American Valor Quarterly Issue 2 - Spring 2008 | Page 42

Doughboys
The US Army in France & Belgium in World War I – 90 Years On

An exclusive tour to the battlefields of the Great War
from the American Veterans Center

October 12-22, 2008
On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, setting off a chain of events that led to the most
terrible war the world had yet seen. The war ravaged Europe, leaving scars that would
never fully heal.
In 1917, the United States joined the war, ending attempts to remain neutral. More than
116,000 Americans were lost in combat—tragic, but only a small portion of the nearly 19
million military and civilian deaths caused by the war. Amid the horror of war, however,
heroes were made, men like Sgt. Alvin York, Sgt. Maj. Dan Daly, and General “Black
Jack” Pershing.
This October, as we prepare to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the end of World War I,
we invite you to join us as we travel back to the battlefields of Europe, to honor all of those who
served in the war, and to remember their sacrifice. This all-inclusive tour will take travelers to
the major sites of the Western Front, and will serve as a lasting reminder that devotion to duty,
honor, and country is a concept that has existed throughout the generations.

October 12 – Day 1: The Salient

October 17 – Day 6: Verdun: 1916

Meet in Brussels and travel to Ypres via Waregem and The Flanders
Field American Cemetery. Visit the Flanders Field Museum and
attend the Last Post ceremony at HY[