Book by John House tells story of American Expeditionary Force

There are important lessons to be learned from the tale John House tells in his new book, “Wolfhounds and Polar Bears: The American Expeditionary Force in Siberia, 1918-1920.”

“On any mission, everybody involved needs to understand what is supposed to happen,” said House, a retired Army colonel who lives in Midland. “There has got to be a clear objective. Understanding the situation in the host country before deciding or executing a decision to intervene is important to ensure that resources match the task.”

And that did not happen in this instance.

“It kind of turned into a mess,” he said.

House writes that what happened in Siberia “provides an example of the problems that can be encountered when military forces are used to achieve limited objectives.”

The author points out that in any mission with several allies, there must be a central authority.

The 62-year-old House said the lessons of the American experience in Siberia almost 100 years ago have not been learned since similar military mistakes have been made since.

House’s book was published this year by the University of Alabama Press and is available online from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

It is the second book for House, whose book “Why War? Why An Army?” was published in 2008. In that book, House analyzed the use of war and the reason it remains a fixture in human interactions.

Reviews of his latest effort appear on the Barnes & Noble website.

Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, says House “displays a breadth of knowledge about the United States Involvement in Siberia that is nothing short of phenomenal.”

Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, former commanding general at Fort Benning, writes in a review that “House’s clear understanding and detailed written explanation of events make history spring to life and allows the reader to better understand the important themes in the book.”

Wojdakowski calls the mission about which House writes a “virtually unknown U.S. military operation.”

“It is certainly something forgotten by most people,” said House, who served 26 years in the military, being stationed in Germany and South Korea, as well, as in Southwest Asia during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

In fact, House did not know about it until he was searching for a topic for a master’s degree thesis. Professor Larry Yates of the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth helped House locate valuable information on microfilm.

House wrote the thesis in 1986, and received his master’s degree from the University of Kansas, one of four he has earned, but it took awhile longer for the graduate of Columbus High School and Auburn University to get around making it into a book.

He called the work a “labor of love.”

“I really enjoyed writing it,” House said.

He remarked that during the writing, he got plenty of support and assistance from his wife of 42 years Marilyn, who did a lot of typing. The couple has four daughters.

A longtime lover of history, House, who teaches online courses in public administration for Columbus State University, Walden University and Northcentral University, spent years doing research. He was able to get personal accounts of soldiers involved in the action, some of those were discovered at Fort Benning.

“I was surprised by how much I was able to find and very pleased,” House said.

He said what was found at Fort Benning was material “nobody else has studied.”

House writes the mission originated with President Woodrow Wilson, who decided to intervene in Siberia in order to protect allied wartime and business interests, part of which was accomplished by protecting and keeping open the Trans-Siberian Railroad, which House describes in the book as “the critical transportation infrastructure system that allowed the consistent movement of people and goods year-round.”

House said Secretary of War Newton D. Baker ordered Maj. Gen. William S. Graves to assume command of the American Expeditionary Force. He did so at a meeting in the Kansas City train station and Baker’s last instructions to Graves were, “Watch your step; you will be walking on eggs loaded with dynamite. God bless you and goodbye.”

Some 8,000 U.S. soldiers from the Philippines and California were to assist Czechoslovakian troops loyal to the allies escape Russia to reinforce the World War I Western Front, protect supplies furnished to Russia by the allies, and assist the Russian people in their struggle for self government. Members of the 27th Infantry Regiment were the “Wolfhounds” while those from the 31st Infantry Regiment were the “Polar Bears.”

“The hope was that the country would be stabilized,” House said.

House writes that Great Britain, France, Japan, China and Canada furnished troops and diplomatic missions, however, the allies did not agree as to what their representatives and military forces were to do. Allied bickering and dishonesty doomed the ability of the American Expeditionary Force to complete its mission.

At the time, the Russian Civil War was in progress. Graves was determined to follow his instructions and not to take sides in the civil war but most of the allies thought otherwise.

In his research, House found material at places such as the University of Georgia, University of Minnesota, Duke University and Stanford University. House said librarians at CSU were a huge help as they honored numerous interlibrary loan requests for materials.

In the book, he describes in great detail about strategies, battles and torture that was involved during campaign. Maps help the reader.

Asked who would like his book, House replied, “anyone with an interest in U.S. military history.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Book by John House tells story of American Expeditionary Force."