The Doughboy Foundation is proud to bring you our exclusive On-Demand Video experience of The Inaugural WWI Symposium held at the National Press Club on September 12, 2025.  

Six distinguished speakers lectured on a variety of WWI topics at the Inaugural World War I Symposium at The National Press Club on September 12, 2025.  Digging into intriguing aspects of the American experience in World War I and show how echoes of the Great War are still being heard in the United States a century later.  The event included a full day of lectures on The Voices from the Great War from the award-winning authors and presenters.

Each presented and lectured on their extensive WWI research findings; from the disappearance of the U.S.S. Cyclops to baseball during the Great War to the duty of the U.S. Army Signal Pigeon Service!  The audience also enjoyed hearing about the music and bands of WWI along with a presentation and demonstration of interactive learning apps and modern digital platforms powered by AI technology designed for educators and enthusiasts to teach future generations about the Great War.

The Symposium wrapped up with a short walk across the street to the National World War I Memorial, where the attendees watched Daily Taps, followed by a wreath laying ceremony, and a brief history of "A Soldier's Journey" sculpture.

★ Meet Our Six Distinguished Speakers ★

*Mitchell Yockelson

 Forty-Seven Days: How Pershing's Warriors Came of Age to Defeat the   German Army in World War I

*Marvin W. Barrash

  The Mysterious Disappearance of the U. S. S. Cyclops

*Theo Mayer

  WWI Education Through Technology

*Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., PhD 

  Feathers of Honor: U.S. Army Signal Corps Pigeon Service, 1917 – 1918

*Jim Leeke

  From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War

*Jari Villanueva

  Bands of World War I