Occupation Duty
in Coblenz

Appearing on the front page of The Stars & Stripes newspaper during the closing days of 1918 was this historic column covering the arrival of the American Third Army in Koblenz, Germany to begin their occupation duty:

“On the afternoon of December 8, 1918, the troops of the Third American Army entered Koblenz. This was the goal of the occupation. The Yankees had reached the Rhine.”

“Probably never in all its stressful history did enemy troops enter it so in quite the matter-of-fact manner which marked the American entry last Sunday. There was no band. There were no colors. ‘We’re just going in sort of casual like,’ one of our generals had said the day before, and he was right.”

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