Existing comment:
World War I:
With the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared that a state of neutrality existed between the United States and the warring nations. Americans read with horror about the deaths of thousands of European soldiers from technological innovations such as machine guns, submarines, airplanes, dirigibles, tanks, flamethrowers, and poison gases.
American founds ways to help the Allied forces by serving as volunteer ambulance drivers, soldiers, and airmen. Any spirit of neutrality ended when Germany launched unrestricted submarine warfare, which meant that American merchant ships would be sunk without warning. This eventually led to a United States declaration of war against Germany in April 1917.
North Carolina made numerous contributions during World War I, both at home and on the battlefield. Soldiers trained at camps in Charlotte, Fayetteville, and Raleigh. Service groups formed, including the Red Cross, the War Camp Community Service, and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).
More than 86,000 Tar Heel men and women served in the First World War. Many North Carolina soldiers were assigned to the Thirtieth and Eighty-first Divisions. Thousands of North Carolinians served in other army units or with the marines and navy. When the war finally ended on November 11, 1918, the state had lost 2,375 men. |