World War I
The outbreak of World War I saw a resurrection of the old spirit of the 69th. Doubled in size by new War Department regulations, its ranks were filled with Irish-Americans and New Yorkers detailed from other regiments, and it was sent over to France in October 1917 as part of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division of the American Expeditionary Force. All National Guard regiments received new "100 series" regimental numbers at that time. The 69th was renumbered the 165th Infantry Regiment, but retained its Irish symbolism and spirit, and every member since then has been designated an honorary Irishman. As Father Duffy described non-Irish who join the regiment, "They are Irish by adoption, Irish by association, or Irish by conviction".
Read more about this topic: 69th Infantry Regiment (New York)
Famous quotes containing the words war i, world and/or war:
“Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“War is thus divine in itself, since it is a law of the world. War is divine through its consequences of a supernatural nature which are as much general as particular.... War is divine in the mysterious glory that surrounds it and in the no less inexplicable attraction that draws us to it.... War is divine by the manner in which it breaks out.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)