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On the 28th June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated, and this was just hours after they escaped another assassination attempt. Gavrilo Princip is immediately arrested for the shooting, and Nedjelko Cabrinovic is caught fleeing after the bomb attempt. With the assassination this sparked the flame that would lead to war and drew Europe toward World War I. -
Before the war, she made a connection through a friend who got her into nursing. While still in training, Franklin D. Roosevelt's sister would come into town looking for any nurses to recruit for the war. Alice L. Duffield decided to do her part, so she did. While she was doing her part, she would find herself assigned to a pneumonia ward. Which meant all of the patients were African-American. She loved what she did, though during the war, and would keep working in the nursing field. -
On 22nd April 1915, at 5 p.m. German special troops would release asphyxiating gas from cylinders embedded in the ground. This gas would smother the Allied line at the northern end of the Ypres Salient, causing panic and a struggle to survive a new form of weapon. -
On the 15th September 1916, the first tanks would go into combat. Over 150 were built. These tanks were meant to go into battle on the Somme. After this, 8 more tanks would be shipped out. After a while, these tanks would be upgraded and become much better than they are now. -
While working in the field, she would find it strange how she a white nurse, was assigned to take care of African American troops. Though nonetheless she loved her job, are showed much compassion for what she did. One time, she got so emotional over a dying patient, and another nurse reprimanded her for it. “Now, listen here. People are born here, and they die here. We can’t do anything about it. If you spend your life crying about everybody that dies, you’ll never get any work done”. -
While serving, Alice had to go through the flu pandemic of 1918, which was vicious during this time; people were getting sick to a deadly degree. During her daily shift, she would commonly see people dying almost every time. With how many people were dying, it got really out of hand. Nurses could barely count how many died. Alice states, “We didn’t pay any attention…we didn’t have time! It was published in the paper every day, who died.” -
During the war, Alice L. Duffield was one of the first nurses trained and was also given the position of captain during WWI. She treated people and assisted with numerous tasks during the war. She was also commissioned right after graduating from school. While she was serving, she would treat the wounds of African-American troops during the influenza epidemic of 1918. After her service in an interview, she would say she had a great time serving in the war. -
On Nov. 11, 1918, after more than four years of horrific fighting, there would be the loss of millions of lives, the guns all fell silent on the western front, although fighting was continuing elsewhere, the armistice between Germany and the Allies was the first step to ending WWI. The reaction around the world was mixed, with people celebrating, feeling relief, disbelief, and a profound sense of loss. -
On 28th June 1919, when the defeated German delegates signed the peace treaty in the Hall of Mirrors, in the same place where Germany had previously proclaimed its empire. The First World War was over. A Louis XV bureau had been placed in the center of the hall beneath the emblematic painting of Louis XIV, titled "The King governs by himself." The session lasted 50 minutes. -
After the war, she would go on to be married three times, and she states that she met all her husbands in hospitals. At the time, women weren’t allowed to be married and be a part of the nurse corps, so after three years of service. She would go on to marry her first husband. They didn't last, so she went back to nursing. After this, she would live a full life, living to be 102 years old and receive a certificate for being the oldest living veteran in Anderson County.