From August 1914 to November 1918, the Great War was fought. There are many theories as to why the U.S. entered WWI. Some blame the United States in their quest for expansion but there are many other factors that played a part in the war. European nations signed secret treaties, which created alliances with other nations. Some were honored while some were not.
Competition to create enormous empires caused conflict and lead to the construction of huge armies to help acquire these empires. After setting up these armies, there was much need in putting these militaries to use. Many countries fought in WWI including Russia, France, England, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary.
By 1917 the Americans had enough. After the German attacks of allied ships, and the sinking of the Lusitania with 128 Americans on board, the U.S. could not stay out of the conflict.
Barney F. Skaya was a logger from the town of McMillian (Marathon County), Wisconsin. McMillian is a small village about six miles northeast of Marshfield. Before McMillian, the founder of the village originally operated a sawmill. By the time Barney Skaya joined the U.S. Army in WWI, the country around McMillian was developed into farmland.
Skaya was ordered to report to the 158th Battery Depot at Fort Sherman, Ohio. The Army drafted him during the closing years of WWI. This was the general military structure that he trained in. As described in OldMagazineArticles.com, "The Doughboys were trained in the division, which was our typical combat unit. In the American Army it was composed of about one thousand officers and twenty-seven thousand men. Training and sorting organizations of about ten thousand men, known as Depot Brigades, were also utilized, but as far as possible, the new recruits were put almost immediately into the divisions which were the organizations in which they would go into action."
The Influenza pandemic affected between 20 to 40 million people. Influenza, also known as "the Spanish Flu", is transmitted by air and affects birds and mammals, which then spreads to humans. The symptoms of the disease are chills, fever, muscle pain, severe headaches and many more. Because there was no cure for influenza there was no way to treat it. There was nothing they could do but hope their body could somehow fight the virus.
On Friday, October 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Skaya received a heart-breaking message stating that their son, Barney past away from Influenza followed by pneumonia. He was twenty-two years of age when he passed away at the base hospital at Camp Sherman, Ohio, where he was training. Barney Skaya was buried with military honors, and a firing squad of eight State Military guards from Marshfield that carried out the military ritual. Barney Frank Skaya will be remembered as of the strong, bold, men who served for their country in the Great War.
LAUREN STOIBER
East Junior High School
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