Alabamian Kelly Ingram was the first enlisted man in World War I to win the Congressional Medal of Honor
The state Department of Archives and History is reviving an effort to commemorate Alabamians who served in World War I By John Brightman Brock
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“It’s one thing to read that of the 95,000 Alabama servicemen in World War I, 643 were killed in action and 2,500 died as a result of wounds, accidents or disease. But when you read their stories, they become real. It’s not military history. It is the history of people. The people of Alabama.” – Debbie Pendleton Assistant director for public services Alabama Department Archives and History
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| NOVEMBER 2011 | www.alabamaliving.coop
he United States in April 1917 entered that era’s ultimate game changer – devastating World War I. Entire continents were pitted against one other. The way battles were fought changed rapidly, and horse and rider gave way to mechanized combat and trench warfare. Less than two years later the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, Armistice Day, which was later renamed Veterans Day in the United States. With Europe’s landscape now a wasteland, it meant an end to the killing that claimed 13 million soldiers, an entire generation. The ensuing celebrations around the world soon sparked an outpouring of memories. In Alabama handwritten letters attached to government response forms, and family and U.S. military photos, were compiled for a commemorative book publication. But that never happened. Today, however, these tributes to personal sacrifice are still legible, and tell the story of the sons of Alabama who gave all to win “the war to end all wars.” They’ve been compiled by the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) into an exhibit titled Gold Star Photographs, and are on display at its Montgomery facility as well as online at Gold Star database. (See box.) While looking through the exhibit recently, Debbie Pendleton, assistant ADAH director for public services, was overcome with emotion as she read the letters aloud. Herself a mother, her pauses