America's Deadliest Battle

waltky · Jan 11, 2017

Deadliest Battle in US History...

Deadliest Battle in US History in a War That's Slipping from Memory
Jan 10, 2017 | Even history buffs are stumped by this one. What single battle in our military history killed more Americans than any other?

It wasn't the Civil War's Gettysburg, where Americans died on both sides of the battle lines. It wasn't the notorious Battle of the Bulge, when Germany broke out with an offensive late in World War II. It wasn't D-Day. It was a month-long battle in World War I -- the Battle of the Argonne Forest that claimed 26,277 American lives and left 95,786 wounded, astronomical figures compared with battles today. It took an entire campaign to take Normandy in World War II to amass more American dead. So what does it mean that we don't even recall it? It seems the war has slipped from the minds of Americans, even though this year marks the 100th anniversary of the United States entering it.

The US European Command joint color guard stands in front of the chapel at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery during the Memorial Day ceremony there

The saddest thing about Meuse-Argonne, also known as the Battle of the Argonne Forest, is that "the times I've been to the cemetery, there's been no one there," says Andy Wiest, distinguished professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi. "People have just forgotten it. Go to the D-Day cemetery in Normandy and it's always crowded. "They've forgotten about WWI in general. Go out on the streets of Gulfport or Biloxi and ask what the most costly battle in U.S. history was, and no one will come up with that. It's sad, but you pretty much have to be a specialist to know it. That's how far WWI has slipped from our memory and imagination."

WWI in Gautier

The last veteran of that war died in 2011, and he was 110, so "there's no living memory of that war," said John McAnally, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College history teacher. It has become our grandfather's and great-grandfather's war, he said. Another fact about the so-called Great War is that every state sent soldiers. Ocean Springs has a monument to one of its own who died there. The G.I. Museum in Gautier has acquired artifacts -- dug from the trenches of France at the Battle of the Somme -- for a special display this year. America was invested, though not nearly as heavily as Europe and Great Britain, whose residents trekked to battlegrounds and cemeteries on their 100th anniversaries last year. All of England marked the Battle of the Somme, the deadliest single battle in British history.

We entered the war in 1917, so this would be the year to visit the Gautier museum and see what pieces of history are available. The 100-year-old French helmet on display there seems small and fragile compared to ones today. Unlike the American helmet that could adapt to different head sizes with a sweat band, France made different-sized helmets for its soldiers, which was a logistical nightmare, said Doug Mansfield, who co-owns and operates the G.I. Museum with his wife, Cheryl Mansfield. Soldiers couldn't pick up someone else's helmet and use it on the battlefield.

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America's Deadliest Battle

waltky Well-Known Member

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America's Deadliest Battle

waltky Well-Known Member

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