Historical Context
In fulfillment of Wilson’s orders, only one US company was dispatched to the Russian front, the 85th Infantry Division of the Army, based out of Camp Custer, Michigan. In total, 5,500 soldiers were dispatched, with roughly 75% being of Michigan origin. Linking up with an engineering division and an ambulatory corps, the troops were tasked with defending allied stockpiles meant for the war effort, and to prevent those supplies from falling into Bolshevik or Axis hands. The 85th Infantry Division is significant in this context because it was the first and only US military intervention into the Russian Revolution and resulting civil war. By the end of the deployment, over 200 Michiganders in the 85th lost their lives, many of them being buried and left in Russia for almost two decades until their remains could be repatriated. 30 soldiers remains are still buried in Russia. This mission became known as the Polar Bear Expedition.
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