By Sterling McGinn
Longtime Newberry resident and retired Newberry High School history teacher, Randall Griffis, has placed his years of research on Tahquamenon Country WWI soldiers and their families into book form.
Griffis, a U.S. Air Force Veteran, has a devoted interest in military history—especially of those who were killed while serving in the U. S. Armed Forces in WWI.
“I wanted to preserve the history of these people—they didn’t have the opportunity to come home and tell their stories—their history is being lost, and I wanted to preserve the stories for the future,” Griffis said.
Griffis grew up in western Colorado and served in the U. S. Air Force as in Intelligence Specialist and was deployed with the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Griffis and his wife, Linda, have two grown sons. He taught high school in Newberry for 23 years before retiring in 2021.
Often incorporating local history into his lessons in the classroom, his research led to a vast collection of information. His research continued after he stopped teaching.
His new book, “Where Youth and Laughter Go, The Tahquamenon County and World War I,” shares detailed experiences of local soldiers like Hugh Allan MacInnes, who was a native son of Newberry killed in WWI. The American Legion Post 74 of Newberry is named in his honor. There are also stories of local Gold Star Mothers and of two war brides who left France to live in the Upper Peninsula.
Griffis said his research included searching through many records that have been digitized; however, he noted that there are still a good majority of records not digitized.
“A lot of the records of the battlefields are not available—I had to take accounts from others on the battlefield and try to recreate what actually happened,” he said.
He also searched the Newberry News archives and the library in Munising.
Additional research took place on two separate visits to the National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri, where Griffis reviewed burial case files. The National Archives in St. Louis is home to all records of anyone who died or was killed during the war.
Much of the inspiration for writing the books comes from Griffis’ visits to the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, and from a trip with five of his students as representatives of the United States at Amiens 100, which was a commemoration of the centennial of the Battle of Amiens in France.
It was on this trip that Griffis and his students visited many important sites from WWI.
Many of the photos used in the book are from collections of the National Archives, however, there are several photos from the Sterling McGinn photo collection throughout the book. Some illustrations in the book are from the Forest History Society in North Carolina. The cover art is from a painting depicting WWI soldiers used with permission from the Smithsonian Institution.
Anyone interested in purchasing a book can buy one locally at the Luce Moose Mercantile on Newberry Avenue, next to Seder’s Pizza, or online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
