And they thought we wouldn't fight
By: by Floyd Gibbons ; edited by Michael S. Neiberg
Series: Lakeside classics; Lakeside classics
Publisher: R. R. Donnelley & Sons
Published: 2014
Place of publication: [Chicago, Ill.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 346
Subjects: World War, 1914-1918; Personal narratives; Campaigns
Description: "On the night of February 27, 1917, when the Laconia was two hundred miles off the coast of Ireland, the Gibbons' "hunch" was fulfilled. The Laconia was torpedoed and sunk. After a perilous night in a small boat on the open sea, Gibbons was rescued and brought into Queenstown. He opened the cables and flashed to America the most powerful call to arms to the American people. It shook the country. It was the testimony of an eye witness and it convinced the Imperial German government, beyond all reasonable doubt, of the wilful and malicious murder of American citizens. The Gibbons story furnished the proof of the overt act and it was unofficially admitted at Washington that it was the determining factor in sending America into the war one month later" -- Foreword.
Table of contents: title: The sinking of the Laconia; title: Pershing's arrival in Europe; title: The landing of the first American contingent in France; title: Through the school of war; title: Making the men who man the guns; title: "Frontward ho!"; title: Into the line; title: the first American shot in the war; title: The first American sector; title: The night our guns cut loose; title: Into Picardy to meet the German push; title: Under fire; title: Before Cantigny; title: The rush of the raiders; title: "zero at 2 a.m."; title: On leave in Paris; title: Chateau-Thierry and the Bois de Belleau; title: Wounded; title: how it feels to be shot; title: "Good morning, nurse"; title: Groans, laughs and sobs in the hospital; title: "July 18th"; title: the turn of the tide; title: The dawn of victory.