On the 100th anniversary of American involvement in World War I, there is no better time to follow in the footsteps of history and examine the impact of the United States in the Great War in Europe as well as discovering the impact of the war over here in the United States (especially Wisconsin and Milwaukee). I've always been intrigued by World War I, in part because I knew so little about it. No complaint to my past history teachers, but I was never exposed much to America's involvement in the war was, especially compared to the Civil War in World War II. No doubt about it, those two events fascinate me as well, and I've already been fortunate to enjoy some historical travel about both conflicts. But World War I is different. I don’t didn’t know much about it until I started teaching about the conflict twenty years ago, and I am still limited in the textbook and local museum phase. While that’s a solid base, I want to (and need to) dig deeper into what some call the most important conflict of the 20th century. So here goes …
I know that America’s participation in the Great War led the country to emerge as a leader in the 20th century, and the war overall shaped the world in ways we still feel today. It's important that students know the relevance of the war on a local, national and global scale, and that is one of my overreaching goals for my trip. (My school changed names because of WWI – that’s enough relevance to start, right? I hope to investigate American involvement from a different perspective as I explore France and Belgium. When I traveled to England and France to study D-Day and World War II, I was struck by the gratitude still evident from the French. Everything I read expresses the same feeling on the Western Front – but I will find out for myself. I love commemoration, monuments, and memorials (yup, kinda boring and maybe creepy), and I hope to visit and chronicle as many as possible. I also desire to find some local connections when I travel and possibly follow the story of some men and women from Wisconsin. Finally, I hope to honor and commemorate the service of the millions who served in the American Expeditionary Force and the 116,516 that lost their lives keeping the world “safe for democracy”. I plan to update my site as I travel, but access to the internet and my energy level will determine the timetable and detail. I can’t thank University School of Milwaukee enough for this professional development opportunity. I look forward to sharing my experiences with our community and making this part of our American Studies curriculum even more engaging an meaningful for my students.
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