The War to End All Wars:
Arkansas Fights World War I
Arkansas, like the rest of the United States, was reluctant to enter the Great War in Europe when it commenced in August 1914. The world in Europe was unlike anything most Arkansans had ever witnessed, and the war only added to the confusion.
1st Lieutenant James Alexander Winn of Russellville sent home his observations of Europe in a letter to his family written in August 1918:
The world is in a chaotic condition...I have come across the seas to find all mankind ready and anxious to become high-class murderers.
Fighting between the Central Powers and the Allied Powers quickly bogged down into a devastating stalemate, a situation that the United States, after much deliberation, would change in the Allies' favor with America's entrance into the conflict in 1917. Less than a year after conscription began, the United States sent approximately 250,000 men overseas each month. The addition of two million American soldiers, called doughboys, had an immediate impact.
Many Arkansans distinguished themselves during the war. Twenty-eight men received the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest award given by the United States to military personnel. At least three bona fide war heroes--Herman Davis, Oscar Miller, and Field Kindley--were Arkansas natives who received awards and recognition for their actions.
Despite the state's role in the war fought "to make the world safe for democracy," few Arkansans know what the state's soldiers and civilians did to help win the war. Among Arkansas's contributions to World War I were
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more than 72,000 troops, some of whom earned military honors
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two military facilities, one of which trained African American soldiers
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a Wisconsin-class battleship named for the state
This exhibit honors the actions of Arkansas's World War I veterans and is dedicated to their memory.
Photo gallery
Exhibit research and design by the UALR
Public History Program and
the Arkansas History Commission.
