The unknowns : the untold story of America's unknown soldier and WWI's most decorated heroes who brought him home Cover Image

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The unknowns : the untold story of America's unknown soldier and WWI's most decorated heroes who brought him home / Patrick K. O'Donnell.

O'Donnell, Patrick K., 1969- (author.).

Summary:

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery was constructed in 1921 to hold one of the thousands of unidentified American soldiers lost in World War I. The Tomb now also contains unknowns from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. When the first Unknown Soldier was laid to rest in Arlington, General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in WWI, selected eight of America's most decorated, battle-hardened veterans to serve as Body Bearers. O'Donnell gives voice to all who have served, transporting readers into the midst of dramatic battles during 1917-1918 that ultimately decided the Great War. -- adapted from jacket.

Record details

ISBN: 9780802128331
ISBN: 0802128335
Physical Description: xxii, 362 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2018.
Copyright: ©2018

Content descriptions

General Note:	"Printed simultaneously in Canada"--Title page verso
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-349) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	I. America goes to war, 1917 -- Getting over there -- The Kaiser's killing machine -- James Delaney and the SS Campana -- Q ships and depth charges: Das Boot -- II. Buildup, 1917-1918 -- Pershing and the AEF -- Ernest August Janson: first to fight -- Trench warfare -- III. Defending Paris, 1918 -- Belleau Wood -- Hill 142 -- "The Marines are fighting like Trojans" -- Edward Younger: Vaux -- IV. Counteroffensive, 1918 -- Turing point: Soissons -- V. By sea, 1918 -- Charles Leo O'Connor: USS Mount Vernon -- James Delaney: Brandenberg -- VI. Offensive, 1918 -- St. Mihiel -- Thomas Daniel Saunders: breaching the wire -- The skies above and victory -- "A natural fortress...beside which the wilderness in which Grant fought Lee was a park": the Meuse-Argonne -- Harry Taylor and the Wild West Division -- The charge of the Light Brigade at Gesnes -- Mission impossible: Blanc Mont Ridge -- Woodfill of the Regulars -- "I got a few" -- Louis Razga: the big guns -- VII. The final battles and coming home -- The final push -- The bridge -- Occupation -- VIII. America's unknown soldier -- The unknown -- Coming home -- Afterword: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.