Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1962. / Typescript. Title from title screen (viewed July 2, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-112). Online version of the print original.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1962. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-112).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1962. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-124).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-153).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Abstract only has been uploaded to OhioLINK. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 301-315)

Soldiers and civilians alike sought to make sense of the war following the silencing of the guns with the signing of the armistice in 1918. One of the foremost veteran groups leading this effort was the American Legion, founded in 1919. This World War I veteran organization would provide an outlet for Great War veterans to share camaraderie, interact with their local communities, and ultimately pay homage to their fallen brothers in arms. In line with the national organization's agenda and programs, the American Legion Kings Mountain Post No. 24 in Johnson City, TN executed two very different versions of WWI memorialization, one built in 1922 and another in 1935. These two memorials served the community in vastly different ways throughout the 1900s. The first was a commemorative marker and the second was a community centerpiece. In this paper, I argue that the differences between two World War I memorials in Johnson City are demonstrative of how the community progressively oriented its identity and infrastructures around Great War veterans following the conflict. Johnson City's physical and memorial landscapes changed as the city sought to reconcile the war and its survivors. Each memorial served veterans and the larger community in ways that aligned with both the veterans' needs and larger social contexts of Johnson City at the times of their creations. Ultimately, the memorials were intended to serve very different purposes within the community. Both veterans and nonveterans in the community responded more favorably to the 1935 Johnson City WWI memorial initially, and then continued to utilize it much more frequently throughout the twentieth century. It was a memorial that was intended to be interacted with regularly. The second memorial's central role in the community was cemented by how the memorial's placement and style differed from its predecessor. The second memorial was more accessible to the public, partnered with a more prominent municipal facility, had an expanded scope, and utilized nationalistic iconography. These key differences are a result of the community's increased dedication to Great War veterans by 1935. As care for World War I veterans became a central component of the city, so did memorializing the conflict. / Master of Arts / Between 1922 and 1935, the American Legion Kings Mountain Post No. 24 erected two very different World War I memorials in Johnson City, TN that served the community in very different ways. The first was a memorial placard, and the second was a community centerpiece that hosted both commemorative ceremonies and noncommemorative events. Why did the World War I veterans of Johnson City erect two memorials to the same conflict, and why were they so different from one another? This thesis examines the memorials and their roles in the community in order to demonstrate how World War I reshaped American communities with a vested interest in veteran affairs. World War I forever changed the social, physical, and memorial landscapes of Johnson City. Following World War I, a series of medical, legal, and social veteran infrastructures were developed and established in Johnson City as the community reoriented itself around addressing the rising needs of Great War veterans returning home. The placements, styles, and functions of the memorials mirrored the city’s development into a community dedicated to World War veterans. Caring for Great War veterans became a central component of the city, and its memorialization of the conflict followed suit. World War I veterans were held in high esteem by the community following the conflict. The Legionnaires used that esteem to garner community support for their memorial projects and developed a version of memorialization that the entire community could use.

This dissertation examines the five battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force designated as the American Legion. Authorized in Canada between 1915 and 1917, these units were formed to recruit volunteers from the United States to serve in the Canadian Overseas Contingent during the First World War. This work reviews the organization of Canada’s militia and the history of Anglo-American relations before examining the Canadian war effort, the formation of the American Legion, the background of its men, and the diplomatic, political, and constitutional questions that it raised. Much of the research focuses on the internal documents of its individual battalions (the 97th, 211th, 212th, 213th and 237th) and the papers of Reverend Charles Bullock now housed at the Public Archives of Canada. Documentation for the diplomatic furor the American Legion caused comes largely through the published diplomatic documents, British Foreign Office records held at the Public Record Office at Kew, and United States Department of State files at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. The most useful sources for American Legion correspondence are the Beaverbrook papers held at the House of Lords Record Office, the papers of Canadian Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird Borden, and those of the Governor-General, the Duke of Connaught found in the Public Archives of Canada. During its brief existence the American Legion precipitated diplomatic and political problems in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Dominion of Canada. Among the issues raised by the controversy surrounding the American Legion were: the relationship between the dominion government in Canada and the British government; the structural problems of imperial communications; the rise of a Canadian national identity and the desire for greater autonomy; and, the nature of citizenship and expatriation. This dissertation is also a long overdue account of the thousands of United States citizens who left their homes and families to join the American Legion in order to fight another country’s war.

No description available.

The public tends to think of war memorials as fixed monuments, but I argue that the American and Canadian Legions served as living memorials that acknowledged veterans’ war-time service by providing service to veterans and to the public. This dissertation focuses on how Legionnaires interacted with one another and with their local communities during the interwar years to construct memories of the First World War. By analyzing local chapter records from Michigan, New York, and Ontario, Canada, this case study highlights the contrast between the organizations’ national and local activities. The local posts’ and branches’ wide range of activities complicated the national organizations’ collective memories of the First World War. A new way to construct a holistic depiction of veterans’ organizations is to study them as living memorials. From this perspective, all of their day-to-day activities fulfill the larger purpose of preserving and perpetuating the memory of their war experiences. At the national level, the American and Canadian Legions advocated for legislation to benefit veterans, but it was primarily at the local level where rank-and-file members shaped the Legions’ collective memories of the war. This study explores elements of those memories, including sacrifice, service, and camaraderie, through the tensions that sometimes arose between the national leadership and the local chapters and compares the American and Canadian Legionnaires’ experiences.

From the colonial period to the present, Americans have debated the role of the military and its place in American society. One important part of this debate is the issue of compulsory military service and whether it is consistent with the ideals of a democratic state. Although Americans have generally accepted compulsory service in times of national emergency, they have often expressed great reservations to it in times of peace. In their view, compulsory military service raises fundamental questions about the responsibilities of citizens to the state.Following World War II, proponents of compulsory military service campaigned for implementation of Universal Military Training (UMT) as a method of insuring manpower for a potential national emergency. By stressing the universal aspect of the program, supporters hoped to demonstrate the democratic qualities of UMT and its compatibility with traditional American ideals. Ultimately, however, they were unable to convince Congress and the general public of the program's merits. Some opposed the program because of its questionable military value in the atomic age. Many others voiced their disapproval of UMT largely because of a longstanding American sentiment against peacetime compulsory service. As a result, UMT was never implemented.This thesis will explore a neglected aspect of the UMT debate and examine the opposition of veterans to UMT. Veterans generally, and veterans organizations in particular, have traditionally advocated military preparedness. Not surprisingly, the American Legion was the primary nongovernmental organization to spearhead the effort to adopt UMT. Yet significant opposition to UMT existed even within the Legion's ranks. Similarly, the American Veterans Committee (AVC), a newly formed organization comprised of World War II veterans, announced its opposition to military training. With uncertain support from a segment of American society that would normally be expected to back preparedness programs, the government's plan for military training had little chance for adoption. With the resumption of selective service in 1948, the importance of UMT to U.S. military policy greatly diminished, and UMT virtually disappeared from the political forefront.Through the use of archival sources at the American Legion National Headquarters, the records of the American Veterans Committee, congressional testimony by representatives of both organizations, and various secondary sources, this thesis demonstrates that some veterans, like many Americans, viewed peacetime compulsory military service with great ambivalence and not an obligation of citizenship in a democratic state. / Department of History