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WASHINGTON, D. C. --The raising of an American flag over National World War I Memorial on April 16, officially opened the monument to the Doughboys of that war in Washington’s Pershing Park.
But a month before, the colors of the New York Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, were unfurled there during a ceremony commemorating the 331 members of the 108th Infantry Regiment who died in World War I.
The formal “First Flag” ceremony on April 16 featured the 3rd Infantry Regiment in dress uniform, the U.S. Army Band, known as “Pershing’s Own,” and an F-22 flyover.
The short March 9 ceremony, featured Lt. Col. Matthew Kilgore, the battalion commander, making a few remarks accompanied by Soldiers presenting the 108th’s colors and the company guidons, while members of the World War I Centennial Commission, which created the memorial, looked on.
They also videotaped a “shout out” to the Doughboys of World War I which was included in the 80 minute video which was released to mark the formal opening of the memorial.
They were among 250 108th Infantry Soldiers in Washington as part of the National Guard security mission put in place after the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
It was simple but it was moving, said Meredith Carr, the deputy director of the World War 1 Centennial Commission.
“We loved the idea of it. We thought it was lovely we thought it was tribute to the unit and the legacy and the history the. That is why we said yes,” Carr said.
The 108th Infantry Regiment was organized in October of 1917 at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, while the New York National Guard’s 27th Division was training there to deploy to France.
The army took 1,350 men from the 74th New York Infantry from Buffalo and 293 Soldiers from the 12th New York Infantry from Manhattan to create the 108th Infantry Regiment.
While most American units fought next to French units or in an American Army, the 27th Division was assigned to the British Army in Belgium as part of a two-division corps.
In September 1918 the 108th spearheaded the 27th Division’s part in the British assault on the German Hindenburg Line, a final barrier between the allied armies and Germany.
The 108th penetrated the German defenses at Quennemont Farm, but the attack stalled due to heavy casualties and enemy counterattacks. An Australian unit was sent in to complete the attack and members of the 108th attached themselves to the Australians and went forward.
During three months of combat, the 108th sustained 1,763 casualties—including 331 dead—out of an assigned strength of 3,056 men. Most of those occurred during the Hindenburg Line attack.
"That the 108th Infantry ... should have broken through the maze of wire that existed and in the face of machine guns firing from every trench and nest, lodged one battalion in the main position, now seems an extraordinary feat,” the division command, Major General John O’Ryan wrote later.
The idea for honoring those members of the 108th Infantry from 1918 came to him as he looked down at Pershing Park from his hotel room each day, said 108th Command Sgt., Major Daniel Markle.
“I would look down and see the construction workers at the site having their morning briefing before they went to work,” he recalled.
He went on line to see what he was looking at, and when he realized it was the World War I memorial he started thinking about doing some kind of memorial event there, Markle said.
He approached the manager at the site. She approached the commission. And the commission okayed an event, Markle said.
“We loved the idea of it. We thought it was lovely. We thought it was a tribute to the unit and the legacy and the history, “Carr said. “ That is why we said yes.”
The commission members also thought it was fitting for a unit with World War I ties, in Washington to help defend the Capitol, to hold the first colors ceremony at the memorial, she added.
About 20 people were there for their ceremony, Markle said. The stopped construction on the site, conducted their event, and then the work started again.
The World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress in 2013 to commemorate the centennial of World War I and spearhead the creation of a monument to those who fought in that war.
The bulk of the $50 million monument opened to the public on April 17, 2021, but the commission is still raising funds to finish a series of sculptures which will tell the story of a World War I Soldier.
Along with the 108th Infantry, other units that are still part of the New York Army National Guard which distinguished themselves during World War I include the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, and the 369th Sustainment Battalion.
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.10.2021 09:47 |
| Story ID: | 395800 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 264 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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