On November 11^th every year we celebrate Veteran’s Day, a day to remember and thank all the soldiers who are currently or have been in the military. These people in the military risk their lives and sacrifice every day to guarantee our country’s freedom and safety.

One of the most deadly, historical, influential, and life changing wars for the entire world, including the United States, was World War I which occurred nearly 100 years ago, from 1914 to 1918.

World War I was very violent and complicated. There were many reasons why the war came to be a worldwide event, but the main event that triggered the start of the war was on June 28,1914, when the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip.

Participants in World War I included two main groups. The Allies consisted of Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, and Montenegro. The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

The War affected every country and millions of people. What a lot of students, faculty, and alumni do not know is that Saint Anselm College and World War I have several connections.

When the United States decided to enter World War I in 1917, former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and his administration called a draft to gather up their military, also known as the Selective Service Act of 1917. A war draft is when the federal government, including the President, enlists men from the ages 18-25 from every American household to fight in the war when they need more militants. The president needed to do this because of the size of the war and how many forces were involved in the fight.

Because of this draft, many Saint Anselm College students at the time were called to partake in fighting. This means that Saint Anselm lost many of its students and their loved ones who left to fight overseas in the worldwide battle. This affected the entire community as a whole considering the age group of the draft was college-aged people and at the time Saint A’s accepted mostly male students.

Dealing with the effects of the war brought the Saint Anselm community closer together. They prayed, mourned, and did service for our country.

The community partook in service war work, such as the selling of Thrift Stamps for twenty-five cents per set as stated in an article in 1918 from The Anselmian, which was the college’s newspaper at the time. Thrift stamps were a token; students could buy to save up and later purchase a War Savings Certificate stamp, which cost around four dollars at the time. These stamps could later be sold for the holder to make a profit.

The War Savings Certificate stamps program was a fundraising effort by the United States government to raise money to pay for their funding for the war.

In the article “The War and College Athletics” in The Anselmian, the editorialist wrote, “The United States’ entry into the world war last spring threw college athletics into a chaotic state. Schedules became but pieces of paper. There were few athletic associations that prescribed a definite policy and consistently maintained it.”

Saint Anselm College lost many of its athletes due to World War I. This caused an uproar in the sports department. So they had to figure out how to deal with much smaller teams and athletes who had lost their friends.

World War I had a monumental impact on Saint Anselm College. It became a part of the United States community, as well as the college community.

But it did not matter where you lived in the U.S., how old you were, or what your nationality was. One way or another people were affected by this war, due to budget cuts, shortage on food and clothes, increase of prices on everyday products, you were drafted in the military, or you knew someone who was.

1. Tooney once wrote in his poem, “Old Glory,” “There they stand throughout the fray. Through the night and the day. In the cruelest of wars. Fighting ‘neath the Stars and Bars.” This poem described the impact the World War I had on everyone, but people fought anyway for their country and for their flag.

World War I touched everyone’s lives during the early 1900s and will forever impact the history of future generations. So on every Veteran’s Day, if you see or know a soldier, take a moment of your time to thank them for their service and remember all those who have perished from past wars, especially our fellow Anselmians.