The Forgotten US Invasion of Russia

Comments · 1.1K

• PA

  @paulcooper3611 · 4 years ago

  I actually did grow up knowing something about the US invasion of Russia. My grandfather was one of the US army engineers who served with the Polar Bears. He told stories about the Americans assigned to unload the British supplies. The soldiers would pass the supplies from man to man until it was stored in a warehouse. When they got to the whisky rations for the British troops, they formed another line and every 4th bottle went to a basement where it was hoarded by the US troops. <br><br>He would also talk about being kept there for a year after the war ended. He said that, if the had been kept there another year, we kids would have had a Russian grandmother. At which point, Grandma would smack him on the arm.

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• PO

  @poshemuuu · 3 years ago

  Not only Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk. In the city museum of the city of Medvezhegorsk (on the northern shore of Lake Onega) there is a photo of a wooden train station with an American flag above it. American soldiers raised their flag over the station building and took pictures under it. The station was built in 1916 and in 1919 it was practically new. By the way, the building itself has been preserved unchanged, which is very rare.

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• JA

  @jackmatthews939 · 4 years ago

  American, British, Canadian, Australian &amp; Japanese troops all fought in the Russian Civil war - on the Anti Communist side :)

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• RO

  @ronaldmccomb8301 · 4 years ago

  Yet another reason why Woodrow Wilson is one of the worst presidents ever.

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• JS

  @jsonitsac · 4 years ago

  You should also do one on the Japanese intervention in Siberia in the Russian Civil War. The Japanese sent more soldiers to intervene in Siberia than the rest of the Allies combined, was an interesting follow up to the Russo-Japanese War and an important but not well known contributor to World War II in the Pacific.

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• FR

  @frankmueller2781 · 4 years ago (edited)

  Russian Civil War is a favorite period of study for me. It&apos;s amazing to me how few Americans know that U.S. troops invaded Russia in 1918-19, yet it&apos;s &nbsp;common knowledge to every Russian I&apos;ve ever met.

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• CO

  @collind7223 · 4 years ago

  Love the coverage of this. As someone who served in the 31st infantry regiment as a polar bear (modern day) its not common knowledge the time spent in Russia. The unit was first created there, sent to China, the Philippines and eventually Korea before ever being stationed in the US. The unit motto was Pro Patria ( for the father land in latin). The 1st 2nd and 3rd battalions to my knowledge were all retired after being completely overrun during various battles (Bataan and Tet offensive etc) Due to the lost story and the missing units the 4th battalion unofficial motto is &quot;Polar bears are real&quot;. Thanks Simon really enjoyed this.

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• LE

  @LeftToWrite006 · 4 years ago

  Americans have all but forgotten about this (even back during Reagan&apos;s time it was barely remembered). But the Russians never forgot it.

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• JO

  @joshuapeterson2232 · 4 years ago

  Cool to finally hear a story about this. My Great Grandpa came from Greece and to get his citizenship he joined the army. He had some relatives in Michigan. So that’s where he had residence at. So when it was time to ship out the war ended. But because he was “from Michigan” he was one of the men sent to Russia. He was from the Mediterranean lol. So he did not have a good time in the insane cold. He saw combat like was talked about in the video. He also said one of the worst things that was done is both sides would pump boiling water at each other. Freezing the enemies in their trenches. Same happened to the Americans as well. It was hell. But he made it back and lived a long great life. My grandpa was the youngest of 8. So I never got to meet my great grandpa. But my grandpa told me a lot of his stories.

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• RO

  @RoSearch1911 · 4 years ago

  One interesting fact about this battle is that the American expeditionary troops were armed with American made mosin-nagant rifles. These were originally purchased by the Czar&apos;s government to supplement their own domestic production which could not keep up with war demand but were not able to be delivered. The American made mosins were made by Westinghouse and Remington. They were very unpopular with American soldiers who much preferred Springfield rifles. The thought process was that common ammunition with both red and white Russians would simplify logistics.

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• TH

  @theawesomeman9821 · 4 years ago

  Knew the Americans and Soviets were very close to fighting conventionally during the Cold War but didn&apos;t know they actually fought during WWI.

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• DA

  @dalejones5970 · 1 year ago

  From 1918 to 1920, my father, Lt William C Jones of the Railway Service served in Vladavostok and other places in Siberia. I have his diary and a large collection of photographs that he took.

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