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8/12/2019 Welcome to the Aef

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Welcome to the AEF!It took the United States 18 months from declaring war until effectively fighting in Europe

This eventual fighting happened only because of llied supplies ! weapons"ammunition" and transportation. The US supplied the llies with war materiel"especially steel" copper" and other raw materials" as well as e#plosives. $owevethe llied troops in Europe needed more than %ust supplies" and merican troopsarrived in the autumn of 1&18. 'ou will be a member of the mericanE#peditionary (orce in Europe on )ednesday" and in order to set the stage" readyour story below about the E( and how you eventually made it *+ver There,.

Selective Service

Even though the country had been preparing for war for over a year" the mericanarmy was inade-uate at the outset of merican involvement. In 1&1" the

merican regular army numbered only 1//"000 men" nowhere near the sienecessary to fight in Europe" where the countries were mobiliing armies in themillions of soldiers. )hile some men 2almost 3 million4 answered Uncle Sam5s *I

)ant 'ou, ad by volunteering" the nations5 armed forces were still too small toeffectively fight in Europe.

The easiest way to raise an army -uickly was through conscription. 6ongresspassed Selective Service ct in 7ay 1&1. 7en between 31 and /0 were re-uiredto register for military service 2later in the war" the age range grew from 18 to 9:4.+ver &.: million men registered on the first day" and 1./ million names were pulledin a national lottery in late ;uly. /.:< of the population eventually served ! lessthan in other countries" and less than in the 6ivil )ar. This is how you becamepart of the E( ! you were drafted.

Some mericans opposed the draft and merican entry into the war. $owever" there were no draft

riots as in the 6ivil )ar" probably because local cities and chambers of commerce tried to make theregistration day festive" like a national holiday. lso" the draft was administered locally by civiliansinstead of by the military. n estimated / million mericans tried to evade registering for the draft.

bout 13< of those drafted did not show up when called. These people" called slackers" wereoften rounded up by authorities who would ask people to show their draft cards.

6onscientious ob%ectors were also in opposition to the draft because of philosophical" moral" orreligious reasons. 7any were drafted" and some actually served on the front lines in Europe.+thers had non=combat roles" like providing supplies and performing office tasks in the armedforces.

Some mericans have already entered the

war as volunteers for other countries. fewmericans went to (rance to become fighterpilots" while others have %oined the >ritish and6anadian forces. )hile you may not havevolunteered for the war" you are not inopposition to merican involvement instopping the evil ?erman *$uns, and helpingto make the world *safe for democracy,.


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Diversity

The E( was a diverse group" reflecting the growing population of merica. )hile most members of the E(were white males" one out of five was foreign born. bout /0"000 frican mericans have %oined the army"encouraged by frican merican leaders. They felt that black patriotism would possibly overcome racistpre%udice in merican society. frican mericans serve in segregated units in the army. They will be assignemostly non=combat duties" but there will be a few regiments that saw action. In the navy" frican mericansare given menial roles" like cooks and engine men. @ative mericans can not be drafted" but many havevolunteered to fight" and will serve in the same units as whites. In fact" @ative mericans volunteer at a bette

percentage than white mericans.

)omen play an important role in the E(" even thoughthey are not drafted and not taken by the army. Thenavy allows female" so some 1/"000 women will servein the marines and navy as nurses" secretaries"telephone operators. )omen also serve in the U.S.

rmy Signal 6orps as phone operators. In fact"women will do almost everything e#cept fight in the

war.

Black JackThe command of the E( has been given to ?eneral ;ohn ;. Aershing.Aershing began his adult life a schoolteacher in 7issouri" but he decided tattend )est point" from which he graduated in 188. $e graduated from)est Aoint in 188. Aershing saw duty against the Alains Indians with botthe th and 10th 6avalry Begiments. The 10th was one of two black cavalregiments commanded by white officers" and this is where Aershing5snickname of *>lack ;ack, originated. Aershing later taught military tacticsand mathematics at the University of @ebraska" where he also earned a ladegree.

@ear the turn of the century" Aershing served in the Spanish=merican )a

and the Ahilippines Insurrection. $is conduct was in 6uba was so notable that his colonel commented" CI havbeen in many fights" through the 6ivil )ar" but 6aptain Aershing is the coolest man under fire I ever saw in mlife.C$e also was a military advisor during the Busso=;apan )ar" and he led the unsuccessful 7e#icanE#pedition to capture Aancho Dilla.

Upon merican entry in the ?reat )ar" Aershing was given the control of the E(" along with the task ofturning an unorganied and untrained mess into a fighting force. The llied military leaders in Europe hoped use U.S. troops as replacements for the heavy (rench and >ritish losses" but Aershing has insisted that the

merican troops operate as a separate force under his command. $e believes that the mericans must fightdifferent kind of warfare" what he calls mobile warfare. In his mind" the independent lone rifleman should begiven a lot of independence of action. $e thinks that if the merican units can be put into the field and fight theway he trains them to fight == with mobile tactics 2on the move4 == they will show the >ritish and (rench how to

achieve swift and certain victory.

Training

Aershing wanted to get started organiing and training the troops as soon as he took command. )orking-uickly" the )ar epartment has built /3 camps across the nation for the 1./ million recruits. The camps aremuddy" barren" and unpaved" and many barracks are not ready for the arriving recruits. 7any soldiers have tosleep on the cold wet ground wrapped only in blankets. The army food is nothing like the food you have athome. The first winter was very difficult for many people" and disease spread though the camps -uickly"including measles" meningitis" and pneumonia. 'ou have remained healthy" however" and you are prepared train in 1&18. +ne recruit arrived at his Te#as encampment and remarked F


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When we got off the train which stopped right in the camp, we were chased up to abarracks were we were examined for contagious diseases. We were then passed into aroom where we stripped and wrapped our clothes in a paper. Our names were taken and

placed on the packages. These are sent home by the government. From then on it was allaction. We passed through a shower bath and then went in single file to doctor after doctor our fingerprints were taken, all scars recorded and then they began to hand out clothes.We marched out the front door dressed like soldiers but feeling a long way from being one.

Since much of the military e-uipment has yet to beproduced" you have been drilling with wooded replicas ofweapons they would use in battle. In camp" you learn todrill" shoot" dig trenches" lay barbed wire and constructlatrines. 7any recruits are in for a shock as they had neverleft their homes before. Underprivileged men from the Southhave difficulty fitting in as some do not know their right footfrom their left or how to write their names. )ith 8< of the

merican conscripts unable to speak or understand English"many immigrants have to be enrolled in basic Englishclasses at the training facilities.

few of your comrades e#plained their feelings of the training process in letters home to their families. +nerecruit mentioned ...from !"#$ to %$"&' we have infantry drill, bayonet drill and physical exercise. That doesnmean ' minutes drill and rest either... ) total *$ minutes rest in that time. We generally have ... combat

problems between %"$$ and &"$$ pm rain, mud or dust... +Then *- inch steps at %&$ steps per +minute on ahike of several miles...,. nother wrote to his girl" gnes" *ou probably are thinking the army has swallowedme up and that conse/uently all of my relations with civili0ation have been severed... )fter %$ weeks in thearmy 1 am, of course, getting accustomed to the life. 2ut 1 can(t say 1 like it.3 In discussing his opinion of hisofficers" one of your friends told his mother that *1 have saved a little money, and when 1 get back home 1(mgoin( to buy me two mules, and name on of (em 4orporal and the other one 5ergeant6 then 1(m goin( to lick helout of both of (em7,

In training" you complain about the amount of time youGre spending drilling in learning to fight. 'ou have drills

advance and retreat" drills to learn how to use the bayonet" drills and throwing hand grenades and" mostimportantly" drills and had a put on the gas masks.

>eyond the drills" the food is and all that great either. 7ost of you would agree that your day=to=day rations arnot all that appealing. n issue of the army newspaper 5tars 8 5tripesincluded a description of the rmy foo

no more ham and eggs or grapefruit when the bugle blows for chow. 9o more apple pie ordumplings for we:re in the army now6 and they feed us beans for breakfast, and at noonwe have ;em too, while at night they fill our tummies with a good old army stew.3


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The Doughboys

+fficially" you are a member of the merican E#peditionary (orce" but you are commonly called a *doughboy,The term" used well before merican entry into the ?reat )ar" has a variety of possible origins. Eveback to the 6ivil )ar" the infantry wore round buttons on their uniforms that looked like *doughboys,"or pieces of dough that were popular in soup. +ne source points to the long hikes merican soldiershad taken in the 7e#ican )ar" or even in @orthern 7e#ico chasing Aancho Dilla. fter the marchestheir sweaty bodies would get covered with dust" forming a doughy substance. It was also comparedto adobe" the clay that was prevalent in the area" and a few phonetic changes turned it to *doughboy

nother possible origin is that many infantrymen polished their belts with pipe clay" which resembleddough when it became wet. lso" even the lowest ranking members of the E( were paid better thamost soldiers ! they were loaded with *dough,. )hatever the origin" you are proud to be fighting tomake the world *safe for democracy," and you take the name *doughboy, as a badge of honor.

oing ver There

@ow that the E( has been organied andyou have been trained" the army has to betransported to (rance. This is a verydangerous task" as you know" since ?ermanU=boats roam the waters of the @orth tlantic"especially off Ireland and @orthern England.

7erchant ships also need to arrive in Europeto supply the E( as well as the lliedAowers. @avy Bear dmiral )illiam Simshas suggested that merchant ships beprotected by destroyers" which are fast=moving warships. The ships formed a convoyand cut a safe path through the tlantic. Thewarships can keep ?erman U=boats at byusing their guns and dropping depth charges2underwater e#plosives4.

The trip over was a -uite an e#perience for many men who had never been on the high seas before. Sergea

Edain irth of the :1startillery wrote his reactions in his diaryH

On


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e/uipment, the trainload of '$$ wounded came in on the wharf beside us. They werebrought on board at once. )bout half of them were suffering from gas poisoning. Their skinwas yellow and their eyes were protected from the sun by paper shades. Aany had bothlegs amputated.

)hen you stepped on (rench soil" you feel a little bit scared" but you are also mentally prepared to take on thaiser and help your (rench and >ritish allies. The arrival of the mericans is boosting the spirits of the (rencand helping make (rance5s soldiers want to finish the war. I ;uly 9" 1&1" Aarisian celebrate the arrival of youand your fellow troops of the merican e#peditionary force. +ne of the doughboys" Arivate +tis E >riggs"

recalls how e#citing it was in AarisH

Bveryone is gathering along the streets to witnessthe parade, all dressed in their best. The paradestarts, led by a representative detail of Bnglish andFrench troops. 9ext comes several thousand9egro stevedores and then the engineers followedby ambulances Cive D:)meri/ue7 CiveD:)meri/ue 73 is shouted. The applause increases.We approach the reviewing stand. 1 was right7 Weare passing general purging who stands at easewatching with a critical eye.

'ou have heard that one member of the E( visited thetomb of 7ar-uis de Jafayette" the volunteer who helpedthe patriots in the merican Bevolution" and announced*Jafayette" we are hereK, Even ?en. Aershing paid a visitto the tomb of the great (rench leader.

@ow that you have finally made it to Europe" the >ritish and (rench feel that you should be trained by them"since they have the e#perience in battling in he trenches. The llied forces also feel that the US troops areinade-uate. +ne historian remarked that your forces are *ranked 1thin the world" %ust behind Aortugal,. Jac

;ack Aershing feels that merica declared war independently and therefore will fight as an independent unitunder your own flag. 'ou and the rest if the doughboys plan to take the offensive in the war" since the currentactics of the llies are obviously doing little to end the conflict. 'ou will have more and more training until yosee the action of the front lines. +n )ednesday" you will be brought up to the )estern (ront ! and you wille#perience life in the trenches of Europe.


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6heck out the Trench )arfare animation online to prepare yourself for the )estern (ront in classtomorrowK

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