U. S. History, with over 1 million troops engaged. French and British Forces also attack along the west front. The 70 battle culminated in the november 11th armistice that ended world war. One man were standing in front of the pennsylvania monument dedicate in 20 1927 to honor the troops of 1927 many of them in the gore division, that were involved with liberating the town, which was involved in a operation that ultimately involved 1. 2 million soldiers. So you grew up not far from here, you explored these battlefield on many occasions, as a young, man and today as a battlefield guide. Yes i was born in a small town about 15 miles away. I grew up close to the are grown forest. I was discovering bone troves, then i became interest in the, war where is the frontline if we found bones here, thats what sparked my interest. Ive been working in several countries. I started working as a professional tour guide. I specialize in world war one. Ive done many tours with Many American people. I tr
Battlefield guide and historian who explain what happened and show us century old trenches and a memorial to the lost battalion in the forest. Where are we standing . We are inside the argonnes forest. We are near a mine crater. Its probably a century after the war and still around 25 feet deep and Something Like 80 feet wide. It was a huge mine exploding here. We have to imagine ground up in the air, probably 50 meters high. You could probably see and feel the earth trembling miles around. Where are we on the front . What troops would have been here that wouldve suffered from the mine explosion . That mine exploded in 1916. At the time, the position was stabilized and the french were right there. The german line is very close by. Around 60 or 70 yards from us. The french and german fought here side by side for around three years. When the americans come here in 1918, they will see this mine crater. Of course there is no grass at the time. There were no mine explosions when the america
Died in the meuseargonne area, but there were also some civilians and other soldiers that were brought from other areas . Yes, but basically, most of the soldiers here died during the meuseargonne. The final result was dramatic for that battle. It was over 26,000 soldiers killed, 96,000 wounded, more or less. Of the soldiers are buried in that cemetery. We have a few civilians, maybe we will see some graves later on. Especially nurses, people from the american red cross, ymca, some special graves we will see walking in the graveyard. The cemetery itself were graves that were consolidated from smaller cemeteries. So when soldiers died in battle, they were buried in small cemeteries around the region. And then the American Government had made the decision that they would allow families to repatriate their loved ones after the war. So about 60 70 of the families brought their bodies back to the u. S. The other roughly 30 remained behind, and they were brought to the cemeteries that were n
26,000 american deaths. So there are more than 14,200 graves here, many of them who died in the meuseargonne area, but also some civilians and other soldiers brought from other areas . Yeah. But basically most of the soldiers here died during the meuseargonne, the final result which was dramatic for that battle. It was over 26,000 soldiers killed, 96,000 wounded, more or less. Its almost a half percent of the soldiers that are still buried here in france in that cemetery. We have few civilians, maybe well see some of the graves later on. Especially nurses, people from the American Red Cross, from the ymca, some special graves we will see walking in the graveyard. The cemetery itself, graves that were consolidated from smaller cemeteries. So when soldiers died in battle, they were buried in small cemeteries around the region, and then the American Government had made the decision that they would allow families to repatriate their loved ones after the war. So about 60 to 70 of the famili
19 1918 armistice that ended world war i. Up next on american artifacts, historian Mitchell Yockelson and french battlefield guide Guillaume Moizan guide us to several key locations in northeastern france, including place wheres hearry truman, an others had life experiences. We have an unexploded 75 millimeter ar till rear shell on the floor of the Argonne Forest. This is about an hour. Were standing in front of the pennsylvania monument dead indicat dedicated in 1927 to honor the veterans of pennsylvania many of them in the 28th National Guard division that were directly involved with liberating the town that was in the 407 day meuse argonne operation that involved the doughboys. You grew up not far from him. Is it easy to say you explored these battlefields on many occasions as a young manned and today as a battlefield guide . Yes, indeed. I was born in the small town around 15 miles away from here. And i grew up close by the Argonne Forest, so always walking in the forest when i was