Danish Doughboys: Danish American Soldiers in the US Army and Navy in World War I

Authors

Bjarne S. Bendtsen

Keywords

Danish American, soldier, World War I, monument

Abstract

In the park justbelow Marselisborg Castle in Aarhus-the Queen's preferred summer residence-stands the official Danish monument for Danes killed in World War I. It is a beautiful and solemn monument, placed in a scenic setting in the park that stretches from the small castle down to the Bay of Aarhus, with a view of Mols and Helgenaes in the distance. But wasn't Denmark neutral in that war, you may ask? Why, then, a monument for the fallen in a war that the country did not participate in? It is a rather complicated story, which this article outlines by showing the connection between the approximately thirty thousand Danes and Danish Americans fighting in the American Army and Navy during World War I and the old country and its monument to the casualties in the war.

Recommended Citation

Bendtsen, Bjarne S. (2020) "Danish Doughboys: Danish American Soldiers in the US Army and Navy in World War I," The Bridge: Vol. 43: No. 2, Article 10.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge/vol43/iss2/10