Guy T. Viskniskki received the Distinguished Service Medal for his work in establishing The Stars and Stripes during World War I. With the Internet today our troops have the ability to receive their mail and newspapers anywhere they can access the web. Back in 1918 even getting mail to the troops was a project and the various units had no idea of the grand scheme of the army nor did they know what was going on outside of there small area. A newspaper was needed to remedy that situation.

My grandfather left memoirs about the founding of the paper and I used them in my book, Unsung Patriot.

THE BIRTH OF THE STARS AND STRIPES
A.E.F. EDITION
Me – and a War Goin’ On
May 2, 1919
From: Lieut.-General R. L. Bullard, U. S. A.
To: Adjutant General, A. E. F.
Subject: Recommendation of Major Guy T. Viskniskki, Inf., for D. S. M.

1. I recommend that Major Guy. T. Viskniskki, Inf., be given the Distinguished Service Medal.

CITATION

For exceptionally meritorious service by his teaching and publication, creating in all ranks a great moral force which contributed in a most extraordinary degree to the
final victory of the American Army.

BASIS OF THE CITATION
As is well known, this officer presented the idea for the paper known as “The Stars and Stripes,” and he conducted its foundation and publication in accordance with the spirit of the Commander-in-Chief. The tone of this paper and its utterances were always contributory to the highest morale among officers and enlisted men of the American Expeditionary Forces. It is needless to attempt to prove it. It is a fact known to every member of the A.E.F. The result could not be otherwise than as stated in the citation and it was so. I consider it useless to attempt further argumentation.

2. As one not at the General Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces, as having no personal acquaintance with Major Viskniskki, and as seeing the effect of his articles and publication, I believe that I am able to form a just judgment as to their value.
R. L. BULLARD,
Lieutenant General, U. S. A.

There are so many threads connecting Guy to that first Stars and Stripes published in Bloomfield, Missouri, during the Civil War. His Uncle Tom Viskniskki was with his unit in Bloomfield on that fateful day. The future editor of the Carmi Courier, a newspaper Guy worked for in the 1890s, was involved in the publishing of that first edition. So were two other Carmi men. Guy and John W. Schell both enlisted to fight in the Spanish-American War and could have met.

Yet there is no concrete proof that Guy knew about the original Stars and Stripes. Since there are so many possible connections, it seems reasonable to assume that Guy had heard the story of the first edition of the paper. Why not revive it?

About twenty-five years after his experiences in World War I, Guy wrote his memoirs entitled “Me – and a War Goin’ On.” To my knowledge there are four copies in existence. The heirs of Elizabeth West Viskniskki Butler have one copy. I have another. The third is at the Carlisle Barracks Military Museum, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The fourth copy is at The Stars and Stripes Museum/Library in Bloomfield, Missouri. The following description of Guy’s activities during World War I is taken from his memoirs.

Guy proceeded to France on the first American convoy to run into the port of Brest. From there, he went to Paris to report to the commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in November, 1917. Much to his distress he was attached to the Censor’s field staff in the town of Neufchateau, which was the center of the training area for the 26th (Yankee) Division. Even the fact that he was the first active newspaperman to be attached to the Censor’s field staff did not console him. Guy had hoped the call overseas meant that he would be “on the line.” Instead he was escorting war correspondents to various points of interest. In his words, he was a nursemaid.

That winter of 1917 was made up of rain, mud, snow, fog and days without sunlight. The buck privates shivered in crude billets in barn lofts and pigsties. There was a strangely penetrating cold. The men were as homesick as “any boarding school lass away from home and mother for the first time.” From the middle of November until New Year’s day, 1918, never once was a star seen in the night sky. The regiments were broken up and scattered by companies and platoons in peasant villages nestled complacently among huge manure piles.

Mail was delayed for weeks. The people, language and customs were strange to the enlisted men. They spent their time drilling, digging trenches and hauling manure. The local population took advantage of the American’s naiveté and ignorance of the value of the French currency. The bright spot of a traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving only highlighted the general homesickness of the men.

Guy traveled throughout the area, conducting correspondents on news-gathering expeditions or chaperoning distinguished “junketeers” from England, France and America on sightseeing tours. During his travels it became apparent to him that the American soldiers felt helpless, lost and forgotten. Many of the soldiers were homesick. As he described it, “…the morale of the American soldier in France was shot to hell…” Chaplain Paul Moody, of the Maine regiment in the 26th Division, also noticed the problem. He and Guy discussed it with Chaplain Moody saying it would help if the men felt they were “part of the show.”

Virginia G. Vassallo
Unsung Patriot: How The Stars and Stripes Began
www.krazyduck.com
www.unsungpatriot.com