July 6 is the centennial of the tragic death of John Purroy Mitchel, Mayor of New York City and U.S. Army officer in World War I. His life is well documented but there is one fact I’m still working on. I believe that only George Washington and Alexander Hamilton have more monuments and memorials in New York City than Mitchel. If this is in fact true, then Mitchel is the No. 3 most-remembered man in Continue Reading →
The only National Cemetery in New York City is in Brooklyn. Visit the beautiful and historic Cypress Hills National Cemetery, the final resting place for 21,000 veterans and dependents from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War. The cemetery was opened in 1862, and is older than Arlington National Cemetery. Take a walk to visit the graves of 24 Medal of Honor winners and soldiers from more than 200 years of American History. See the Continue Reading →
I travelled to the New Jersey-Delaware border to take part in a Great War day at a historic fort. I saw some of the best living history I’ve ever experienced inside a restored 1902 Army structure. The best part was meeting a lot of reenactors who share the same passion I do for World War One. The Great War exhibition at Fort Mott State Park, Pennsville, New Jersey, was held on May 5, 2018. The Continue Reading →
Discovering the Southwest Florida Military Museum and Library was an incredible find on a recent trip. Located in Cape Coral, at 4820 Leonard Street, this museum defines off the beaten track: it’s not listed in guidebooks and is tucked away inside a former supermarket nearby auto repair shops and big box stores. But to walk inside the doors is to be transported back in time to see tens of thousands of artifacts from every military Continue Reading →
I was interviewed for a French-German TV documentary on the USS Recruit, the WWI battleship that was in Union Square. The episode is in French, but I think the guy sounds like me. It aired on Arte, the travel documentary Invitation Au Voyage. For WWI, the focus of Navy and Marine Corps recruiting was Union Square. On Memorial Day, May 30, 1917, the Navy “launched” the battleship USS Recruit, made entirely of wood, on Broadway. Continue Reading →
Last Sunday was the second annual World War I “swap and sale” I helped organize in the Bronx. Our group of reenactors, the East Coast Doughboys, gathered for a flea market of WWI uniforms, equipment, ephemera, and photos. It was a lot of fun. A great journalist from NY1 came and shot a short piece on the event. You can watch it here.
As part of the commemoration of the Centennial of World War I, the East Coast Doughboys are holding their second annual Great War Swap and Sale on Sunday, March 4, in the Bronx. Collectors and living history enthusiasts are coming together to buy, swap, and sell items from the World War I era. This year, the event will include a “Doughboy Roadshow” component, in which the public is invited to bring in heirlooms and artifacts Continue Reading →
Today is the birth date of Neysa McMein, January 25, 1888, in Quincy, Illinois. Born Marjorie Moran McMein, she was the highest-paid and most in-demand female artist of the Jazz Age, who painted scores of magazine covers and created iconic posters in World War I. She was also a player in Women’s Suffrage in New York, a fashion icon, and a member of the Algonquin Round Table. McMein was a volunteer in France in WWI, Continue Reading →
Come along on a walking tour of sites that were important to New York during World War I, from military, recruiting, and fundraising. Remember our honored war dead by visiting beautiful memorials around the city, from Midtown Manhattan to Central Park. This unique walking tour honors the centennial of WWI (1914-1918) and led by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, author of World War I New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War Continue Reading →
I visited my first sculpture by E.M. Viquesney, The Spirit of the American Doughboy, 647 miles from our house. I was not disappointed to finally see in person a sculpture I’d only read about. This is the World War I sculpture that was mass-produced and today stands in nearly 150 locations across the United States. The one I got to see is in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was in town for a family wedding, so Continue Reading →