Valor Magazine - Volume 4, Number 1

VALOR

PRIVATE SAMUEL GLUCKSMAN PRIVATE SAMUEL GLUCKSMAN

MORE THAN A MEDAL DOCUMENTARY

MORE THAN A MEDAL DOCUMENTARY

Message From Park University President Shane Smeed

At Park University, we have always held a strong commitment to academic excellence and fostering a deeper understanding of pivotal historical events that have shaped our world. The George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War serves as a beacon of scholarship and research, engaging students, faculty, and the broader community in meaningful dialogues about the consequences of one of the most transformative periods in history.

Valor magazine provides us with an opportunity to remember and honor the sacrifices made by countless individuals who were touched by the Great War. Through this collective remembrance, we aspire to keep the lessons of the past alive, guiding us toward a future built on compassion and understanding.

Our commitment to fostering an inclusive and diverse academic environment shines through in the pages of this publication. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have contributed their expertise and passion to the creation of this inspiring issue. Your dedication to scholarship and the dissemination of knowledge has made Valor magazine a true embodiment of the values we cherish at Park University.

As we embark on this intellectual journey together, I encourage you to immerse yourselves in the thought-provoking articles and captivating stories that await you in this issue of Valor. May this publication ignite a renewed curiosity about the Great War and serve as a testament to the enduring power of education in shaping a brighter future for all

Thank you for your continued support and engagement with the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War and Park University. I look forward to exploring the depths of history and knowledge with you through the pages of Valor magazine.

Shane B. Smeed President Park University

Message From Robb Centre Director Westcott

In November 1918, 105 years ago, the guns of war went silent. One of Park University’s own, 1st Lt. Lloyd Boutwell, succumbed in those waning days to the horrors of the war as did 117,465 other U S servicemembers We remember Boutwell’s ultimate sacrifice as an alumnus, husband, father and defender, and we acknowledge all servicemembers that have served and are serving our nation

In 2019, I was introduced to Alex Goldstein and Clark Slater of Lame Deer Films related to collaborating on a documentary highlighting the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War’s research for the Valor Medals Review Project. The introduction led to four years of filming, hours of conversations, voluminous emails and numerous screenings of the “More Than a Medal” documentary. Ashlyn Weber, Robb Centre associate director, and I express our deepest appreciation to Goldstein and Slater for their belief in the project and dedication to telling the narratives of servicemembers.

I often hear comments that the VMR research must be overwhelming, interesting and heartfelt. I agree to all three. However, the daily research conducted advances another response education. The project furnishes a professional opportunity for Kansas City high school interns and five Park University students who have completed divisional histories and numerous engagement templates of a dozen servicemember nomination packets These individuals are indispensable to our project but also to the narratives of each servicemember

Timothy Westcott, Ph.D. Director, George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War Park University

A YOUNG CHRISTIAN SOLDIER: 1ST LT. LLOYD REUBEN BOUTWELL

The open unsettled prairie of north-central Missouri, in the mid-1850s, offered individuals opportunities to acquire land and businesses to expand, including railroads The Hannibal & St Joseph Railroad, first operational in early 1859, traversed 190 miles through 29 communities [1] One such community was Hamilton, founded by the Hamilton Town Company in the fall of 1854 By 1861, the community was composed of approximately 25 homes and businesses that held strong pro-Union sympathies during the Civil War

Following the Civil War, Hamilton grew rapidly By the 1900 census, Hamilton grew to have more than 1,800 residents with farming and coal mining the primary occupations

Less than 50 miles west of Hamilton was another small rural Missouri community known as Laclede where Lloyd Reuben Boutwell’s future military commander John J. Pershing resided.

Source: https://lccn loc gov/98688675

Boutwell, born on Oct. 26, 1889, in Hamilton, was the third of four children born to Reuben Wheeler and Pheebe (McFee) Boutwell. Boutwell’s mother died when he was 10, leaving his father, a farmer in Caldwell County, Mo., to raise the children.

After graduating from Hamilton High School in 1908, Boutwell earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Park College (now Park University) in 1911. While attending Park, he served as chaplain of the junior class; treasurer and president of the Lowell Club; president of the Oratorical Association; manager of the Glee Club; and was a trombone player in the band

Following Park College, he earned a master’s degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1913, and a medical degree from the Washington University (St Louis) Medical School in 1916 A few months prior to graduating from the University of Missouri, Boutwell enlisted in the National Guard of the State of Missouri on Feb. 19, 1913, in G Company, 4th Regiment, in Columbia. While at Washington University, he was engaged as an assistant in physiology and pharmacology, as a member of the Phi Beta Pi fraternity, and he served as treasurer of his third-year class and president of his fourth-year class.

After medical school, Boutwell moved to Kansas City, Mo., and opened a medical practice in the Hospital Hill area and was an interne at General Hospital. Following completion of the internship, he moved back to St. Louis to be an assistant surgeon at Barnes Hospital, which provided the opportunity for him to be closer to Elizabeth Kiskaddon, whom he had met while attending medical school. The couple married on Aug. 21, 1917.

(Photographs 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 courtesy of the Frances Fishburn Archives and Special Collections. Photograph 2 courtesy of the Boutwell Family.)

Living the credo of Park’s motto fides et labor (“faith and labor”), Boutwell was under appointment by the Rockefeller Foundation in the spring of 1917 for placement as a second surgeon at Luchowfu in China. [2]

However, the entry of the U S into World War I changed his plans The Army Medical Corps inducted Boutwell on Jan 6, 1918, and he sailed to France, from New York City, on June 12, 1918, onboard the RMS Carpathia, just weeks before the birth of his first child, a son he would never see He was assigned to Medical Corps, 314th Engineers, 89th Division, U S Army, upon arrival in France

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS Carpathia)

The 89th Division, in early November 1918, was operating along the Meuse River near the town of Pouilly, France. Boutwell was mortally wounded on Nov. 8, 1918, on the battlefield of Grand Pre, France, while on volunteer service assisting surgeons of a hotly engaged infantry regiment.

The “infantry regiment fighting at the front was having its ranks decimated by wounds and death So great was the emergency that its surgical detachment could not give adequate first aid to the numerous wounded There was a call for volunteers Lloyd Boutwell’s regiment, not then engaged, did not at that time need his services Though warned of the danger by his own experience, and the cry for help from that fire-consumed, iron-swept, blood-stained field he volunteered Duty called him, but not with the stern voice of an imperious tyrant commanding the services of an unwilling subject He and duty loved each other, and she spoke to him in the gentle tones of intimate friendship. He was in the army not to slay but to save. It never entered his mind that he was doing anything heroic.” [3]

(Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Mo.)

(Photo courtesy of the Boutwell Family)

During Boutwell’s service at the Grand Pre field hospital, he rendered aid to bleeding wounds, shattered limbs, and conveyance of wounded from the battlefield. While engaged in this service, Boutwell was wounded in his side with one lung exposed, yet he continued to assist others until falling exhausted from the loss of blood. He was immediately conveyed from the field.

Though records indicate that the initial wounds may have not been mortal, his being moved to the rear occurred near an exploding German artillery shell, reducing him unconscious Due to his unconscious state and the confusion on the battlefield, Boutwell wasn’t brought to the hospital for more than 48 hours A chaplain came to the surgeons that were attending Boutwell and asked, “Have I your permission to go to Boutwell and pray with him?” The surgeons replied, “No, do not go to him and tell him he must die, for he firmly believes he will go to his wife and little boy and it would do no good to take that comforting thought from him As to prayer his life has been one continuous prayer ” [4]

As a surgeon, Boutwell probably knew his wounds were mortal so he requested from the surgeons his personal friends that they care for others, where timely attention might save their lives. Near the end he whispered to a friend, “I would like to get home and see my wife and child.” Boutwell died on Nov. 14, 1918, at Mobile Hospital No. 4.

While in the service, a son was born on May 19, 1918, named Lloyd McFee, a son he never saw. Elizabeth Boutwell, wife, mother, and widow, remarked upon notification of Boutwell’s death, “This is not a house of sorrow. I have kept Lloyd alive for service in the world in the birth of our son.” [5]

Boutwell, in 1921, was returned to the U.S. from the American No. 2 Verdun-Cheppy Cemetery where he was exhumed from grave No. 137, Plot 3, to be reinterned at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Hamilton. During a commemoration ceremony for Boutwell in 1921 J. C. Kiskaddon, Boutwell’s brother-in-law commented, “He so loved and sympathized with all his fellow men, that even those whose ideals were low and acts ignoble admired and loved him. He did not preach to them; he lived unsullied with them.”

World War I veteran and 1911 Park classmate, Alfred Westfall, suggested in February 1919 establishing a memorial to Boutwell [7] A small wall space in the Findlay-Wakefield Science Hall on the flagship Parkville, Mo , Campus recognizes Boutwell and the Boutwell Garden and Courtyard at the George S Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War memorializes his valor and service

ENDNOTES

[1] The two lines met at Chillicothe, Mo., on February 13, 1859.

[2] A previous biographical sketch mentioned Boutwell being appointed by the Rockefeller Foundation as chief of staff of the Man Tung Cho Hospital. Based on primary documents, from the Rockefeller Foundation, Boutwell had not been assigned to a hospital due to his lack of surgical experience.

[3] J. C. Kiskaddon, Lieut. Lloyd R. Boutwell, M.D.: A Tribute (n.c.: n.p., 1921), 6-7.

[4] The Park Alumniad, October 1921.

[5] The Park Alumniad, January 1919.

[6] J. C. Kiskaddon, Lieut. Lloyd R. Boutwell, M.D.: A Tribute (n.c.: n.p., 1921), 6.

[7] The Park Alumniad, February 1919

THE AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY

Park University’s George S. Robb Centre celebrates the centennial anniversary (1923-2023) of the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The ABMC was as an independent agency tasked with overseeing permanent military cemeteries and monuments. The ABMC manages 14 monuments in Belgium, France, and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, and 10 American cemeteries in Panama and the United Kingdom that are dedicated to servicemembers of World War I. The cemeteries include:

COROZAL AMERICAN CEMETERY, PANAMA

AISNE-MARNE AMERICAN CEMETERY, FRANCE

BROOKWOOD AMERICAN CEMETERY, UNITED KINGDOM

FLANDERS FIELD AMERICAN CEMETERY, BELGIUM

LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE CEMETERY, FRANCE

MEUSE ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY, FRANCE

OISE AISNE AMERICAN CEMETERY, FRANCE

SOMME AMERICAN CEMETERY, FRANCE

ST. MIHIEL AMERICAN CEMETERY, FRANCE

SURESNES AMERICAN CEMETERY, FRANCE

The ABMC commemorates 30,973 internments and 4,456 memorials for World War I, but also hosts World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War-related locations.

The following 13 servicemembers killed in action included within the Valor Medals Review are buried in ABMC Cemeteries:

PVT AVRIA BLUMENTHAL, OISE AISNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

CPL NICHOLAS BROWN, MEUSE ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT WILLIAM CUFF, OISE AISNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT HIRCHE FEINBERG, MEUSE ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT FC EDMOND FOBB, MEUSE ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

2ND LT. HYMAN FREIBERG, SOMME AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT FC SAMUEL GROBTUCK, OISE AISNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT BURTON HOLMES, MEUSE ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT TOM POWELL, AISNE MARNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT ABRAHAM REIFIN, MEUSE ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

CPL WILLIAM ROTH, OISE AISNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT FC NATHANIEL WHITE, OISE AISNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

PVT LOUIS ZUCKERMAN, MEUSE ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY

THE AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY

The following 20 servicemembers killed in action included within the Valor Medals Review have been repatriated to the United States or are buried in (currently) unknown locations:

PVT MARCOS ARMIJO

SGT ALFRED BAILEY

1ST LT. DR. URBANE BASS

PVT GEORGE BELL

PVT FC ROBERT BRECKENRIDGE

2ND LT. RICHARD BREEDING

1ST LT. DAVID COHN

PVT FC MORRIS DUBLINSKY

PVT FRED DULEVITZ

PVT LEO ENGLANDER

SGT NATHAN GOBEY

PVT SPRILEY IRBY

PVT ANDY MCCALL

PVT FC CONCEPCION ORTIZ

CPL HARRY PARISER

1ST LT. DR. JOSIAH POWLESS

1ST LT. MERRILL ROSENFELD

CPL ADOLPH SCHWARTZ

COOK WILLIAM SHEFRIN

CPL AARON YAMIN

To search the database of ABMC burials, visit abmc.gov/database-search. Note that they do not maintain casualty lists or individual service records. For more information on the latter, visit archives.gov/veterans.

PRIVATE SAMUEL GLUCKSMAN UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

Samuel Glucksman was born to Sol Glucksman and an unknown mother on June 23, 1887 in Lviv, L’vivsk’ka, Ukraine, (then known as Lemburg, Austria; [from 1773-1918] and ruled by Austria under Poland Lemburg was briefly capital of the Kingdom of Galacia) Glucksman emigrated to Montreal, Canada in April 1905, and soon made his way into New York via the New York City Railroad to gain his American citizenship

Glucksman settled, briefly, in Seattle, where he attended school at a vocational Catholic institution until the mid-1910s. He lived in Chicago, Illinois between 1911-17; on December 15, 1911, Glucksman enlisted in the U.S. Army, and served with the Coast Artillery Corps until December 14, 1914. On May 3, 1917 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Private Glucksman was inducted into service in July 1917 and assigned to 78th Company, 6th Marine Corps, 2nd Division at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. and trained at the Marine Corps Rifle Range in Winthrop, Md. Private Glucksman and the 2nd Battalion left for Brest, France in the fall of 1917.

In March 1918, the 6th Marines were brought to the front just south of Verdun, France. They would see action in Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, St. Mihiel Salient, Meuse Argonne, and Blanc Mont Ridge, the latter- where Pvt Glucksman received the Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, Croix de Guerre with Gilt Star, and Silver Star Medal.

ENGAGEMENT INFORMATION:

(Note: This is a condensed report)

ATTACHMENT: 78th [E] Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Regiment (Marines), 4th Marine Brigade, 2nd Division, A E F (American Expeditionary Forces) Attached to the French Fourth Army, French XXI Corps

ENGAGEMENT DATE(S): 3 October 1918

ENGAGEMENT LOCATION: Blanc Mont, France. Near (Town of Saint-Etienne-a-Arnes, Machault Township, Vouziers District, Ardennes Department, Champagne-Ardenne Region, Grand Est)

LONGITUDE: ~49°28’47.33”

LATITUDE: ~4°53’90.81”

WEATHER: 11°C (51.8°F) Windy and Cloudy Low visibility due to morning haze

“The dry summer had begun to transition to fall. The temperatures during the first 10 days of October were in the high 60s, dropping into the 50s during the night. The mornings were accented by fog and a light mist that offered some concealment until it cleared by midmorning. In general, the weather was temperate, with clear observation for most of the 12 hours of daylight ”

TERRAIN: Chalky soil Mountainous (via the use of “Massif”) and long sloping hills Forest with pine trees Series of chalk escarpments into ridgelines Elevation of Blanc Mont (Ridge) was 200m, Hilly, flattened terrain (near the Arnes river) Farrow fields overgrown with wild grass, woods cut for construction materials, scrub pine growth in large forested pockets ground littered with corpses Trenches full of dead soldiers Destroyed towns, pulverized soil, debris of battle littered the ground (bodies, weapons, partly buried horses), intense odors of rotting bodies.

“Farrow fields overgrown with wild grass afforded wide open fields of fire Much of the woods had been cut for construction materials in the previous years, but scrub pine had grown back in large forested pockets on Blanc Mont Ridge and the few knolls north of it The ridge and its reverse slopes were obscured by a young forest of trees about 3m in height ”

Background: The Champagne Region

The Champagne region is on the Northeast of the Paris basin of chalky soil with a series of escarpments that transformed into ridgelines The region cradled intricate German trench networks that were built in 1914 with the German Third Army im

The Meuse-Argonne (Champagne) Offensive:

“General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, ruled that the Second Division, including the Fourth Brigade of Marines, participated in only four major operations, the Aisne defensive (May 31 to June 5, 1918); the Aisne-Marne offensive (July 18 and 19, 1918); the St. Mihiel Offensive (Sept. 12 to 16, 1918); and the MeuseArgonne offensive (Oct. 1 to 10, 1918), and Nov. 1 to 10, 1918). The operations which resulted in the capture of Blanc Mont and St. Etienne were construed to be included in the Meuse-Argonne offensive despite the fact that the operations were a part of the operations of the Fourth French Army, far to the west of the western limit of the American Meuse-Argonne sector and further that the work of the Second Division was continued by another American division…”

6th Marine Regiment Patch and 2nd Infantry Division Patch

The Meuse-Argonne (Champagne) Offensive began on Sept. 26, 1918 and was the largest operation the American Expeditionary Forces participated in during World War I. Overall, the Meuse-Argonne campaign would be the final effort of the Great War, with the most punishing area of the enemy lines being at Blanc Mont Ridge, located in the French Sector.

Blanc Mont/Blanc Mont Ridge:

“If this ridge can be taken, the Germans will be obliged to retreat along the whole front ” -General Henri J Gouraud, Commander, French Fourth Army

Blanc Mont, translated to “White Mountain” was a part of the Hindenburg Line Blanc Mont was located west of where the American Expeditionary Forces were fighting and is located near the city of Rheims Blanc Mont Ridge was defended by two German divisions and elements of six others The attacker of Blanc Mont Ridge would have to cross miles of open terrain subject to artillery observation and machine gun fire. Blanc Mont was held by the Germans since their invasion of France in 1914 and consisted of high ground where the Germans could easily observe the terrain, including Rheims and other towns/villages in the area. The French had been unsuccessful in trying to retake the ridge since 1914, and every attempt by French forces resulted in severe losses. French forces became exhausted and frustrated given their losses and inability to recapture the ridge.

Blanc Mont Ridge was the middle ridge between three ridges that ran east-west, facing the attack of the 2nd Division, and was the key to the German third line of defense. Blanc Mont Ridge is crescent shaped, with Blanc Mont ending the right side of the ridge and Hill 210 being the end of the ridge on the left.

The German XII Corps concept of defense was organized along three fortified lines:

The second main line of resistance just north of Sommepy

The third main line located along Blanc Mont Ridge

The fourth main line located in the area of Saint-Etienne

Each line consisted of several parallel trenches, underground bunkers, and strongpoints

Behind the Blanc Mont range were several crucial railway junctions that the Germans needed to retain as the next defensible terrain was located 30 kilometers behind Blanc Mont

Engagement:

After fighting at Belleau Wood, the 2nd Division was pulled of the line on 20 July 1918. They had a total of 1,150 Marines leaving the wood, after losing 1,300 Marines in a single day (June 6, 1918). The Division was set aside in a relatively peaceful area known as the Marbache Sector, and few losses had occurred during August and September. Troop movements prior to the engagement at Blanc Mont Ridge were done before dawn due to tactical consideration and concealment.

The 2nd Division received orders to attack Blanc Mont on Oct. 1. However, the orders needed to be translated. In the Orders, the Marine Brigade were directed to advance from the low ridge near the right side of Sommepy. The Infantry Brigade were directed to jump off from a line beyond the far edge of the wood (to its left and front). The direction of the advance was directly against the eastern end of Blanc Mont Ridge, as well as along it. The 2nd Division’s zone of attack crossed three east-west ridges with German defenses overlooking said ridges and the middle ridge being the most dominant for the Germans.

“As H-hour approached, the 9th Regiment’s officers, reconnoitering forward, realized that they would first have l i h i ib d k i i b f i i h k h Thi would amazing eived their nced.”

prisoner to 8; 7 es 5903), ompany, fter twenty of after ed.”

Private le serving nce, 3 a dug-out ned to the m to be

Portion of Glucksman's World War I Jewish Serviceman Questionnaire, Jewish Welfare Board

“By direction of the President, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 9, 1918 (Bul. No. 43, W.D., 1918), Private Samuel Glucksman (MCSN: 85903), United States Marine Corps, is cited by the Commanding General, SECOND Division, American Expeditionary Forces, for gallantry in action and a silver star may be placed upon the ribbon of the Victory Medals awarded him. Private Glucksman distinguished himself while serving with the 78th Company, Sixth Regiment (Marines), 2d Division, American Expeditionary Forces at Blanc Mont, France, 1 - 10 October 1918.”

Private Glucksman later received the Purple Heart for the injuries he obtained on Oct 3 Private Glucksman returned to the U S in early 1919 and briefly stationed with 95th Company, 6th Marines before he was honorably discharged on May 20, 1919, and made a sergeant on sight He later stated,

“Although I did not believe this country should enter the War, when we did get into it I believed it my duty to enlist and I shipped over right away I did not do anything more than my duty and I am afraid everybody is too good to me I have been treated very fine by everybody and if another war was declared tomorrow I would certainly enlist if they would have me ”

Glucksman moved to Washington, D.C. post-discharge, and worked as a miner. By 1930, he had moved to Deep Creek, Va., and worked as a laborer at the Norfolk, Va. Naval Shipyard. It was around this time that Glucksman most likely met Bessie Allean Kemp Roman (1895-1969), a “Yeomanette” in World War I, who lived only eight miles from him in Portsmouth with her husband, brother, and sister. Bessie was granted a divorce from her husband, James L. Roman (1894-?), due to desertion in August 1935.

Glucksman and Bessie Kemp Roman were married on June 1936 by a Presbyterian minister, settling at Glucksman’s home at 9 Gillis Road, Portsmouth. In the early 1940s, the couple moved to St. Petersburg, Pinellas, Fla., becoming active in a number of social and military organizations, including the American Legion and Legion of Valor. Glucksman died at St. Petersburg General Hospital on 14 June 1947 of an unknown cause; he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery (Va.).

Addition: The only indication of why Glucksman left Austria is that it was the result of moral disagreements with his family; “His mother and father live in Lemburg, Austria, although he has not heard from them for many years and he is confident his cousins served in the Austrian army opposing him.”

On another note, Glucksman participated in correspondence with the American Jewish Committee-Jewish Welfare Board for several years, but is married by a Presbyterian preacher and buried with a Latin cross on his headstone Because Glucksman self-states as Jewish on his Jewish Welfare Board Questionnaire, he qualifies for review under the Valor Medals Review

More Than A Medal Screenings

The Park University George S Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War staff gives deepest appreciation to the following venues that have screened “More Than A Medal”: National U S Army Museum, U.S. Navy Museum and Memorial, McCormick Foundation/First Division Museum, St. Louis International Film Festival, Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Brooklyn Central Library, Schomburg Center, and all local Kansas City venues. A special recognition is acknowledged to those descendants of the 214 servicemembers being researched as part of the Valor Medals Review Project that attended these screenings.

The first screening was held at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Mo., on March 24, 2022, in conjunction with National Medal of Honor Day. Robb Centre and Park University staff, along with Alex Goldstein and Clark Slater of Lame Deer Films, recently completed a 15-month screening tour and are excited to announce that “More Than a Medal” is now available to the public (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKlSrbMa uM)

The documentary was produced by Lame Deer Films in cooperation with the Valor Medals Review team at the Robb Centre. The film, produced over the course of several years, interweaves the efforts of researchers working against time, untold heroic stories of courage on the battlefields of France and the experience of modern day descendants as they maintain cautious hope that their family members will be recognized This compelling tapestry asks hard questions about what it means to be an American and debates how we as citizens can heal the wrongs of the past

ADOPT-A-HERO PROGRAM

There is no expiration on valor. Every servicemember, that meets the legislative criteria, shall be researched and their descendants contacted. If interested in sponsoring an individual servicemember for research, please contact the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at gsrcentre@park.edu.

Adoptions will be recognized on individual servicemember webpages, sponsorship webpage and Valor magazine.

SPONSORSHIPS

Nathan Marticke, Chief Advancement Officer

ResearchInvestors

The George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War invites research investors to join the Valor Medals Review effort to properly recognize our servicemembers.  While the research is supported by legislation (S. 1218/H.R. 2249) signed within the National Defense Authorization Act on December 20, 2019, no federal appropriations are funding the project.

To discuss investing in the project, please contact: Nathan Marticke, Chief Advancement Officer Park University

(816)-584-6844

nathan.marticke@park.edu

GiveToday! advancing.park.edu/valormedals

StrategicPartners

Partners are critical to advancing the mission of the Valor Medals Review. Endorsement, research support or other non-financial support of the successful completion of the Valor Medals Review is invited.

The American Legion

ArmyAviationAssociation of America

AMSUS,the Society of Federal Health Professionals

AssociationoftheUnited States Navy

CommissionedOfficersAssociation ofthe USPublicHealthServices,Inc.

CongressionalBlack CaucusVeteransBraintrust

Fleet Reserve Association

Iraqand AfghanistanVeteransofAmerica

Jewish War Veterans oftheUSA

MarineCorpsLeague

MilitaryOfficers AssociationofAmerica

MilitaryOrderofthePurple Heart

Naval EnlistedReserveAssociation

Reserve OfficersAssociation

Service Women's Action Network

TheMilitaryChaplains Association of theUSA

TragedyAssistance Programfor Survivors

The RetiredEnlisted Association

USCG ChiefPetty Officers Association

USArmy WarrantOfficersAssociation

Vietnam Veterans of America

WoundedWarriorProject

To discuss becoming a strategic partner, please contact Dr. Timothy Westcott, Director, George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at Park University (816)-584-6364 or tim.westcott@park.edu

CONTACTS

Dr. Timothy Westcott Director

Park University

8700 NW River Park Drive, CMB 117 Parkville, MO 64152

Email: tim.westcott@park.edu

Telephone: (816)-584-6890

Website: https://gsr.park.edu

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