World War I

History of the War

Family Members who served

Photo Gallery of War

Favorite Links of this War

Poster - enemy and friendly air

History of World War I or the "Great War"

In terms of human cost, certainly there was "Great Cost" of this war.  It is estimated that more than ten million soldiers were killed and twenty million wounded.  The civilians also suffered much due to the effects of war, resulting from hunger and disease.  World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918.

In June of 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo, Serbia.  Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.  The Germans joined with Austria-Hungary and they became known as the Central Powers.  France, Britain, and Russia gave their support to Serbia and together they were known as the Allies.  Eventually, twenty more nations joined the Allies but not all of them sent troops to the front.

In the great carnage of 1916-17 there were approximately 17,700 gas casualties.   These numbers would grow considerably higher due to the large number of deaths after the war that would be directly attributed to gas exposure. Despite this high casualty count for both sides, the use of gas continued to grow. By 1918, one in every four artillery shells fired contained gas of one type or another.

In 1918 a German corporal by the name of Adolf Hitler was temporarily blinded by a British gas attack in Flanders. Having suffered the agonies of gas first hand, his fear of the weapon would prevent him from deploying it as a tactical weapon on the battlefields of the Second World War.

Americans were opposed to the involvement of sending U.S. troops overseas and President Woodrow Wilson declared United States as a neutral nation.  After the sinking of the passenger liner S.S. Lusitania, our attitudes started to change.  Finally, on April 6, 1917 the U.S. declared war against Germany.  Many men in the U. S. volunteered for military service soon after this declaration of war.

The first U. S. troops arrived in France on June 27, 1917.  By the end of the war, the American armed forces grew to five million strong.  However, the death toll was high, 136,616 Americans died in the war, about 100,000 bodies were brought home for a U.S. burial, with the rest being laid to rest on foreign soil.  World War I ended on November 11, 1918.

Family Members who served

Bernice Blanche Bertelsen 

Army Nurse 

Left: Nurse Corps "Spirit"

Hear my prayer in silence before Thee as I ask for courage each day.

Grant that I may be worthy of the sacred pledge of my profession

And the lives of those entrusted to my care.

Help me to offer hope and cheer in the hearts of men and my country.

Prayers of a Army Nurse

More about the 125th

Otto Strunk

Private, Company F 125 Michigan Infantry; PH

Charles E. Beymer

Photo Gallery - Etchings

 Michigan Tribute - click on arrow

Operating Room Base 52, France

Favorite Links of the War for W W I

Air Aces

Gas Warfare 

Nurse Corps

Chronology  of  U S army nursing corps

Rearview Mirror

Red Arrow

Red Arrow WWI

Rearview Mirror

Army Medical History

U S army medical core website 

Women Salute

A salute and list of firsts of women in military uniform