America was a nation of immigrants when it entered World War I. About twenty percent of America’s soldiers were foreign born. Many of these men knew no English. Or they may have known a few English words, but couldn’t read or write English. Many couldn’t read or write in their native language. The army developed a reading program for illiterate soldiers, but the war ended before they could benefit.
Many native-born soldiers couldn’t read or write. It sounds amusing to think these men, when they arrived at their training camps, thought they were already in France, but how effective can an army be when so many don’t know what’s going on?
The joke about when the sergeant taking roll call sneezed and fourteen men answered, “Here” is funny, but not the report of a corporal striking a Polish private in the jaw, breaking it and knocking out teeth, because the man couldn’t understand. Or the private who misunderstood orders and didn’t comply, who was then arrested and fined.
Much of Forgotten Soldiers of World War I covers the training the men received. Some soldiers found themselves on the front lines a mere one hundred days after receiving their draft notices. Draftees were plugged into under-strength units with minimal training so the units could embark for France.
Included are biographies of a few foreign-born, many who won the Medal of Honor. It would have been interesting to know more experiences of those who knew no English.

Like a lot of people growing up I knew my father fought in WWII and I knew my grandfather fought in WWI. Both really never talked about either war. After my grandfather died I found his uniform and some medals, but also a little history of his life, where his side of the family came from in Europe right where the war started, how he got an exception with the local draft board because they were farmers in Nebraska and had to get the crop in then he went to the local board and was sent to a camp in Illinois, because he was a graduate of college he was an officer he was assigned to the air corps and ship to France. What this book talks about are the men who were still immigrants or like my grandfather maybe just one generation born here. There was at least 25% of the AEF that was still immigrants and it still took the military time to figure out problems with language, writing, some were in their own countries army and had already an idea on how to do things and the army wanted to retrain them. The government also sent some men back to the countries they came from also for different reasons. The author takes you through all of the different scenarios and the difficulties of the immigrants as well as the government, and then shipping the trained men oversees. A very good book and issues that I had never thought of before for this war.

Written by Alexander Barnes and others, Forgotten Soldiers is a non-fiction book that looks at the foreign born American soldiers who gained their citizenship through the military. This looks at the draft, the differences between how they were treated, the difficulties in having so many different people working together, many not understanding English, and so much more.

I loved this book, and honestly I am considering getting a copy or two for some family members who would be interested. There were, according to this book, over 800,000 aliens who fought in the Great War. These are people who we, as American's, don't really talk about, even though this is our history. I appreciated the approach they took, and that they worked through the war instead of group by group.

I learned so much I didn't know before, though the draft information I thought was very interesting. You can tell, as you work through this book, that the civil war was still having an effect on decisions that were made and how things were handled. 

Forgotten Soldiers makes a point to state that there were so many different types of soldiers. Different backgrounds, view points, some who were loyal soldiers, and some who didn't like to follow orders. The authors tried to paint a picture of what these soldiers were really like and what they had to deal with.

This is a book I highly recommend to everyone, American and non, for a great look at WW1.



Note: I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This is such an interesting book. It discusses those of different nationalities that fought for the Americans in World War I. Their dedication to our Country was inspiring. The authors' research was thorough and the passion they felt about these soldiers shone through in their writing.

A really well researched book. This book tells about the nationalities of the soldiers who were in the American Army in the First World War. It tells us where they were from, where they fought and what happened to them. This is a fascinating read about bravery and men who sacrificed so much to fight for a country they wanted to belong to. This is a fascinating and insightful read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Forgotten Soldiers of World War I: America's Immigrant Doughboys by Alexander F Barnes is an overview of immigrant soldiers who were drafted or volunteered for service in WWI. Barnes is an Army civilian at Fort Lee, Virginia. He served in the Marine Corps and Army National Guard, retiring as CW4. He has a master’s degree in Anthropology and authored In a Strange Land; The American Occupation of Germany 1918-1923.

World War I was the first worldwide war as belligerents pooled soldiers from their colonies and commonwealths. America was different and at the same time was the most internationally diverse army involved in the war. The massive immigration in the late eighteenth century up until the start of the war lead to the influx of Central, Eastern, and Southern Europeans. The Anglo-Irish immigration of the past was being overtaken by non-English speaking people. Immigrants formed communities people with like heritages and languages; many never learned to speak English.

On May 18, 1917, Wilson signed the Selective Service Act into law the required all males to register for the draft. This included immigrants and African Americans (although they would not be integrated into the army and would serve in segregated units). America's attempt to grow an army from its small defense force would be a challenge on many levels. First, the draft notices needed to be published in a variety of languages. Second, many showed up for training without understanding English. The army was also struggling to find enough leaders to train new recruits. Camps were set up in the south for training south and cantonments in the north -- the difference being camps had tents and cantonments had barracks.

Immigrants played a significant role in the war, and that created another problem for the United States. German immigration peaked between 1880-1889 making many of draft age. How would German immigrants react to being drafted to fight their former countrymen? Barnes reflects the Italian presence in the American army was quite large as well as pockets of others of European heritage. Asian immigrants were also drafted an served in the regular army although the registration papers only listed white and colored; yellow or Japanese was penned in by clerks. Carribean immigrants found themselves in segregated camps with African-Americans.

Barnes adds personal stories and experiences of immigrants that served as well as some short biographies.  The book is also illustrated with photographs of some of the soldiers giving the book a personal touch. It is truly remarkable that the army was able to field a capable fighting force.  There were so many possible points of failure.  Even something as simple as Albania caused confusion since it was a newly independent country in 1913.  Birthplaces were listed as Albania, Italy; Albania, Greece; Albania, Turkey; or Albania, Albania.   Twenty percent of those serving in the US army in WWI were foreign-born. There is no count on the first generation Americans raised in immigrant households.  Immigrants played a decisive role in America's entry on the world stage.  The United States Army represented the most diverse force in the war.  Forgotten Soldiers represents the sacrifice of those who fought for their adopted country.

Wow , this book tells a lot of history in it about the forgotten soldiers of World War 1 , it tells their lives, how they were treated, and what their families went though ,its a most read , once again thanks Netgalley for letting me read a great book that brings to life the history of World War 1.