Commemoration of U.S. entry into WWI 100 years ago

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy

A wreath laying at Fort Bayard National Cemetery, commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the U.S. entry into World War I, took place Thursday, April 6, 2017.

Rocky Hildebrand, Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society member, accompanied by Joseph Trujillo, Fort Bayard National Cemetery program support assistant, placed the wreath in commemoration.

The keynote speaker was Doug Dinwiddie, Ph.D., retired history professor, who spoke about WWI soldiers.

"This is the 100th anniversary of the U.S. official entry into the conflict now called World War I," Dinwiddie said. "It was also called the Great War, in hopes that it would be the last time our young soldiers would shed blood. President Woodrow Wilson called it 'The war to end all wars,' but that didn't happen. Wilson deemed it the war that would secure democracy."

Dinwiddie said: "Perhaps no other army in history has gone to war with such lofty goals."

He said most Americans know about the huge number of casualties and massive loss of personnel, mostly due to the new weapons of warfare of the time.

"Why did so many Americans willingly volunteer or welcome conscription?" Dinwiddie asked and answered. "They felt a deep sense of duty to country. For some, it might have been out of a sense of adventure and belonging to a cause. Some simply were doing it out of a sense of purpose. Few did so to make the world safe for democracy. They served for their comrades in arms."

He went on to say the "the rest of us may not understand the comradeship among warriors."

"Our place today is to honor the doughboys' commitment to go 'over there' to do what they believed was the right thing to do," Dinwiddie said.

"These grounds are symbolic of the democratic society that brought up these people," he continued. "Those who lie here are all bound together by the brotherhood and sisterhood of service. We salute them all. May God bless America."

Dr. John Bell offered a prayer to "honor with reverence those who gave their lives, sacrificing their lives for us. Today we must still stand up and do what we believe is right for our country."

Don Spann, Marine Corps League Detachment 1328, played Taps on his bugle, to end the ceremony.

Evelyn Yates told the Beat she would be going to put flowers on her husband's grave.

Shirley Lacy, her son and daughter accompanying her, was present, and the only one who said she had a relative at Fort Bayard National Cemetery, who was a World War I veteran. Her father, Amel Black Elder, served in the Great War.