Walking tour: Over There – Milwaukee and the Great War

On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the war against Germany that had been raging in Europe since 1914. During the Great War, over 122,000 Wisconsinites served their country in all branches of the military, including “over there” in France and at training camps across America. They were soldiers, aviators, nurses, ambulance drivers, doctors, and engineers. Forest Home Cemetery is the final resting place of over one hundred veterans of World War I, including pioneering American aviator General Billy Mitchell, members of the famous 32nd Red Arrow Division, and a number of U.S. Army “Polar Bears” who served in northern Russia.

GET TICKETS NOW 

Tour includes (subject to change):

• Gustav Stearns, Lutheran minister, Chaplain of the U.S. Army 32nd Red Arrow Division
• Howard Lord Morehouse, 32nd Red Arrow Division
• Alice Miller Chester and William Merrill Chester, drivers with the American Fund for French Wounded
• Billy Mitchell, U.S. Air Service
• John Lendrum Mitchell, Jr., U.S. Air Service
• Milton J. Carpenter, U.S. Army 339th infantry, the “Polar Bears”
• Allen Sivyer, Base Hospital 22, France
• Edward Rand Richter, U.S. Air Service
• Lois Alicia West, Army nurse, Camp Grant, Illinois
• William O. Nimmer, Trench Mortar Battalion, U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps

ABOUT YOUR GUIDE

Tour guide Marguerite Helmers has spent over twenty years researching how World War I was recorded in literature and visual arts. She is an emeritus professor from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and served as a member of the Wisconsin World War I Centennial Commission.

IMPORTANT INFO

• This 1.5-mile walking tour moves at a brisk pace over uneven cemetery roads and grounds. See tour route below. Please wear comfortable footwear and watch your step! Our tour guides have a lot to share and are on a tight timeline, so please try to stick together.
• This tour will run rain or shine and will only be canceled in the event of a dangerous weather event. Tickets are non-refundable.
• Please arrive about 10 minutes before your tour. Meet under the canopy outside Halls of History (next to the main office inside the Lincoln Avenue entrance).
• Parking is free and available throughout the cemetery; however, the spots in front of the office are reserved for cemetery business Monday–Friday, 8 am–4:30 pm and 10 am–3 pm Saturday. There is ample parking around the chapel, in front of and to the side of Halls of History. Sundays you may park wherever you like.
• After your tour, please take a moment to review us on Google reviews or TripAdvisor.
• Proceeds from all tours and events help preserve and enhance the historical and natural elements of the cemetery.