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As a Marine serving in Afghanistan, Nic Doucette faced challenges often. But as a college student at the University of Wisconsin—Whitewater, Nic set out in search of new challenges and new ways to help others. His choice: kayaking the length of the Mississippi River to raise money for injured veterans.
For more on Nic’s journey and mission, visit his website Mississippi River Trip 2014.
A sample of photographs taken along his journey can be found here.
Cartoonist Lynda Barry has made a career out of putting life on paper. A Wisconsin native, she has returned to the state and now conducts drawing workshops with people of all ages and backgrounds at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Along with helping others put their thoughts on paper, she also hopes to help scholars and researchers get a better understanding of memory and creativity.
Wisconsin Senator Bob La Follette was one of the leading opponents of U.S. entry into WWI. Historian Nancy Unger tells us what La Follette believed and why he voted against going to war.
This story is part of the Wisconsin Life series, “Wisconsin in the First World War.”
Photo: Wisconsin Historical Society
A small sample of the photographs taken on Wisconsin Veteran Nic Doucette’s journey kayaking the length of the Mississippi River. Seventy-one days of paddling from north to south, raising money along the way for injured service members through the Semper Fi Fund. For more on Nic’s journey and the purpose of his trip visit Mississippi River Trip 2014
Day 22: Minneapolis, MN
Day 26: La Crosse, WI
Day 31: Cassville, WI
Day 36: Burlington, IA (Flooding in the area)
Day 44: St. Louis, MO
Day 47: Middle of Nowhere, MO (Dinner on a sandbar)
Day 51: Memphis, TN
Day 59: Vicksburg, MS
Day 64: Baton Rouge, LA
Day 71: Gulf of Mexico
It’s rare for Tammy Simonson to ride her bicycle without turning heads. That’s because her bike, with one large wheel and one tiny wheel, is more than a hundred years old.
More than any other war, WWI is associated with the poetry of the men who served. Today, we share a poem written by Byron H. Comstock, a marine from Portage. Wounded twice in battle, Comstock started writing poems while recovering in a hospital. Poem read by Peter Sobol.
Read more poetry from Comstock in his book, The Log of the Devil Dog.
This story is part of the Wisconsin Life series, “Wisconsin in the First World War.”
Dallas Hart, an 8th Grader at Lac du Flambeau Public School, joins his classmates for the annual Ojibwe Winter Games, a celebration of traditional culture that includes outdoor winter games that date back centuries.
The Lady Thunderhawks also incorporate traditional cultural practices into their basketball training, winning their regional championships for the first time in Oneida Nation High School history.
Bulovsky Bio:
Helen Bulovsky was born in Madison in 1895. She trained at Madison General Hospital, and after her graduation in October of 1917 practiced as a registered nurse. Bulovsky had a heart defect, which it seems she was aware of, at the point of her enlistment in April 1918. She was assigned to Base Hospital 22 in France. One month later, she transferred to Evacuation Hospital 5, a move that put her as close to the front as a nurse could get.
Helen Bulovsky returned to Madison on March 15, 1919. In 1922 she married Walter Lawrence, but died nine months later, on February 16, 1923.
Letter to her sister Bess, July 1, 1918
Dear Bess,
I can’t see why you have not written to me for such a long time… I know you are busy but now you have not your schoolwork to bother you… I can picture you and mother, sipping coffee and wondering just what I am going and just where I am. Every night before I go to sleep I take an imaginary walk thru our house and I always picture mother and father playing “66” at the kitchen table….
I wish you would send me my big Wisconsin pennant. I think you can put it in a manila envelope and it will go through okay. We want something to make our room look cozy. I wish we had a few pictures to put up. Four bare walls in the woods make one feel blue, worst that ails me.
August 7, 1918, France
Dear Mother,
We are advancing toward the front with the boys and each day and night seem more like hell. I am getting tired and lonely and there seems to be no one to tell my troubles to and the only answer to my weariness is the groan of the wounded boys around me…. We are living in an awful mess, we are surrounded by mud and water….. I wish you could see me now. You wouldn’t want to claim me…
I am still on night duty …Last night they operated on sixty-five so you see we are busy… There isn’t much we can do for the boys here except keep their dressings clean, keep them warm and give them hypodermics. They stay here only 24 hrs or less and they move on and we get new ones….
Sept 3, 1918, near the front
Dear Bess,
We are following the 32nd division, which has all our Wisconsin boys in it. I ask all the nurses if any of their patients are from Madison. One said she had one and I went to see and it was Ralph Tracy. He has a sore finger and that was all…
We are always moved to devastated villages or out in the woods…I have watched a few air battles during the day. I am on day duty and all I get a chance to do is order supplies and do dressings. You can’t imagine what awful dressings we have to do. Yesterday I worked so hard that after the doctors’ left I cried - I really don’t know what for, but I couldn’t help it…. There is nothing but ruins and patients to see by day and listen to the banging of the guns of the heavy artillery by night. I have gotten so that I can sleep through it all. I am trying to write this letter in the ward and believe me, it’s a job. I write one word and give a hypodermic and write another and someone wants a drink….
October 16, 1918
Dear Mother,
Madison certainly must be a blue place now that they are notified of the mortalities. We all sympathize with them but the Lord knows we are doing all there is. …The most pathetic thing I hurry against is when the boys wake up from ether and find that an arm or leg has been amputated but like soldiers they bear it bravely.
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Helen Bulovsky was a young Madison nurse who went to France in 1918. Working at evacuation hospitals, she served as close to the front lines as a nurse could get, tending to the injured before sending them back to the front lines. She describes her days in letters home to her sister Bess and her mother read by WPR’s Michele Good.
Bulovsky’s papers and photographs are at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. This story is part of the Wisconsin Life series, “Wisconsin in the First World War.”
Photo: Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Bronson Koenig is a standout basketball player with the UW-Madison Men’s Basketball team. He is also a proud member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and takes pride in his Native American heritage. Bronson hopes his hard work and success—both on and off the court—inspires Native American kids in Wisconsin and across the country.
Competing as a freshman in the 2014 NCAA Final Four Basketball Tournament was quite the experience for Bronson. Looking forward to another run in 2015, Bronson reflects on his 2014 Final Four experience and some of the toughest competitors he’s faced in the Big 10.
November is Native American Heritage Month, a chance to learn more about the rich history, cultures, and traditions of Native Americans. For more about Wisconsin’s Native Communities, visit The Ways.
Deirdre Birmingham and her husband John already had successful careers when they decided to invest their life savings in an old dairy farm to grow apples that no-one would want to eat. They planted thousands of apple trees and are now making Apple Brandy and cider.
More than four decades ago, Lt. Thomas Shaw was killed when his Huey helicopter crashed in Vietnam. Two members of his crew survived the crash, and his roommate, Jim Crigler, escorted Lieutenant Shaw’s body back to Wisconsin. Forty-two years later, Jim and the two surviving crew members traveled to Sheboygan for a special tribute to Tom Shaw’s family.
For more stories, information, and resources available for returning veterans, please visit Veterans Coming Home.
U.S. entry into WWI in 1917 fueled a wave of anti-German sentiment across Wisconsin and across the nation. The fervor was particularly acute in Milwaukee, the most German city in the country. Historian John Gurda tells us how German Americans bore the brunt of war.
This story is part of the Wisconsin Life series, “Wisconsin in the First World War.”
Photo: Anti-German protest, Wisconsin Historical Images
The Bond family likes to explore Wisconsin, so they braved a blizzard and freezing temps to travel from La Crosse to the National Apostle Islands Lakeshore for an adventure in the Ice Caves.
“All Hallows’ Eve,” or Halloween, was originally a religious celebration. In Mexico on Nov. 1st and 2nd, Day of the Dead is observed. Nancy Camden introduces us to artist Jose Chavez who helped organize Milwaukee’s annual Day of the Dead community celebration.
Photo: Nancy Camden
Music: Milwaukee’s Jason Behr playing Manuel Ponce’s Sonatina Meridional (1st Movement)