Also the actions of individuals. A number testified to the great sacrifice, death and combat. The National Cemetery in arlington, virginia is the resting place of more than 400,000 people, including nearly 5,000 unknown soldiers. In 1921, a single unknown soldier was chosen to represent all of those who have died without being identified. The soldier of world war 1 was laid to rest with so many lemm ceremony attended by those of the highest ranks. On Film Documents the progress of that soldiers remains from france to the United States. And the newly built tomb of the unknown soldier. As the ceremonies at the u. S. Capitol where the unknown lay, general pershing stood to fill the role of the nearest relative. Along the way, eight men personally selected by general pershing accompanied the body of the unknown. So well hear from Patrick Odonnell and learn the story of those eight bearers and their hair rheroism on the battlefiel. He is an expert on elite units. Author of 11 books including washington demorals, we were one and dog company. And served as a combat historian and marine rifle platoon during the battle of fallujah and speaks often on special operations and counter insurgency. He has provided Historical Consulting for dreamwork, band of brothers, and for documentaries plowed by bbc, history dhanchannel and fox newd discovery. And just to read you a couple reviews on this his newest book from wall street journal, with Exhaustive Research and fluid prose, mr. Odonnell relates both the history of the unknown soldier and the story of americas part in world war 1 through these soldiers experience. And from usa today, a gripping story by mr. Odonnell, one of the best military historians of his generation. Few authors have the same kind of enthusiasm and gusto that odonnell brings to his topic. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Patrick Odonnell to the stage. [ applause ] it is really quite an honor to be introduced by the archivist of the United States. Ive spent over two decades here at the national archiving researching 11 books from the American Revolution all the way to the unknowns right here in this building, several of the stories about the Navy Body Bearers were drawn from the research here at the National Archives. Im really just honored by all the individuals that are here today that came to support the unknowns. Especially many of the former tomb guards. Id like to recognize paul basso, former sergeant the cards and as well as richard zarro. These are some of americas finest. Thank you so much for your service. Also tim franks of the amc and the oss society and many of my other friends are here and my family. My mom and dad. I really appreciate your support. Thank you over the years. Ive written 11 books, and all of those books have found me in one way or another. And it is not a clear sher clie. The story finds me. Washingtons immortals, where i was working with a Battalion Commander and we found a rusted old sign that said here lie 256 continental soldiers, maryland heros, buried in a mass grave in brooklyn somewhere and i wanted to know the back story of that story. It is history in plain sight. And the unknowns is no different. I was given the opportunity to be a guide in france for the 5th marines and later the Wounded Warrior regiment. As we walked the Hallowed Ground which happened exactly 100 years ago to this day where the marine corps and 2nd division helped save paris, they stopped the german drive. We look around the news and there is very little talk about the battle of bellawood and that generation of doughboys. It is the reason why i wrote the unknowns. It is an inknown generation, a forgotten generation that changed the world. Were Walking Around the shell holes of bellawood, there is still mustard gas in some of the hardwood trees. The land was scarred by world war 1. And i was joined by some of the brothers that i was with in fallujah and it was quite striking. The two generations hat met at one place. And it was a situation where fallujah nearly killed all of us, where the former ottoman empire, now a rock, was directly a result of that. It was that meeting of generations that made me wonder, and then i found out that ernest a. Janson made an epic charge on hill 142. As we walked up, this is the high ground near bellawood. It was crucial. The marines on june 6, 1918 charged across a wheat field under heavy machine gunfire. They were ordered to by the french. It was a blood bath. They kept charging, making their way towards hill 142. And for unbelievably they were able to take out a position that was held by a battalion of germans and they seized the hill. And against all odds, they seized that hill. But within 20 minutes, they knew what was coming next, a german counterattack. And janson and george hamilton, this book is a band of brothers on the 49th company as well and story of the unknown soldier, braced for the counter attack and janson saw in the distance nearly a dozen camouflage helmets making their way up toward his position rngs setting up maximum machine guns. He headed out a cry and charged forward. And stopped the attack. The german attack. He disrupted the entire attack and potentially saved the hill. For his actions, he was the first medal of honor recipient for the marine corps. But he was also pershings bed bearer. And when i found that out, i wanted to know who the other men were. It was at that point the unknowns found me and i spent years uncovering their story which is an untold story. It is an untold story within multiple that are hidden in plain sight. The tomb itself has an incredible history, but it is the back story behind the tomb, would were the people selected to bring back the remains, how the unknown was selected. All of these stories are woven into a single story, a narrative history that is very cinematic, that brings you to board warwor through the eyes of the most decorated enlisted men of the war who saw some of the toughest action. In nearly every major battle. But general pershing when he selected his eight body bearers selected individuals from the army, the navy and the marine corps. And then within that, he selected individuals from the combat specializations of combat engineers, for instance. And they didnt build things, they blew things up. And in the case of Thomas Saunders who is a native american, given some of the most difficult assignments of the war, had to breach the wire with only a pair of wire cutters. And breach the wire making a hole to allow the rest of the infantry to go through. You have the calvary, hard to believe, but there are mounted troops in france. And one of our Great Stories is body bearer harry taylor who was practically born in the saddle, a cowboy that was raised in wyoming. And taylor fought with the first calorie cal have ary at the beginning of his career and then found himself in france training men with the 91st wild west division. Makes a suicide charge in the a are rgon, one of americas bloodiest battles. There was also samuel woodfill, one of the most deck raorated doughboys. Theres the heavy guns. This is a forgotten aspect of world war i. There were rail guns in france and heavy artillery. One of the body bearers is represented there. The field artillery, the forgotten branch, in many ways. These are men that were with, in most cases artillery pieces that moved up with the infantry. In some cases, they were in combat with the infantry. As they moved up and provided close artillery support, thats the infantry advanced, this is the story that is in the unknowns. General pershing is trying to be comprehensive in the way that he told the story of world war i through the eyes of these men. Then, of course, the extraordinary story of the tomb itself and how the unknown was selected. And i follow a chicagoan. A dough boy edward f. Younger through the entire war. Younger was part of the second infantry division. An elite unit within the American Expeditionary forces and younger is there. Hes a dough boy. A regular grunt. A sergeant that fights from battle to battle. Hes wounded twice very severely. Then ill get into the story of how he is selected. Its extraordinary. Then the story of how all these men and individuals come together here in washington, d. C. First, on november 9th, 1921, and then they bring the most extraordinary individual, the unknown soldier to his final resting place in arlington, virginia. Let me just kind of go back a little bit in time, though, and talk about some of these body bearers. This book is about stories. Its about extraordinary stories. Its about extraordinary individuals that, in many cases, did the impossible. And i mean what youll see in this book is individuals that had to overcome extreme hardship. Im talking about gas persistently. All the time. Bodies that were covered with lice and mice and as they fought through combat because they werent able to change their uniforms, they also had to battle and fight the greatest army in the world at the time, the german army. Let me go back in time to 1917 when america was unprepared. America went from an army of about 220,000 regulars to an army of over 4 million strong at the end of the war. Its an extraordinary story of growth in a time of great need. We mobilized but one part of this story is a forgotten story and thats the story of the navy in world war i. The American Navy in world war i. In 1917, in march of 1917, president wilson had a real threat on his hands. German uboats were sinking american shipping at an alarming rate. Even before we entered world war i, there was a decision made to bring naval guards on board the ships to arm them with typically 5 inch guns and give the merchant ship a crew of about 15 naval personnel. These are known as naval guards. One of those individuals was James Delaney. He was a tough irishman from boston, massachusetts. His body was inked with the ships he served on. He had been serving since 18. His life was the navy. He was given command of a naval gun crew on the ss compana merchant ship. Their journey in 1917, in the summer of 1917 was actually going pretty well until mid summer and they were making their way back to the United States and all of a sudden a torpedo nearly hit the ship. It was then quickly followed by artillery fire. The men manned their guns and began to respond. Uboat 61 was crewed by an expert. Diekman, his name was, lieutenant captain diekman who had sunk nearly 40 naval ships from the allies at this point. And now his prey was the u. S. S. Compana. They started to fire upon the uboat. But victor diekman was quite knowledgeable on these affairs and sunk many allied ships. He wisely stayed out of range of the guns. What ensued was a cat and mouse chase for hours. Both sides fired their guns at each other as the compana tried to flee the battle space. Eventually uboat 61 surrounds were able to hit the side of the ship. One near the engine compartment. James delaneys men were firing so many rounds their eardrums began to bleed. But they ran out of ammunition. And several of the uboat shells struck the ship. Captain oliver, a new yorker, decides to strike his colors and surrender his vessel. The uboat moves in close and they go by the actual row boats and nearly wipe them out as they go so close to it. Then they have a boarding party that goes aboard the compana. They set several charges but before they do that, they raid the food locker on board. Life on board a submarine was very harsh. They only had canned goods or whatever they could bring aboard once the journey began. The journey was also dirty and filthy. The engines on board the uboat 61 let off a lot of grease and there was inside the boat there was something called uboat sweat. Literally condensation would be inside the boat and it would get on the mens clothes, in their coffee, in their food. Everything. So remarkably the first thing they did when they went on board they would look for soap. They went for the soap and they tried to clean themselves off and got the food. They also looked for anything of intelligence value. They detonated the ship and sank it. At that point, the men, including james, were brought aboard. Six of these men were brought aboard uboat 61 and the captain is a remarkable figure. He speaks perfect english and begins to question James Delaney. Here is a meeting of two men. They both they become i wouldnt say theres a friendship formed but theres a Mutual Respect that is formed. Including the respect of the crews. Because the men James Delaneys crew and his men endure what the men in the uboat endure. If youve seen the movie doss boat its a world war ii version of a uboat under sea. This is a world war i doss boat of what James Delaney goes through. And the men of the uboy 61 including diekman, they are death charged. They have to endure what is known as a qboat. Literally a merchant ship that the allies have that is actually a warship. Its disguised as a merchant ship but designed to as soon as the uboat surfaces to reveal hidden guns and attack the uboat. They go through a mine field and its an extraordinary story. I wont tell the entire story but at the end of the voyage, both crews lined up for a photo. What James Delaney didnt know, and the other americans that day, was that uboat 61s crew were all walking dead men. Within a matter of weeks or months, they would never be seen again. This is the powerful stories that are inside the unknowns. That took me years to unearth, including here. Some of these stories were found here in the National Archives as i unearthed them. Another incredible story is the story of the 49th company of the marine corps. The helmet next to me is not the 49th company. Its 25 which is second battalion and fifth marines. Their story really begins at bellawood that happened exactly 100 years ago to this day. I mentioned the epic charge on june 6th where the men there was a world war i dday that nobody heard about unless you were in the marine corps. Or a world war i buff. This is where the marine corps. Advanced across several fields under heavy machine gunfire. But what happened before that was quite extraordinary. At the end of may, early june, the germans have launched a major offensive geared at rome im sorry, at paris. And they were breaking through the french lines. Literally the french army was melting away. The archives talk about how it was like water on a hot iron. It was just evaporating. The french army was evaporating. 25 and the marines as well as the Second Division were being trucked as quickly as possible along with the Third Division of the u. S. Army into the vortex of battle to hold the line at all costs. These were some of the only reserve units at the time. And in many cases, they were super divisions. The u. S. Divisions were about twice the size of a french division. Sometimes even more or even larger than a german much more larger than a german division. They were quickly rushed to the front. As they were in their trucks, they saw french civilians passing them by as well as french members of the french army. Some cases throwing down their weapons saying the war is over. These men were pushed forward into the front. And it was here that Lloyd Williams from 25, the men set up behind parts of the french army near bellawood and a decision was made by karl preston brown, the chief of staff at the Second Division. The french wanted to immediately commit the marine corps. And the army. Piecemeal basically thrust them into the line. He insisted they be able to dig in behind the french and shallow fox holes and wait and prepare a small defensive line, this potentially helped save the war. This decision. Because the marines and the army were ready. The germans advanced across the wheat fields. The french were fleeing and according to marine corps. Lore, as well as other documents, Lloyd Williams with 25 was confronted with this dilemma and he said retreat. We just got here. They dug in and began to fire with their rifles. Most marines were marksmen, they were able to take down the germans as they advanced. They stopped them and on june 6th, the allies go on the attack. The french ordered them to push forward. Its jansons company, the 49th company, which i follow through the entire war, is advancing through the wheat field to their objective. The first objective which is the 142. They seize the hill against all odds. I mean, many of these men are killed as they cross the wheat field. They take the hill. Jansen survives is badly wounded but survives and able to disrupt the attack. Then these men fight. The 49th Company Fights through the entire war. Theyre in the major battles the aef fights in. It takes about three weeks to clear bellawood and what happens is a newspaper reporter Floyd Gibbons with the Chicago Tribune is with the marines. Shot through the eye. Before he goes, he writes his report and the sensors its forbidden to provide any unit designation. But the sensors believe that Floyd Gibbons is killed. Shot through the eye. Hes badly wounded. They dont know hes actually alive but they believe hes dead. They go, okay, well let floyds report go through which identifies the marine corps. All of a sudden, the papers all read that the marine corps. Helped save france and paris. Of course, its the army, as well. It creates a sensation. It goes viral and what happens is bellawood instead of just a local attack takes on nation significance. The germans see the papers. They rush their best units into bellawood to try to crush the marine corps. Over the course of three weeks, theres very, very heavy fighting and casualties. Ultimately the marine corps and the army prevail at bellawood and the 49th Company Continues to advance and they fight, you know, in a place which i