Existing comment:
The American Expeditionary Force:
The soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces were a cross-section of the American population, coming from all walks of life with varying levels of education and economic status. Regular Army officers commanded the force with support from a large number of amateur officers appointed for the duration.
The experience of the war was common to all. First trained by the army, troops were then shipped by rail to a seaport for embarkation. The long voyage on a ship across the Atlantic was both dangerous and boring. Living conditions were cramped, the food poor, and there was a chance of being sunk by a German U-boat. Soldiers were cheered when they arrived in England by the war weary British. Then the men were sent to France, a place where no one spoke English. They were shipped in crowded cattle cars or muddy trucks to behind the lines. Hard bitten soldiers in worn uniforms and odd accents gave the new soldiers an idea of what would be required to survive at the "real" front. Whether you were infantry or tanker; quartermaster or artilleryman, the experience was the same. |