“Write and Tell Mother…”: East Tennesseans in the Great War, 1917-1919

There is a reason that Veterans Day Parades halt for a moment of silence at precisely 11 a.m.  It was at 11 a.m. on the 11th of November 1918, that the deadliest and most destructive war in history, to that point, ended.  More than 130,000 Tennesseans served in the Great War, some 40,000 of them from East Tennessee.  Knoxville and Knox County contributed more than 5,000 men to the cause.  Of these, 11 officers and 150 enlisted men died in service, a rate of just under 5%, which is considered heavy in that only about half the total number in service actually went to France.  Of these 161 fatalities, 122 were killed in action.  Colonel Cary Spence of the 177th Infantry, raised from the Tennessee National Guard, praised them for their "glorious record in all operations" and expressed an "appreciation of the courage, fortitude, and devotion displayed.” 

In a special lecture on Thursday, March 19, Pat Gang will share the stories of these brave East Tennessee soldiers.  A Knoxvillian, Gang is student of military history and holds a BA in history from the University of Tennessee. He has served as editorial director for three books on local church history and is the founder of "Keeping Your Stories Alive," a local concern specializing in veteran histories.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the East Tennessee History Center.