GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Just off U.S. 31, there's a facility that serves as the Community Archives (CARC) and Research Center for the Tri-Cities Historical Museum. It's a gold mine for history buffs like Dr. Chris Petras and retired Lt. Col. David Britten of the U.S. Army. This place is just one of the sources they've used to research the history of our armed forces, and dig up information that proved soldiers from West Michigan earned the Purple Heart.
Petras and Britten invited us out to the CARC to share with 13 ON YOUR SIDE's viewers some of the information they've learned over the years about the 126th Infantry Division of the Michigan Army National Guard and its contributions during World War I.
"The 126th traces itself back 1855, and encompassed most of the units in West Michigan, headquartered primarily out of the Grand Rapids area," Britten said.
"They had families here. They had civilian lives here. They worked in a lot of industries here, went to school here. A lot of them were teachers and principals at area schools. And when they were asked to go, they went."
In 1917, the soldiers of the 126th were asked to go to Europe and help America's allies win World War I.
"By the time they got over to World War I in the summer 1918, of course, the war had been going on for four years, and it was a stalemate. And they were looking at the American forces to be able to break that stalemate," Britten said.
The Allied forces were happy to have Americans join the fray, but they didn't have high expectations.
"Our military wasn't that prepared, and so a massive training program had to be developed in recruitment to get enough soldiers to go there and to make sure that they were fully qualified," Petras said.
But the critics of our troops didn't take into account some of the lessons that soldiers of the 126th had learned back at home.
"They already had a bonding together as children and the community of Grand Haven had this entrepreneurial aspect to it. It had a faith aspect to it, a civic pride aspect to it. All of those factors came together in developing character and the bravery of the soldiers," Petras said.
The 126th shattered those expectations, along with the rest of the now-famous 32nd Red Arrow Division, which made up soldiers from Michigan and Wisconsin.
"They got the nickname Red Arrow because they broke through every German line they faced. And in fact, they were the first American soldiers on German-occupied territory. The 126th was a significant part of all four of the major campaigns, right up through the armistice in November 11, 1918," Britten said.
The 32nd Red Arrow Division was so fierce, that the French gave them the nickname, Les Terribles, or "The Terrible Ones." The 32nd lost 14,000 soldiers in the process of helping the Allies win World War I.
"They knew that a lot of them were not going to come back, and that didn't stop them from doing their duty," Britten said.
The Red Arrow nickname is still visible in West Michigan today. Among other things, it's the namesake for Red Arrow Highway in Van Buren and Berrien Counties, and for the Lowell High School Red Arrows.
If you'd like to learn more about West Michigan's connection to World War I, the Tri-Cities Historical Museum invites you to visit the CARC at 14100 172nd Avenue in Grand Haven.
"There are about 70,000 objects that are stored out here. About 450 of those are related to World War I. Anybody with an internet connection can go around the museum's website, and they can browse our entire collection," said Jared Yax who serves as the curator of collections at the museum.
"If you find a couple of artifacts that you really want to take a closer look at, just let me know which ones they are, and you can come in here. I'll pull those artifacts, and I'll work with you and do history research, right here with you."
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