By June 1917, there were 14,000 U.S. soldiers in France, and by May of the next year there were one million American troops.
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) did not fully participate at the front until September 1918, when the 1st American Army entered the battle of Saint-Mihiel salient. Pershing wanted an American force that could operate independently of the other Allies, but his vision could not be realized until adequately trained troops with sufficient supplies reached Europe. Training schools in America sent their best men to the front, and Pershing also established facilities in France to train new arrivals for combat. So many villages located in the south of Meuse were places for training of the new recruits.
THE DOUGHBOYS IN MEUSE
