The book: Good War, Great Men.

I am proud to release my new book that honors the history and service of this World War I Battalion.

Our Nation is in the midst of building a National Memorial in Washington DC to honor more than 4 million American families that sent their sons and daughters to serve in uniform during the Great War. This book follows the story of of the 313th Machine Gun Battalion through many unpublished letters and journals with over 1,000 men listed on the rolls.

Read about Coach Joe Duff, the head football coach from Pitt who was drafted into this battalion and later killed in battle. Captain John Kean, a Harvard graduate who led my grandfather's Company and was wounded during the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne, the deadliest battle in American History with over 26,000 Americans killed. Read about Alex MacWilliam badly gassed in the attack and recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross. Joseph Harold Parsons, a dentist who was killed at the front trying to treat the wounded. His buddies from Erie were in the thick of fighting, and he put himself in harm's way to help his friends.

Amazon Books: Good War, Great Men. 

BACK COVER: This is a compilation of the ranks of a World War I Machine Gun Battalion through first-hand accounts of more than a dozen soldiers who served together during the War. Their stories have been rediscovered by compiling unpublished letters and journals with historical insights to provide a compelling history of the men of the 313th Machine Gun Battalion. A young Private colorfully describes the antics of his fellow draftees from Erie, Pennsylvania while they trained at Camp Lee preparing for war. An idealistic officer provides vivid details of the simple pleasures and the aggravating moments as the battalion travels through the French countryside on their way to the front. The naïve desires of one officer, hoping he can get into a ‘real show’ are later extinguished when the unit takes on multiple casualties from a gas attack. After escaping an incessant shelling, the honest prose of one officer reveals a mistake that was made, that cost the lives of men during a harrowing event in the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne. The miserable days of long marches, muddy trenches and soaking wet uniforms were common. Being able to laugh through the misery, sharing a bottle of French wine, finding a swimming hole for the men, or sleeping in late under the warmth of the sun occasionally made it a good war. This book was released to commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of World War I and to honor the men of the 313th Machine Gun Battalion, 80th Division.