Introduction - "Detroit's Own" Polar Bear Memorial Association

What's New!

Things to do this Memorial Day weekend:

- Attend the Memorial Day Concert, Sunday May 25, 2008 at 2 p.m. in front of the Temple of Memories at White Chapel Cemetery, Troy, MI.

- Attend the Polar Bear Memorial Day Service, Monday May 26, 2008 at 11 a.m. in front of the Polar Bear Monument at White Chapel Cemetery, Troy, MI; click here for more information and a map.

- Visit Michigan's Own Military and Space Museum in Frankenmuth, MI; The museum honors the men and women who came from Michigan's farms, offices and factories to answer the summons to military service during America's six foreign wars; from the Spanish-American War to the Gulf War. Michigan's Own is unique in the United States in that it is the only repository devoted to the wartime experiences of one state's people. The museum holds over 400 exhibits, each devoted to a Michigan soldier, sailor, or airman.

White Chapel Cemetery is located at 621 W. Long Lake Rd., Troy, MI 48098, (248) 326-7670; click here for more information.

Michigan's Own Military and Space Museum is located at 1250 Weiss Street, Frankenmuth, MI 48734; (989) 652-8005; Hours: Mon-Sat 10 am - 5 pm, Sun 11 am - 5 pm; click here for more information.
"Triggering Intervention: Woodrow Wilson and the American Military Expeditions to Russia" - a research paper written by David M. Kudzia for his Senior Individualized Project at Kalamazoo College. The author, a History major and 2008 graduate, examines President Wilson's reasoning and motives for sending American troops to North Russia and Siberia in the summer of 1918.
"Stranglers of the Revolution" - a new blog that chronicles the events of 90 years ago, both small and large, that encompassed the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War.
"Michigan War Veterans Memorial" - photos and information about the Memorial, which was dedicated in 1939 and is located at the northeast corner of Woodward and State Fair Avenues in Detroit.
Dr. Roger Crownover, author of “The United States Intervention in North Russia - 1918, 1919: The Polar Bear Odyssey”, gave a lecture on April 16, 2008 at the Troy Museum and Historic Village. He spoke for an hour about the Polar Bears and the intervention in North Russia to members of the Troy Historical Society and members of the general public. The Historical Society made a video recording of his lecture and you can purchase a DVD copy of his talk for $25 by calling Cindy Stewart at (248) 524-1147.

Are you interested in visiting North Russia? Descendants of veterans of the U.S. Army's 167th Transportation Corps have contacted the Polar Bear Memorial Association to determine if there is a level of shared interest in a rail tour of North Russia in the Summer of 2009. If we can get enough participants, this railroad tour package would have an itinerary designed specifically for our group by GW Travel (Great Britain) through the Society of International Railway Travelers. Preliminary discussions are around an itinerary that would include at least a two day stay in both Moscow and St. Petersburg plus railway travel to Archangel and Murmansk, which are our two areas of interest in North Russia. Much more work needs to be done before an estimate of cost and timing can be given, but in the meantime, if you think you might possibly be interested in taking such a trip, without any obligation, please contact Mike Grobbel by e-mail.

U.S. Army Signal Corps photographers shot about 50 minutes of 16 mm black and white silent film documenting the activities of the "Polar Bears" in North Russia during the period of September 1918 to June 1919. Below is a 24 second long series of clips from the Signal Corps footage. More information, including how to purchase the entire 50 minutes of film, can be found here.

"Amputation by Pocketknife" - the story of Pvt. Charles R. Doe, Co. A, 310th Engineers.

Sgt. Fred W. Wolfe - Company K, 339th Infantry Regiment, photos and personal information.

"A Polar Bear in North Russia" - Pvt. Wm. Bryan Robbins, Company I, 339th Infantry Regiment; biographical information, letters, and photos presented in multiple postings on the genealogy blog written by his great-granddaughter, Miriam Robbins Midkiff.

The U.S. Army Reserve Command at Fort McPherson, GA has announced that the 1st Battalion, 339th Regiment headquartered in Fraser, MI is being deactivated and consolidated into the 1st Battalion, 334th Regiment as part of a larger reorganization plan. The 1-334th is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI and will be responsible for the former 1-339th detachments that remain based in Fraser, MI, Milwaukee, WI, Waukegan, IL and Richmond, IN. The 3-339th, which is headquartered in Neenah, WI, is unaffected by this reorganization. Additionally, the 2-339th designation is being reactivated to absorb existing units and will be headquartered at Fort McCoy, WI, as part of the 70th Division, 84th Training Command. While the local "Detroit's Own" connection has been lost as a result of this reorganization, the 339th Regiment will still have two active battalions and the Detroit area will still have an Army Reserve unit based in Fraser that can count on our support.

2007 marked the 200th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia. The BBC Russian Service in Moscow is currently producing a special series of programs in recognition of 200 years of sometimes turbulent relations between our two nations. Sergei Berets, a producer with BBC Russian Service Moscow Office, recently interviewed officers of the Polar Bear Memorial Association for a program in that series on the subject of American soldiers who fought the Red Army in North Russia. A transcription of that program has been posted on the BBC Russian.com web site. Titled "Polar Bear Expedition: Stranglers of the Revolution", it can be read here (Cyrillic Russian) or here (English translation via Alta Vista Babel Fish). [Another article in this series that mentions the Allied Intervention in Siberia can be read here (Cyrillic Russian) or here (English translation).]

"Detroit's Own" Polar Bears lapel pin and tee shirts are now available for purchase - view and order here. All proceeds benefit the Polar Bear Memorial Association.

Photos from the Fronts - 21st Century views of the Dvina River Front and the Railroad Front; courtesy of Alexey Suhanovsky of Arkhangel'sk, Russia. Mr. Suhanovsky is a publisher, journalist, military archaeologist and Red Army veteran who has an avid interest in the local aspects of the Russian Civil War. He has recently made several trips to the fronts where the Polar Bears and their Allied forces fought the Bolshevik Army in 1918 and 1919. Armed with old maps, a GPS unit, a metal detector and a camera, he has explored some of the old fortifications and he has graciously shared his photos with us.

"Vaga Dvina Junction" Map - A circa 1918 map (in English and with an interesting provenance) that shows the region encompassing the Dvina and Vaga River Fronts.

The 1920 book The History of The American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki, by Capt. Joel R. Moore, Lt. Harry H. Mead and Lt. Lewis E. Jahns, is now available in electronic form at Project Gutenberg. It has has been transcribed by Don Kostuch, the son of John Kostuch, who was a Mechanic in Company M of the 339th Infantry Regiment. From this page, you can select any of several formats to read and/or download the book for free (all but the ".txt" format include the original photos).

"The American Expedition to North Russia in 1918-1919 has been oddly neglected by professional historians, with the result that most US citizens, including even the best educated and well-read, have been unaware of its existence. Partly, this has been because it got underway in the closing weeks of the Great War (now officially called World War I), and like a side show at a circus where they are already striking the tent, it drew little attention.

"Besides that, there was the confusion and obscurity surrounding it with regard to its purpose, especially in Washington and among the American troops who were involved: they literally had no idea what they were being sent to do. Even President Woodrow Wilson, as will be seen, was in a spin of uncertainty as to whether he should or should not authorize the expedition, and the British leadership (for it was to be an Allied operation, including British and French soldiers, but with the British officers in all the top command positions) offered little clarification.

"Without further enlightenment, five thousand American doughboys found themselves, early in September of 1918, after a long, slow trip from England through the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean, disembarking at the Russian port of Archangel - and more than half of them no sooner ashore than they were, with astonishment, packed off to "the front" to fight "the Bolos" - which was to say units of the Soviet Red Army. The operation thus turned out to be, willy-nilly and right from the start, an invasion of Soviet territory."

Ernest M. Halliday - from the Introduction to his book When Hell Froze Over

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