One hundred years ago (plus a few days) the 1st Infantry Division disembarked in New York, the last of the American Expeditionary Force’s fighting units to return. You can read more about the Big Red One by clicking here or here.

The 1st Division were literally the first infantry to arrive in France in June of 1917 and the last ones to leave. However, the 28,000 or so men that returned home was a substantially different group – the 1st had lost 6,020 dead or missing and 17,201 had been wounded.

On September 17th, 1919 General Pershing ceremonially led the Big Red One and other soldiers in a three hour victory parade down 5th Avenue. You can read more about this by clicking here and watch film footage of the event by clicking here.

The Big Red One has a long-standing connection to Ft. Riley, KS.

James (“Jim”) Patton BS BA MPA is a retired state official from Shawnee, Kansas and a frequent contributor to several WW1 e-publications, including "Roads to the Great War," "St. Mihiel Tripwire," "Over the Top" and "Medicine in the First World War." He has spent many hours walking the WW1 battlefields, and is also an authority on British regiments and a collector of their badges. An Army Engineer during the Vietnam War, he does work for the US World War 1 Centennial Commission and is affiliated with the WW1 Historical Association, the Western Front Association, the Salonika Campaign Society and the Gallipoli Association.