Stories from the Front: In Their Own Words
On April 6, 1917 the United States officially joined the war in Europe. During the Great War over 122,000 Wisconsin men and women served on land, sea, and in the air. Unfortunately, many people alive today never had the opportunity to meet or talk with a World War I veteran and many of the personal stories have been lost to history. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum takes great pride in its collection of World War I oral history interviews, and we are pleased to share these interviews with the public. This is a rare opportunity to hear the stories of these veterans, in their own voices, with their own words.
World War I Wisconsin Veteran Interviews
Please click on the links below to access the stories of World War I veterans through the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) tool, courtesy of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries. You can watch the videos, search the transcripts, and review an index (some including photographs) for each interview.
Please be advised:
These interviews may contain potentially disturbing content related to combat as well as sensitive material relating to PTSD, trauma, sexual assault, and moral injury. We appreciate the bravery of the narrators in sharing their stories—please be respectful when engaging with these interviews.
- Golden Barritt, OH 210 - Combat engineer in Company D, 117th Engineer Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division
- Scott Cairy, OH 732 - 107th Ammunition Train, 32nd Infantry Division
- Edward Denomie, OH 1152 - Supply Company, 128 Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division
- Elmer Denzer - School for Bakers & Cooks, Private; Fred Hauser - Corporal, and Ernest Wittwer - Company F, 162 Infantry, 32nd Division, OH 302
- Albert Ehert, OH 303
- Ray Fuller, OH 50 - Company B, 127th Regiment, 32nd Division
- John Haddock, OH 1543* - Company F, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division (*Please note - due to poor recording conditions this interview has extremely poor audio quality)
- Duke Jones, OH 1061 - 1st Expeditionary Division, 16th Infantry, 3rd Battalion
- John Pavlik, OH 464 - 126th Ambulance Company, 107 Sn Tn, 32nd Division
- John Pavlik, OH 1722 - See above
- Otto Rystad, OH 1172