HEAVEN, HELL OR HOBOKEN!

Commemorative medal of World War I battle, Chateau Thierry.
Commemorative medal of World War I battle, Chateau Thierry.

A small commemoration medal: Chateau Thierry. Pershing’s Prediction. Hell Heaven or Hoboken by Christmas. Nov. 11, 1918.

Issued sometime after the Armistice and probably not later than 1925, this medal is a reminder of The Great War and Hoboken’s role as the place where troops went to Europe and most returned to when peace came. The centennial of the start of World War I has come. It is saddening to remember the awful cost of that war in lives and the aftermath of turmoil that led to an even larger war. It changed America, it certainly changed Hoboken.

The medal was privately minted and likely for a veterans group, little is known about its origin. Objects 2008.001.0015