Chapter 8
1918 began with a continuing bend toward optimism as Wilson was inaugurated for a second term. Now, with the khaki-colored presence of young soldiers, people believed our boys would end the war of all wars, the Great War. They believed the presence of the Stars and Stripes along the barbed-wire trenches of the western front in France would stop the machine-gunning, the air-dropping, and the killing over there.
The 1917-1918 winter was the coldest in memory. The wartime lack of wood and coal meant many shivered in the night, and those who didn’t shiver hardly noticed those who did. Still, most people moved into the new year with optimism, intent on waving their home-sized flags to the glory of democracy. Tell your friends and neighbors to speak well of our country, the governmen
