The Stars and Stripes – Page 8 – Old Magazine Articles

Paris Furlough
(The Stars and Stripes, 1918)

A cartoon by C. LeRoy Baldridge (1889 – 1977) which depicted the streets of Paris in a way that only the A.E.F. could have witnessed it. A Yank-heavy Place de l’Opera is overwhelmed by sight-seeing Doughboys (note the Y.M.C.A. patch on the tour guide) and loitering officers lounging about over-priced cafes. In the foreground stands a bewildered Doughboy, dumb-struck by the passing gaze of an appreciative Parisienne while a few steps away a four-gold-chevroned private gets reamed for failing to salute the single-chevron looey. The stage is shared by bickering cabees, melancholy widows, wandering sailors, unforgiving MPs and a hard-charging, over-weight uniformed woman.

Click here to read about W.W. I art.

Click here to read the observations of U.S. Army lieutenant Louis L’Amour concerning 1946 Paris.

A Fourth Overseas Chevron for Some
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

A short news item named the three American officers who served over there long enough to be granted the adornment of a fourth overseas chevron. Each gold wire chevron, worn on the lower left cuff, represented a single six month period served in theater; the vast majority of A.E.F. uniforms had anywhere between one and three sewn in place.

Another article about over-seas chevrons may be read here…

An Advertisement for W.W. I Officer Boots
(Stars and Stripes, 1918)

A black and white illustration showing the sort of British made boot favored by American officers during World War One. A look at the many pictures which depicted the officers of the A.E.F. and it is clear to see that the lace-to-the-knee style of trench boot was much preferred over other varieties. However, many pictures from the closing days of the war tend to also indicate the line officer’s preference for ankle-boots with puttees.

American Ambulance Volunteers in the Service of France
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

A thumbnail history of the United States Army Ambulance Service, which first arrived in June of 1917.

All through the hard French fighting of 1917 the 6,000 American ambulance drivers kept steadily at work in every sector of the French front. It was not until March, 1918, that the first sections of the service found themselves helping in battles with the fighting regiments of their own Army.

Many of the volunteers were college men, such as the poet E.E. Cummings, who wrote an interesting account of his days as an ambulance driver during the war.

World War One American Prisoners of War
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

A brief notice reporting on the number of American Soldiers captured during the First World War. Also listed are the number of Americans who died in captivity as well as the number of prisoners taken categorized by branch of service. Interestingly, the notice states that 281 American Civilians were also taken prisoner.

Interestingly, the notice states that 116 American Civilians were also taken prisoner and we can assume that these Americans were with the Salvation Army, the Jewish Wellfare Board, the Knights of Columbus, etc.

Click here to learn what the Germans thought of American P.O.W.s…

Katherine Stinson Offers Her Services to the Army
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

Katherine Stinson wants to carry letters up to Third Army.

By the time Katherine Stinson (1891 – 1977, a.k.a. the Flying Schoolgirl) had applied for the job of carrying the mails to the occupying American forces in post-war Germany, she already had the distinction of being the fourth American woman to earn a pilot’s license and the first woman to ever deliver air-mail for the U.S. Post Office. She didn’t get the job…

Storming the Skies : The Story of Katherine & Marjorie Stinson , Pioneer Women Aviators

Katherine Stinson Offers Her Services to the Army
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

Katherine Stinson wants to carry letters up to Third Army.

Storming the Skies : The Story of Katherine & Marjorie Stinson , Pioneer Women Aviators

A Great Paris Couturier Lends Her Talent to American Uniforms
(The Stars and Stripes, 1918)

One year prior to her retirement, Madame Paquin (1869 – 1936) was asked by the U.S Army to help with a particular element of uniform design.

Over-Seas Chevrons
(Stars and Stripes, 1918)

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Silver Chevrons for the States
(Stars and Stripes, 1919)

Four Reporters Killed
(Stars and Stripes, 1919)

This short column appeared three months after the war listing the names of the paper’s staff who were killed while in the course of getting the news.

The American Military Cemeteries in France
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

France has given three fields of honor at Romagne, Thiacort and at Beaumont.

This short notice from an American military newspaper reported that four percent of the American dead were considered unidentifiable.

The Recycling of Doughboy Uniforms
(Stars and Stripes, 1918)

In 1918 the U.S. Army Service of Supply instituted a salvaging unit near the French city of Tours which employed hundreds of French women and a number of idle Sammies in order to eradicate Army waste. It was there that the millions of discarded uniform elements were re-fashioned into other useful items:

At Tours they evolved a hospital slipper with a sole made from a torn and discarded campaign hat and an upper of O.D cloth cut from anywhere. It was such a good slipper, and easy to make that St. Pierre-des-Corps soon reached quantity production on it.

Woman Aviator Seeks Mail Job
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

Katherine Stinson (1891-1977) wants to carry letters up to Third Army. By the time Stinson (a.k.a. the Flying Schoolgirl) had applied for the job of carying the mail to the occupying forces in post-war Germany, she already had the distinction of being the fourth American woman to earn a pilot’s license and the first woman to ever deliver air-mail for the U.S. Post Office. She didn’t get the job…