constituted the Central Powers. They fought against Great Britain, France, and Russia, who comprised the Triple Entente and formed the core of the Allied Powers. Both sides expected a fast and decisive victory, but the conflict soon stalemated, especially on the Western Front, where trench warfare dominated combat.

The United States initially remained neutral, hesitant to enter a European war. The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 led to a surge of anti-German resentment, but many Americans remained opposed to entering the conflict. President Woodrow Wilson won his 1916 re-election by campaigning with the slogan “He kept us out of war.”

As the conflict persisted, large offensives on the Western Front continued to take hundreds of thousands of lives, without breaking the stalemate. In the east, the Central Powers steadily advanced across Russian territory, leading to social upheaval that eventually caused the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The new Russian government soon made a separate peace with the Central Powers and withdrew from the war.

Panel 3 Over There! The Yanks Arrive (1917-1918)

American neutrality lasted for almost three years. In early 1917, after the resumption of German unrestricted submarine warfare and the interception of the Zimmermann Telegram – in which Germany proposed an alliance with Mexico if the United States entered the war – American public opinion shifted, and on April 6, 1917, Congress declared war on Germany.

Small compared to many European armies, the U.S. military raced to prepare for combat.

General John J. Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), arrived in France with lead elements of the 1st Division, U.S. Army, in June 1917. As manpower increased at home, the AEF continued to train in Europe.

In the spring of 1918, U.S. forces began taking part in key combat operations. During the Somme Defensive, the Battle of the Lys, and the Aisne Campaign, American soldiers and marines contributed to the failure of the German Spring Offensive.

On September 12, 1918, the AEF attacked German positions near St. Mihiel, in eastern France.

In four days, the Germans withdrew. This victory prepared the Americans for a greater challenge on September 26, when they initiated the largest American operation of the war: the Meuse- Argonne Offensive. Forty-seven days of vicious fighting in this region culminated in the signing of the November 11, 1918, Armistice that ended hostilities between the Allies and Germany.

Panel 4 A Revolution in Technology

World War I resulted in an unprecedented level of bloodshed. Industrialization and the application of mass production methods created increasingly lethal weapons that caused extraordinary casualty rates. The extensive use of machine guns and rapid fire artillery proved particularly deadly, as military strategy often failed to evolve with technological advances.

Submarines patrolled the Atlantic Ocean, sinking merchant ships and killing civilians as well as servicemen with little warning. For the first time, aircraft played a significant role as giant airships launched sustained aerial bombardment of cities, and airplanes supported combat operations through reconnaissance and aerial combat. Improvements in motorized vehicles opened up new methods of transportation, such as tanks and mobile artillery. Adding to the terror, poison gas saw widespread use and contributed drastically to the suffering.

Under such extreme pressure, many soldiers experienced “shell shock,” known today as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Veterans suffered from mental as well as physical wounds in the war’s aftermath.

Panel 5 The Aftermath of the Great War

Millions of people perished in World War I. Combat destroyed vast swaths of Europe and its empires. After the war, the Europeans began to rebuild as the victors redrew political boundaries, primarily based on their preferences. The Allies signed the Treaty of Versailles with Germany in June 1919. The treaty required Germany to pay the victors large sums in compensation. These reparations, along with other treaty conditions, produced economic instability and social resentment in Germany, laying the groundwork for the rise of the Nazi Party in the following decades.

During the war, President Woodrow Wilson proposed the creation of the League of Nations, an intergovernmental body intended to mediate international disputes, but the U.S. Congress refused to join. This lack of American participation, along with structural weaknesses, eventually undermined the League’s effectiveness.

The rejection of U.S. membership in the League symbolized America’s postwar backlash against the war. Many Americans believed the number of U.S. casualties to be disproportionate with U.S. interests in the war, and they wanted to avoid future international conflicts. Public opinion favored isolationism through the 1930s, when Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts intended to prevent the United States from becoming involved in another European war.

Panel 6 Bringing Our Boys Home

After the guns fell silent, the combatant nations confronted the somber task of burying the dead.

Over 116,000 Americans died in World War I, the first time so many perished in an overseas conflict. Following the protocol used in the Spanish-American War, the government initially promised to repatriate all of the American war dead—bringing them back to the United States for burial.

Many Americans held a view similar to former President Theodore Roosevelt, who elected to leave the remains of his fallen son Quentin in France in accordance with the biblical idea that “where the tree falls, there let it lie.” The War Department ultimately allowed next of kin to choose whether they wanted their relatives repatriated to the United States or buried in an overseas American cemetery.

During the war in 1917, the Army delegated mortuary affairs to the newly created American Graves Registration Service (GRS) under the Army’s Quartermaster Corps. The GRS identified, collected, and buried American fatalities in temporary cemeteries located throughout Europe.

After the Armistice, units of African-American soldiers, segregated in the U.S. military, performed much of this funerary labor to ensure honorable burials for America’s war dead.

Panel 7 Establishment of the American Battle Monuments Commission

As the American Graves Registration Service consolidated the American dead into eight planned permanent cemeteries, veterans hastily constructed battlefield monuments. On March 3, 1923, Congress established the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) in order to create one government organization to oversee American monuments in Europe. The first Chairman, General of the Armies John J. Pershing, led the agency as it officially constructed memorials in Europe and chapels in the overseas cemeteries. ABMC intended the memorials to recognize and honor the major operations of the American Expeditionary Forces amidst the many European war memorials on the landscape.

ABMC also operated a Historical Section that chronicled the war. Pershing appointed then- Major Dwight D. Eisenhower to this office for six months starting in January 1927, and again from 1928 to 1929. Eisenhower led the effort to develop and publish guidebooks to the American World War I sites in Europe.

ABMC officially assumed responsibility for the overseas cemeteries in 1934. Three years later, ABMC hosted dedication ceremonies at the newly constructed monuments and cemetery chapels. These large events publicly showcased ABMC’s dedication to honoring the legacy of the World War I generation.

Panel 8 Arlington National Cemetery and World War I

The repatriation of U.S. service members dramatically impacted Arlington National Cemetery.

Between April 1920 and July 1921, the burial of over 2,100 Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in new sections extended the cemetery to its current southern boundary. This constituted the largest mass repatriation of service members at Arlington since the Civil War. Over time, Arlington became the final resting place of nearly 5,000 World War I veterans. Racial segregation practiced at the time led to the separate burial of white enlisted men in Section 18, and African- American veterans in sections 19 and 23. Officers of all races were buried in Section 3, separate from their men.

In 1948, General of the Armies John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, received a prominent burial in Section 34. Although offered a ceremonial crypt in the catacombs of the Memorial Amphitheater, Pershing declined, stating his wish to be buried on a hill overlooking the soldiers he commanded. The last surviving American veteran of World War I, Corporal Frank Buckles, joined his comrades at Arlington in 2011, at the age of 110.

Panel 9 The American Battle Monuments Commission-Arlington National Cemetery Link

United States military cemeteries worldwide constitute a vast memorial landscape that honors the sacrifices of America’s armed forces.

In 1925, ABMC adopted a design for permanent headstones in overseas cemeteries: a Star of David for all Jewish burials, and a Latin Cross for all others. These designs are unique to ABMC cemeteries. After World War I, the War Department adopted a new design for government-issued headstones in domestic national cemeteries. These upright marble stones included an option for an emblem of belief, either a Latin Cross or a Star of David, similar to the shapes of the headstones in the American cemeteries in Europe. There are currently over 50 emblems of belief authorized for inclusion on headstones.

In the 1920s, Government planners envisioned ABMC cemeteries to be “little Arlingtons” and drew inspiration from the historic sections of Arlington. The ties between the ABMC and Arlington National Cemetery run even deeper than design. Arlington is the final resting place for many ABMC leaders, including General John J. Pershing and his successor, General George C.

Marshall.

Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Park Service, and the Department of the Army administer national cemeteries in the United States. In addition, post and veterans cemeteries are administered by other federal agencies and states.

Panel 10 African-Americans in World War I

During World War I, Americans of all races, ethnicities, and religions contributed to the war effort. The headstones at Arlington National Cemetery and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) cemeteries attest to the diversity of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Yet the inclusivity of the AEF remained limited by racial segregation, common during this era.

African-American service members served in segregated units led mostly by white officers. Most of these units worked in a support capacity as laborers, stevedores, cooks, and gravediggers.

The War Department formed only two African-American combat infantry divisions: the 92nd and 93rd divisions. Often fighting as attachments to the French Army, these divisions distinguished themselves in battle. The 369th Infantry Regiment, known as the “Harlem Hellfighters,” included a famous band that brought jazz music to Europe. Their band leader, James Reese Europe, rests at Arlington National Cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery and the ABMC’s overseas cemeteries reflect the war’s racial legacy. The ABMC cemeteries contain no racial distinctions: African-Americans lay buried alongside their white comrades. However, as with many national cemeteries, Arlington buried repatriated African-Americans in separate segregated sections, discriminated against even in death.

African-Americans hoped their wartime contributions would lead to more immediate civil rights victories, however substantial progress remained out of reach.

Panel 11 American Women and WWI

American women made significant contributions to World War I. On the home front, women labored in factories, worked as nurses, and volunteered. For the first time, American women officially enlisted when the Navy and Marine Corps temporarily allowed women to serve stateside. Women also served as Army and Navy nurses, but they did not receive equal pay, status, rank or benefits.

At least 16,000 American women served overseas during the war. Many died in the line of duty, most commonly from influenza and other illnesses.

The graves of over sixty women rest in ABMC’s World War I cemeteries. At Arlington National Cemetery, Section 21 contains the graves of nurses who served in numerous wars. Overlooking the section is the Nurse’s Memorial, dedicated in 1938.

In the aftermath of World War I, women played an active commemorative role. Women advocated on behalf of all veterans and especially for women who served outside of official military organizations. They also successfully lobbied Congress for a government-sponsored pilgrimage taking women who lost a spouse or child in the war—known as Gold Star Mothers and Widows—to the overseas cemeteries to visit their loved ones’ graves. From 1930 to 1933, over 6,000 women visited the ABMC cemeteries as part of these Gold Star Mothers and Widows Pilgrimages.

Panel 12 Here Rests in Honored Glory: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

On November 11, 1920, Armistice Day, Great Britain and France each honored one unidentified World War I soldier with a state funeral and burial at Westminster Abbey in London, and underneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Inspired by our Allies, in October 1921 the U.S. Army disinterred four unknown American soldiers from American military cemeteries in France:

Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, Somme, and Aisne-Marne.

On October 23, 1921, in the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne, Sergeant Edward F. Younger, a decorated veteran of the war, selected the official Unknown Soldier by placing a bouquet of white roses on one of four identical flag-draped caskets. Reinternment of the remaining three soldiers with full military honors took place at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. USS Olympia transported the Unknown Soldier from France to the United States.

On Armistice Day, November 11, 1921, the Unknown Soldier received a state funeral and burial with full military honors at the Memorial Amphitheater, thus representing all unknown soldiers of World War I.

5 February 2016

American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) Joint World War I Exhibit: Image Contact Sheet

This document provides a small, representative selection of the photos chosen to use on the panels for the joint ABMC-ANC World War I exhibit to be installed at the ANC Welcome Center. The photos included here are by no means complete and other photos may be added or replaced.

Panel 1: Arlington National Cemetery Overview

All photos above by Michael Shipman.

Panel 2: Engulfed: World War I Explodes (1914-1917)

From left to right: Imperial War Museum; Library of Congress; Woodrow Wilson Library;

Imperial War Museum.

Panel 3: Over There! The Yanks Arrive (1917-1918)

From left to right: National Archives; Library of Congress; National Archives; Michael Shipman.

Panel 4: A Revolution in Technology

From left to right: first two from Library of Congress; National Archives; Naval History and Heritage Command.

Panel 5: The Aftermath of the Great War

From left to right: National Archives; Library of Congress; Punch Magazine; USMA.

Panel 6: Bringing Our Boys Home

From left to right: Michael Shipman; National Archives; National Archives; Michael Shipman.

Panel 7: Establishment of the American Battle Monuments Commission

From left to right: National Archives; ABMC; last two by Warrick Page.

Panel 8: Arlington National Cemetery and World War I

From left to right: National Archives; last three by Michael Shipman.

Panel 9: The American Battle Monuments Commission-Arlington National Cemetery Link

From left to right: Library of Congress; Michael Shipman; Michael Shipman; ABMC.

Panel 10: African-Americans in World War I

From left to right: first three from National Archives; Michael Shipman.

Panel 11: American Women and WWI

From left to right: first two from Library of Congress; National Archives; Michael Shipman.

Panel 12: Here Rests in Honored Glory: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

From left to right: National Archives; Library of Congress; National Archives; Michael Shipman.