One hundred years ago, Gerhard Hansen, at age 27, joined thousands of other American boys who sailed in 1918 from New York to France to fight with the American Expeditionary Forces under General Pershing in World War I, the so-called Great War. As a newly minted 1st Lieutenant and smachine gun instructor, he fought and saw action in the Ypres, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne offensives in 1918. In 2016, when author Paul Hansen discovered his father's small leather bound diary of 1918, which documents the intimate story of a young officer facing the challenges of war in a foreign land, he knew this story needed to be told. His father's service to his country provides an inspiring story of perseverance, courage, and commitment, as relevant and valuable today as a century ago. Readers will be moved and inspired.