Report of the Commission on Massachusetts' Part in the World War; Volume II: The Gold Star Record of Massachusetts
Boston: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1929. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Format is 7.75 inches by 10.75 inches. Volume II ONLY. xii, [2], 720 pages. Contents counties and by cities and towns. Cover has wear and soiling. Front and rear hinges weak--this is an oversized and heavy book. Tape noted on a fep. This is the second volume of the report but the first in order of publication. The first published volume is the companion volume to the present work and together they constitute the report of the Commission. The two publications which together constitute the Report of the Commission can, and should, be considered as individual and separate works. This is a compilation of 5,771 individual service records of Massachusetts men and women who died during World War I. Sketches include military service, brief family information, occupation. There are about 30,000 names in this volume, in addition to the 5,771 names in the record itself. To collect the information needed to comply with the specifications in the act has required a good deal of research and checking of information, often contradictory, obtained from various sources. Efforts were made to get information from near relatives covering facts it was desired to use, as well as other data to be placed in the files of the Commission for further record. About 5,000 questionnaires were distributed but reports were received in only about 40 per cent of the cases. This remains a magnificent resource for research into local history, genealogy, and military and other demographics. On April 6, 1917 after a series of provocations, America entered the war on the side of the Allies which included France, Italy, Great Britain and Russia. Massachusetts played a large role in the war effort. The 26th “Yankee” Division, made up largely of Massachusetts National Guard units, was the first full US Army division to deploy to France. The 26th fought in six campaigns. The Massachusetts National Guard also mobilized Company L, 372d Infantry Regiment composed of African American soldiers from Boston and Cambridge.
Thousands of Army recruits were processed and trained at Camp Devens, while recruits for the Navy were processed through the Boston Naval Shipyard. Several dozen military installations and activities were established in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts State Guard, the state militia that replaced the National Guard serving in France, recruited women to serve as nurses marking the first time women served in the militia. Hundreds of factories in the state manufactured weapons, clothing, shoes, and equipment for both American and Allied armies. Large numbers of women entered the work force and, for the first time, women were allowed to enlist in the US Armed Forces. On the home front, individual citizens and voluntary associations supported the war effort by purchasing war bonds, collecting metal for reuse, planting gardens, and sending letters and parcels to troops overseas. World War I changed Massachusetts, the nation and the world. Rapid wartime social change brought political transformations such as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting alcohol, and the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Despite not joining the League of Nations, the United States emerged as a world power, and the new maps of Europe and the Middle East drawn after the Armistice created issues that still resonate today.
Over 189,000 Massachusetts men and women served in the US Armed Forces with some serving Allied forces during the war. Massachusetts paid a steep price with the death of 5,775 of its sons and daughters who died in service. After the war, hundreds of veterans died from their wounds or from exposure to gas. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Massachusetts, WWI, Yankee Division, 26th Division, National Guard, Calvin Coolidge, Henry Cabot Lodge, Committee on Public Safety, Naval Militia, Base Hospital, General Hospital, Students' Army Training Corps, Naval Air Service, Reference Works, Gen
[Book #81933]
Price: $250.00