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Start of war
While the direct cause of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, historians believe there were a number of other causes too. Some of which include: The system of alliances, militarism, and nationalism. -
Frank's enlistment
Buckles enlisted on the 14th of August, 1917. Multiple branches of service denied him enlistment because he was either not old or heavy enough. He traveled to Oklahoma City to try again, then he was sent to Logan, Colorado to be sworn into the U.S. Army. -
Period: to
Early Enlistment
In the early days of Frank's enlistment he was at two different forts. He was first at Ft. Logan, he described it as being very military. They had to wait to sit down at the table until the Sergeant arrived. He said that Ft. Riley was different, that they were first in tents. That the food was prepared differently too. They used big GI cans with fire underneath to prepare whatever sustenance they had. -
Frank goes overseas
The unit Frank belonged to had 102 men, were called the First Ft. Riley Casual Detachment. According to frank, "casual" meant unassigned. Expecting to direct to France, Frank and his unit goes overseas on the Carpathia. A ship that rescued stranded survivors of the Titanic, some of the officers and men had been on board during the rescue. -
Punished for going to France
Instead of going to France, Frank's unit was diverted to Winchester, England to help the unit of the Sixth Marines, who held camp hospital number 35. Frank was ready to get to France and tried pestering officers of influence at the camp to get there. That didn't work so he devised a plan with three other men to get what they wanted. They were supposed to meet and secretly join a ship going to France, but Frank ran into complications and didn't make it on time. The others went and were punished. -
Frank in France
Eventually Frank gets to France. His job was mainly driving a car, and ambulance, a lot in the Gironde district. smaller places like St. Andrew's in Bordeaux. Though he took various assignments. Frank's situation was different, most men were of one unit. Like the 7th Regiment of New York, many men were overseas, or C company. But frank was in Europe by himself, he was young and keen, and could handle things by himself. -
End of war
In 1918, the Americans introduced troops and resources to the Western front. This tipped the scales into the Allie's favor. Eventually Germany couldn't handle the pressure. They signed an armistice agreement on November 11, 1918.
