Wendell Willkie in World War I

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World War I	War Declared Marriage Basic Training Overseas Dénouement

Because Willkie's Army regiment did not arrive in Europe until the waning months of World War I, his Army regiment did not experience combat, which Willkie said was a major disappointment. He did see some of the terrible destruction the war brought, however, and he became a strong supporter of President Wilson's efforts to establish the League of Nations. Willkie's second great disappointment of the war came in the 1920s when the United States opted out of the League, contributing to its eventual failure. This lost opportunity to form an international organization of nations had a profound impact on Willkie, and fueled his determination that a similar international organization be formed following World War II.

War Declared

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Arriving in Europe too late to be sent to the front lines was not Willkie's fault, for he had signed up as soon as the War Department's bureau in Indianapolis began accepting volunteers. Willkie's eagerness to fight was due in part to his family background, for both his parents' families had come to America to escape from German and Prussian oppression. And so, about a month after the declaration of war on April 6, 1917, Wendell and his older brother Robert arrived in Indianapolis to enlist in the U.S. Army. Within a week, both were called up, and Wendell, now 25 years old, spent eight weeks at an Army Officers Training Camp at nearby Fort Benjamin Harrison. It was here that an Army clerk reversed Willkie's first and middle names, which he never corrected because he preferred Wendell as a first name and because the effort involved in correcting the error would have been, in Willkie's words, "endless." On August 15, 1917, the newly named Wendell Lewis Willkie received a commission of first lieutenant.

After receiving his commission, Willkie and about 50 other men were transferred to Harvard University, where he received a month of instruction on infantry tactics from French military officers. After this training, Willkie was very disappointed to learn that he would not be sent overseas to fight, but instead be sent to another Army installation, Camp Zachary Taylor near Louisville, Kentucky. Willkie's regiment, the 325th, stayed in Kentucky for almost a year.

Marriage

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Few details are known about Willkie's stay at Camp Taylor; in later years, he would speak only of his intense boredom while there. The only significant event of this period, therefore, was Willkie's marriage to Edith Wilk. The two had met in 1915 at the wedding of a mutual friend, where he was an usher and she a bridesmaid. Others at the wedding thought Wendell and Edith would make a good pair, so they arranged several opportunities for the pair to be together.

Edith Wilk Willkie
Credit: The Lilly Library

They saw each other again about a year later, when Edith got a job as Elwood's librarian. More than one biographer claims that Willkie had a hand in securing the job for Edith. Wendell wooed Edith vigorously, but he faced considerable competition for her attention from several other Elwood bachelors. After less than half a year as Elwood's librarian, a homesick Edith left to return to her family's hometown of Rushville, a small farming community about 75 miles to the south. Wendell did not give up, however, and he continued to see Edith, travelling to Rushville as often as he could get away from his parents' law practice. While in the Army, Wendell continued his contact with Edith, and finally, in late 1917, she agreed to marriage. The pair began planning a wedding that would take place in Rushville on Saturday, January 12, 1918.

Wendell received a weekend pass to travel from Camp Taylor to Rushville, but on Friday, the day before the wedding, Louisville was hit with its heaviest snowstorm ever. On Saturday morning, Willkie and his best man (also from Camp Taylor) struggled to get from the camp to Louisville, finally walking to a train station where they boarded one of the few trains operating that day. From Louisville, another train got them within 20 miles of their destination before it was stopped by the heavy snow. By then, it was clear that the two were hopelessly late for the wedding, which was scheduled for that afternoon. After an overnight stay in a small town, the two finally made it to Rushville on Sunday morning. The wedding eventually took place on Monday, but without the best man who, unlike Wendell, could not get his leave extended. Willkie had to return to Camp Taylor by Tuesday morning, and he made it back just in time. He was accompanied by his new bride, who found a place to stay in New Albany, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville.

Basic Training

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The Army sent Willkie to the artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in the spring of 1918. Edith followed him there, but a temporary downturn in her health kept her from following her husband in his subsequent moves. As at Camp Taylor, Willkie was bored at Fort Sill, and some biographers make mention that Lieut. Willkie was reprimanded for becoming too friendly with the enlisted men. This was but one example of Willkie's disdain for the social and other distinctions that divided people. It also shows the intensity of Willkie's independent spirit, for he chose to disregard one of the foremost rules of military life: the traditional line drawn between officers and enlisted men. One biographer relates an incident in which a superior officer lectured Willkie on this very point. Willkie responded by saying, “I'm going to associate with these men as equals after the war -- and I'm also going to do it now.” (Barnard, p. 52)

First Lieut. Wendell Willkie
U.S. Army, 325th Artillery

An incident at Fort Sill that all the Willkie biographers make special mention of is a remarkable stunt that demonstrates quite a bit about Willkie's character. Willkie casually mentioned that he was not afraid to parachute from a hot air balloon. A fellow soldier hearing the remark bet Willkie $50 that he would not try such a feat. Willkie accepted the bet, saying later that he never expected his superiors to allow the foolhardy deed to take place, especially because Willkie had not used a parachute before. To Willkie's surprise, the commanding officer gave his approval, and so a balloon instructor put a parachute on Willkie's back, told him how to pull the rip-cord, and then took him up to between 1,500 and 2,000 feet. Willkie jumped, landed safely and collected the $50. Willkie told a friend many years later that he took the challenge because war was no place for cowards.

In the summer of 1918, Willkie was briefly shipped back to Camp Taylor, and then he spent three months at the Army installation in West Point, Kentucky. Then, in early September, Willkie's regiment was shipped to Long Island, N.Y., and after staying there for just five days, set sail for Europe on the British troopship Canada. The ship was small and the living quarters were crowded, but Willkie was ecstatic because his year and a half wait was finally over and he was headed for action at last. The sea voyage was routine, except for the time the troopship became separated from the destroyers escorting her. German U-boats were a real danger to Allied ships at the time, but the Canada survived this incident and the troops she was carrying were safely discharged at Glasgow, Scotland.

Overseas

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The stay in Glasgow was brief, and Willkie's regiment was soon sent by train to Winchester, southwest of London, to recuperate from the sea voyage. The next stop for the regiment was to be at the port of Southampton, on the southern coast of England. Train service, however, was interrupted by a railway strike, and the regiment was forced to march, with full packs, 25 miles a day until they reached their destination. During this march, Willkie demonstrated his high level of fitness and his strong work ethic by occasionally carrying the packs of enlisted men exhausted by the ordeal.

When the regiment reached Southampton, the men quickly boarded another troopship and crossed the English Channel without incident. The troops landed at the French port of Le Havre, where they saw battlefield their first battlefield casualties. From there, the regiment headed south by train to the French Army's Camp De Souge. Much to Willkie's dismay, the regiment received more training in French artillery tactics while at De Souge. Finally, the regiment received orders to proceed to the front lines, but the signing of the Armistice brought the Great War to an abrupt end, and the regiment never boarded the troop trains that had been summoned for them.

Dénouement

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Willkie spent three more months in France, spending most of the time at Camp Gennicarte. It was there that he put his legal training to use, defending soldiers who were court-martialed. Discipline was very hard to enforce following the Armistice, and Willkie had many cases to try. By all accounts, he won most of the cases he accepted, a record no doubt the result of his superior courtroom skills and his extensive knowledge of military law.

Willie left France on February 15, 1919, sailing home on the ship Antigone, landing at Newport News, Virginia. Willkie returned home not only frustrated at not reaching the fields of battle, but also disappointed by not being promoted to the rank of captain. But like his close encounter with combat, Willkie came very close to achieving this goal as well. He was recommended for the promotion, and although the recommendation was approved, the promotion did not materialize before Willkie was discharged from the Army on February 28. He was now to begin the next phase of his life, the legal career that would prepare him for his dramatic appearance upon the national political stage.

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