The Journal
The “American R.E.s”: Kansas City’s Railway Engineers in the Great War By
Roger D. Cunningham The
Spring 2002 Jackson County Historical Society JOURNAL presents The
“American R.E.s”: Kansas City’s
Railway Engineers in the Great War by Roger D. Cunningham. The
Great War is part of our area’s cultural history. Coinciding with the
rededication of Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial in May 2002, Roger Cunningham
reviews one World War I unit’s overseas campaign in Kansas City's American Royal Engineers in the Great War.
Cunningham’s unit history takes you on a fortunate return trip between Kansas
City’s Union Station to far away trenches and French battle fields. Roger
D. Cunningham grew up in the Kansas City area. He is a retired army officer
who currently resides in northern Virginia and writes articles on military
history topics.
S.P. Cunningham
mailed this postcard to his fiance for Valentine’s Day in 1918. This image shows Cunningham
wearing his campaign hat and olive drab overcoat. Image Courtesy Roger Cunningham Notes on Sources: Battle
Participation of Organizations of the American Expeditionary Forces in
France, Belgium and Italy, 1917-1918. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1920. Cunningham, S.P. “World
War I Diary” (currently in possession of the author). Donovan, Derek. Lest the Ages Forget: Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial.
Kansas City: Kansas City Star
Books, 2001. Hendricks, Charles. Combat and Construction: U.S. Army
Engineers in World War I. Fort Belvoir, VA: Corps of Engineers, 1993. Historical
Report of the Chief Engineer. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1919. History of
the Twelfth Engineers. St. Louis: Buxton & Skinner, 1919. Kansas City
Post, 9
May 1917, 16 May 1919. Kansas City
Star, 17
May 1919. McGeehan, Paul. “An
Engineer’s Memories” (script of talk given 19 April 1952 at the Hotel
Pickwick, Kansas City, MO) Parsons, William Barclay. The American Engineers in France. New
York: D. Appleton and Company, 1920. Wilgus, William J. Transporting the A.E.F. in Western Europe,
1917-1919. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1931. Websites
offering further information: Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial To
order this JOURNAL edition, subscribe or join JCHS click here. |
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