Originally known as Armistice Day, the holiday celebrated the end of the First World War.  Now it recognizes all veterans.  For Veterans Day, here is a list of some New Jerseyans, both prominent and lesser known, in the First World War.

Ludovicus “Louis” Van Iersel – A Dutch immigrant to the US, he settled in Glen Rock, NJ, before joining the US army that very same year.  He learned English while in military service and became a sergeant of Company M, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division.  In the final days of World War One, Van Iersel won the US Congressional Medal of Honor, his citation reading as follows: “While a member of the reconnaissance patrol, sent out at night to ascertain the condition of a damaged bridge, Sgt. Van Iersel volunteered to lead a party across the bridge in the face of heavy machinegun and rifle fire from a range of only 75 yards. Crawling alone along the debris of the ruined bridge he came upon a trap, which gave away and precipitated him into the water. In spite of the swift current he succeeded in swimming across the stream and found a lodging place among the timbers on the opposite bank. Disregarding the enemy fire, he made a careful investigation of the hostile position by which the bridge was defended and then returned to the other bank of the river, reporting this valuable information to the battalion commander.”  Van Iersel became a naturalized citizen in 1919 and later moved to California with his Dutch wife, serving again in World War Two in the US Marine Corps against Japan.

Alfred Joyce Kilmer – Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, NJ, and was a famous poet as well as Roman Catholic lecturer.  He served in the First World War, gaining the rank of sergeant.  Kilmer is best known for his poem “Trees” written in 1913.  Kilmer enrolled at Rutgers, then transferred to Columbia University where he graduated.  He taught Latin at Morristown High School and joined the New York National Guard when the United States entered World War One.  His life was cut short, however, when he was killed in action on July 30, 1918, sniped during the 2nd Battle of the Marne in France.

Needham Roberts – Trenton-born, he was an African-American serving in the 369th Infantry Regiment, “The Harlem Hellfighters”.  The 369^th was assigned to French command, since the segregationist policies and attitudes of the US army meant that the authorities did not want them to fight alongside white troops.  The French, however, had no such qualms and outfitted the men with French equipment.  Roberts was wounded while standing guard on May 14, 1918, and with fellow wounded soldier William H. Johnson, fought off two dozen German soldiers.  Roberts was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for heroism and, years later, the Purple Heart.  After the war, Roberts, like many veterans, struggled to find work during the Great Depression.  He gave talks and lectures on his wartime experience during World War Two to try to increase recruitment among African-Americans.  He and his wife died together in Newark, 1949, apparently in a tragic case of double suicide.

Fred W. Stockham – Born in Detroit, his mother died and his father left him to a foster mother in Newark, NJ.  He joined the Marines in 1903, serving two tours in the Philippines and also in China.  After his discharge, he moved to Belleville and re-enlisted, seeing action in Nicaragua as part of the “Banana Wars”.  Discharged, he re-enlisted almost immediately and was now a Gunnery Sergeant, on his way to the trenches of France.  It was in June, 1918, during a gas attack in the Battle of Belleau Woods, Stockham would posthumously win the Medal of Honor.  While under attack, he noticed a wounded marine’s gas mask had been shot away.  He forced the man to take his own, knowing full well that the gas would likely kill him.  His citation stated that, “He continued with undaunted courage and valor to direct and assist in the evacuation of the wounded, until he himself collapsed from the effects of gas, dying as a result thereof a few days later. His courageous conduct undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his wounded comrades and his conspicuous gallantry and spirit of self-sacrifice were a source of great inspiration to all who served with him.”

Henry Braid Wilson – Born in Camden, he led a distinguished naval career from service in the Spanish-American War, to becoming President of the Board of Inspection and Survey, and then to overall American naval commander in France during World War One.  It was in this capacity that Admiral Wilson was part of the communication chain during the “False Armistice” notice that accidentally reported the end of the war before it actually happened.  Wilson took responsibility unto himself and his reputation was unharmed.  He returned to Camden as a war hero, decorated by several Allied nations, and served as fleet commander after the war both in the Atlantic and Pacific.  He was made Superintendent of the US Naval Academy where he instituted several reforms before retiring to New York City.

Candace Hewitt – A Bryn Mawr College graduate born into the wealthy Hewitt family, and granddaughter of 1876 third-party presidential candidate Peter Cooper, Hewitt was swept up by the Preparedness Movement, which encouraged military training for civilians prior to the American entry into WW1 in 1917.  On her family’s 19,000 acre estate in the Ramapo Mountains, Hewitt organized the Emergency Services Corps with US Army officers and former War Secretary H.L. Stimson serving as board members to train upper-class women in the rigors of military life.  Training included drill, marksmanship, signaling, forced marching for miles, horseback riding, field cooking, rising each day to bugle calls.  The women turned in their skirts for military-style uniforms similar to those of the US Army, distinguishing them from other civilian camps operating at the time.  Their lives under canvas were regulated by strict codes and served to prepare the society women for the call to self-sacrifice when war was declared.  Hewitt herself later worked for the Ordnance Department and, after the war, in Turkey with the Near East Relief.

Woodrow Wilson – Though Virginian-born, Woodrow Wilson earned his Ph.D in political science at Johns Hopkins University and became a professor, then President of Princeton University.  A champion of the Progressive Movement, the academic was tapped by a Democratic Party which had known five gubernatorial defeats previously.  Wilson resigned from Princeton and won the election of 1910, with Democrats taking the Assembly as well, although the Senate remained in Republican control.  During his term, Wilson earned the ire of Democrat bosses by refusing to be bent to their wills.  He embarked on a legislative agenda of anti-trust bills and improving working conditions for adults as well as children.  The Progressives were keen on Wilson’s independence from party boss control and he was seen almost immediately as presidential material.  Earning the support of William Jennings Bryan, he threw his hat into the campaign ring in 1912, winning the Democratic nomination.  He campaigned against incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt, who had had a falling out with Taft and created his own Bull Moose Party.  Eugene V. Debs was another contender, running with the Socialist Party.  Wilson won he took 42% of the popular vote, gaining 435 of 531 in the Electoral College, defeating the two presidents and Debs.  He was the first Democrat in the Oval Office since New Jersey-born Grover Cleveland had served and he was the first president to hold a doctoral degree.  With regards to the Great War which broke out in 1914, Wilson had wanted to stay out and successfully ran for re-election in 1916 with the slogan “He Kept Us Out of War.”  He had offered to serve as a peace mediator to the European powers, but the offer was rejected.  Despite trying to remain neutral, the British naval blockade of Germany cut off American trade there, and so Wilson began to move America towards a more pro-British posture.  In 1915, American sentiment began turning against the Germans especially after a U-Boat torpedoed the RMS Lusitania, which had 1,198 passengers and crew lost, 128 of them American.  When the ferry SS Sussex was sunk, killing four Americans, Wilson demanded Germany pledge not to attack unarmed vessels and abide by “cruiser rules”.  In 1916, German saboteurs had destroyed a Jersey City munitions plant, resulting in the infamous “Black Tom” explosion that rocked the city and damaged the Statue of Liberty.  A year later, the Zimmerman Telegraph, which communicated Germany’s desire for Mexico to wage war against the United States in exchange for assistance, further soured American attitudes.  Germany also declared a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which was perceived by Washington as being a state of maritime warfare against the US.  Anti-German feeling was rising throughout the country.  In Morristown, “German Valley” was renamed to “Long Valley”.  Hessian graves from the American Revolution were desecrated and anti-German lynchings were occurring across the United States.  In April of 1917, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against the Central Powers and following the victory in November of 1918, traveled to Europe.  He joined the Paris Peace Conference with the “Big Four”: Prime Ministers David Lloyd George of the UK, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy.  Germany agreed to the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that same year.  The objectives the former New Jersey professor had in mind to reshape the post-war order were found in his “Fourteen Points” which included, among other things, the principles of national self-determination, the freedom of religion, and arbitration through the Permanent Court of International Justice.  Japan, an ally at the time, wanted the inclusion of a racial equality clause, but this was objected to by other countries, and Wilson did not fight for its approval.  One of the most controversial elements adopted as far as the American political establishment was concerned, was the creation of the League of Nations.  A precursor to the United Nations, the League would serve as an international forum to discuss matters and, in theory, prevent war.  The League would also enshrine, albeit unsuccessfully, the concept of collective security.  Wilson had to fight to get his agenda through the legislature, and a stroke left him badly debilitated in late 1919.  With his health deteriorating, he was persuaded not to seek the Democratic nomination for a third term and the presidency passed to Republican Warren G. Harding.  In the end, Congress did not agree to join Wilson’s League of Nations.  He retired to a largely private life of writing in the capital, attending the funeral of President Harding following his unexpected death in 1923.  Wilson, whose health had never made a significant improvement following his stroke, died in 1924, the only president buried in Washington DC.