Ssent to learn about the with totorian Mitchell Yockelson learn about the death of the young aviator. Beyond the fountain into the onded area a short distance july 14, 1918, Quentin Roosevelts plane was shot down during a dogfight with german pilots. Quentin was the youngest child of theodore roosevelt. Quentin and his brothers all served during world war i. Quentin chose the air service like a lot of young men. Times 20 years old at the of his death. Of flying in the air service was an honor for young men who were daring. Not long before quentins plane was shot down and he was killed, he was placed in the 95th aeros squadron. They were charged with following and tracking down german planes in the area. Hadbattle of the second mar been raging since may. It was a heroic effort by the americans to try and stop the germans from crossing the marne. Quentin had gone airborne and shot down his first and only known german kyl. In four days the germans would get retribution against him. After
Six years. Peter scott, one of the things that john and i have discussed with many of our guests is interpretation on Civil War Battlefield parks. We have also talked about the partnerships with academics and we have seen with many of our guests, including our guest on thursday, nina Silver Silver was one of the first historians that came to the park and had conversations with the park staff about ways to broaden the interpretation of gettysburg and time and time again john and i have noticed that these connections between academics and public historians, you cannot conclude there is this a great gulf between these two sides as i think there once was. I thought we could open by having you reflect upon how battlefield interpretation, how it changed over time during your career and if you wouldnt mind, i would be interested in what you see as opportunities as we look ahead. Or iimportant observation my girlsy fun fact cameron and isabel carmichael, i have to give them a shout out today b
Brought to you today by your television provider. On september 12th, 1918, the American Expeditionary force under the command of general john j. Pershing launched First Independent mission of world war i. We travel to northeastern france with a story from Mitchell Yockelson to learn about the battle of saintmihiel. A bulge in the we were front that the germans had occupied since 1914. To begin the story, here is a portion of a 1960 u. S. Army film. It gives a brief sketch of the operation. In late july 1918, general pershing created the First United States Army under his command and immediate steps were taken to concentrate American Forces at one point on the line. That point was san my hel saintmihiel. It enabled to harass forces. They assembled for the task of krrk it out of existence. Fifteen infantry were moved. By the end of the day, the first army was ready for its First Independent operation against the enemy. At dawn on the 12th in the driz lipping rain the attack was launched.
19 1918 armistice that ended world war i. Up next on american artifacts, historian Mitchell Yockelson and french battlefield guide Guillaume Moizan guide us to several key locations in northeastern france, including place wheres hearry truman, an others had life experiences. We have an unexploded 75 millimeter ar till rear shell on the floor of the Argonne Forest. This is about an hour. Were standing in front of the pennsylvania monument dead indicat dedicated in 1927 to honor the veterans of pennsylvania many of them in the 28th National Guard division that were directly involved with liberating the town that was in the 407 day meuse argonne operation that involved the doughboys. You grew up not far from him. Is it easy to say you explored these battlefields on many occasions as a young manned and today as a battlefield guide . Yes, indeed. I was born in the small town around 15 miles away from here. And i grew up close by the Argonne Forest, so always walking in the forest when i was
We provided to scholars to provide context and commentary throughout the film, made by the u. S. Army signal corps. Oferica goes over, is one many silent world war i films that the National Archives has restored. This is about one hour. Susan welcome to American History tv, cspan history network. Let me introduce Mitchell Yockelson and Allison Finkelstein. As people actually see this film, how are these films made at the time and who saw them . Mitchell in the case of the stone, it was done by the United States government. It was a compilation of mostly u. S. Army signal corps footage by cameramen overseas. More propaganda to promote what america did, which was help bring the war to a close on the allies side. Susan it was released after the war was over. How was the propaganda intended by the government at that point in time . Allison this film would have been intended to reassure americans they fought for a just cause. It was important because there was actually quite a bit of backla