Cantigny

For three years the war had devoured Europe. Empires had collapsed into trenches stretching from the North Sea to the Alps.
The American Expeditionary Forces had arrived in France, but many doubted they could fight.
At a small farming village called Cantigny, the test began.
Before dawn, American artillery erupted across the German lines. The 1st Infantry Division moved forward through smoke and shattered earth, advancing into a village reduced to rubble by weeks of bombardment.
Machine guns cut through the streets.
German counterattacks surged from hidden trenches.
Artillery fell without pause.
But the Americans held.
For three days the German army tried to retake Cantigny.
Three days of shellfire, gas, and assault.
The line did not break.
When the smoke cleared, the first American offensive of the war had succeeded.
A small village on a French hillside had delivered a message to the entire front.
America was no longer preparing for war.
America was in it.