That big fight, World War I, you know, it was a real mess. Some folks ask, was it in New York, in that place Manhattan? Well, lemme tell ya somethin’. That war, it was mostly over in them Europe places. But New York, that big city, it sure felt it. Lots of our boys went over there to fight.
Now, New York, it was a busy place back then, just like now. Ships comin’ and goin’, people all over. When that war started, New York, it got even busier. See, we had to send stuff over to them fellas fightin’ – food, clothes, you name it. And them New York folks, they was always good at makin’ things, so they made lots of stuff for the war.
I remember, there was talk about that war everywhere. Newspapers, them radios, even just folks on the street. It was a scary time, not knowin’ what was gonna happen. And them Manhattan streets, they was full of fellas in uniform, gettin’ ready to go fight. It was sad, seein’ all them young’uns shippin’ out. My neighbor, she lost her boy in the war. Never came back. It was heartbreaking, I tell ya. So many young men, you know, didn’t come back.
- That war, it changed things, even in New York.
- Lots of people came to New York after the war, lookin’ for work.
- Things was different, somehow. Hard to explain.
That World War I, it was a long time ago. But folks in New York, they still remember. We got them memorials, you know, statues and such. And every now and then, you’ll hear someone talkin’ about it, ‘specially the older folks. Some family, they still tell the stories. I heared there was more than 500,000 New York fellas in the war. Can you believe that? So many. And lots of them, just regular folks, workin’ hard, you know?
New York had a big part in that war, even if the fightin’ wasn’t here. The city, it sent soldiers, made supplies, and everyone felt it, one way or another. It was a time when everyone had to be tough, had to pull together. Lots of worry, but lots of hope too, that things would get better.
Them Lexington Avenue explosion thing, they say it happened on July 4, 1914, just before the war got real big. I don’t know much about that, only hear old folks talkin’. Sounds scary, an explosion right there in the city. But you know, New Yorkers, they tough. They get through things.
That war, it was a terrible thing. Millions died, not just soldiers, but regular folks too. It’s hard to think about. But it’s important to remember, I guess. So we don’t forget the folks who fought and died, and so we learn from it, maybe. I heard that there was almost 14,000 New York boys died in the war. So sad, but we gotta remember them. All them Manhattan boys, too. My heart goes out to their family.
Now, Manhattan, it’s a part of New York, like a heart in a body. So, when we talk about New York in the war, we talkin’ about Manhattan too. They was all in it together. That’s what they say, the Great War. It really was great, great and terrible. War ain’t good for nobody, that’s for sure.
- New York sent lots of soldiers to World War I.
- The city made things for the war, like clothes and food.
- Everyone in New York felt the war, even if it wasn’t fought there.
- Lots of New York boys, including Manhattan boys, never came back.
That war ended a long time ago. But it changed New York, changed the whole world, I reckon. It’s somethin’ we should never forget. It changed people’s life, their work, how they think. And New York, that big, strong city, it remembers. That Woodrow Wilson, he was the president back then. He said the United States will be neutral, but things change, right? It is hard to be neutral when so many bad things happen.
So, to answer that question, was World War I in New York, in Manhattan? No, not the fightin’. But the war was there, in the hearts and minds of the people, in the work they did, in the lives that were lost. New York played a big part in that war, even from far away. And it’s a part of history we won’t ever forget.
