Writing on the Wall Wrong This Time

I was walking down the main hallway at Truman Medical Center, where there is a lengthy historical time line on the wall. I was there to visit a church member in the hospital but as I walked along the way, I did a double take, stopped, and went back to this section.


Excuse me? How exactly did the U.S. enter World War 1 in 1916? In 1916, we were still neutral and President Woodrow Wilson was campaigning for a second term on the promise that he'd keep us out of the war. He got re-elected in November of that year, immediately reversed course, pushing hard for American involvement in the war and a seat at the negotiating table after the war. We broke off official relations with Germany in February, 1917 and declared war in April of 1917. The first American troops got to France in June, 1917, and didn't go to the front lines until October of that year.