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Acknowledgments
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xiii Acknowledgments With humility, i recognize the enormous debt i owe to all those who contributed to the completion of Bodies of War. i begin by thanking Jay Winter for being so receptive to my original research plans and for his guidance, which ultimately led me to oxford University. it was due to Winter’s intercession that i had the pleasure of working with my first dissertation adviser, Adrian Gregory. i benefited enormously from Adrian’s tutelage, which familiarized me with the extensive historiography on european war memory. Moreover, his readings of my earliest chapters provided much-needed support during that crucial phase. After Adrian’s sabbatical from oxford in 2002, Gareth Davies stepped into that key adviser role, generously offering immeasurable hours of patient guidance, keen perceptive analysis of American politics during the 1920s, and an unwavering belief in my abilities and endurance. i would also like to thank my friend and mentor, kurt Piehler, for sharing his vast expertise regarding American war memory, despite his own heavy workload. kurt always found time to generously share his research and to comment on countless revisions of the manuscript. His input was an integral component that provided greater depth, color, and clarity overall. Within American military and social history circles, many gracious readers must be thanked for patiently reading, editing, and discussing various sections of this book during its progression. others freely shared their research and archival materials and generally supported my work in a myriad of ways. in the United states, they include Michael Birdwell, edward Bliss, edward “Mac” Coffman, Holly Fenelon, robert H. Ferrell, John t. Greenwood, Millard Greer, Paul J. Jacobsmeyer, Jennifer keene, Michael Neiberg, stephen W. Warner, Allen Weinstein, and Jeremy Young. overseas, stephen Badsey, Malcolm Brown, Frederic Castier, stephen P. Dean, Mark Meigs, Michael o’Brien, ron robin, and Gary sheffield, must all be graciously thanked. xiv Acknowledgments in england, professors ian Beckett and Jay sexton with their rigorous analysis challenged me to aim for standards of scholarship i had previously hesitated to demand of myself. i am grateful to them for that gift and for their discerning, insightful comments that have greatly improved this book. While at oxford my research benefited from several generous financial gifts including st. Antony’s College Arnold Fund (2001), stahl Fund (2003), and oxford University’s scatcherd european scholarship (2002– 2003), which enabled me to do the necessary field work in France, where i had the privilege of working with the distinguished French war historian Annette Becker. With her assistance, i managed to navigate the archival holdings at the Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine , in Nanterre (Paris); the Archives de la Guerre, vincennes; and the foreign-policy papers at the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, Quai d’orsay, Paris. in Calais, the town’s Médiathèque staff were extremely attentive to countless requests to review their vast collection of regional newspapers from the postwar era. in June 2003, the extraordinary Centre de recherche de l’Historial de la Grande Guerre (Museum of the Great War) in Peronne granted me a generous financial fellowship that sustained further field work. i am exceedingly grateful to Annette Becker and Jay Winter for making that esteemed award possible. This study necessitated research at an array of international archives, but i am particularly grateful to the helpful staff in the documents room at the imperial War Museum, London, and at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Maidenhead, Berkshire. At the American cemetery in Waregem, Belgium, i owe particular thanks to my good friend ABMC assistant superintendent and historian Christopher sims. Chris commented on various portions of the manuscript and provided a wealth of obscure photographs and other archival materials from his own collection , as well as insights and observations gleaned from many years of faithful service to that organization. in the United states, i would also like to thank Monte Monroe, archivist of the southwest Collection at texas technical University, Lubbock, texas (Julia Duggan Hart Collection); Christine Lutz at the seeley G. Mudd Library, Princeton University (David A. reed Papers); all the staff at the U.s. Army Military History institute, U.s. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; and Doran Cart and Jonathan Casey at the Liberty Museum in kansas City, Missouri (Gold star Mothers Collection), where the museum also welcomed me as a guest speaker in 2002. [52.54.103.76] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 00:49 GMT) Acknowledgments xv i was fortunate to have received exceptionally valuable feedback...