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	Podcast:		Local Features by WXPR
	Episode:		Back in 1915, Rhinelander Resident Elwood Smith Couldn't Wait to Fight
	Category:		Government & Organizations
	Duration:		00:03:00
	Publish Date:		2018-05-25 07:00:00
	Description:		Every Friday, we turn back the clock on Morning Edition with local historian Gary Entz to find out what life in the Northwoods used to be like. This is part of a new initiative by WXPR to tell the history and culture of northern Wisconsin. Issues of immigration, military conflicts overseas, and how we honor veterans are current topics of political debate, but this is nothing new. Consider the case of Rhinelander resident Elwood Smith. Combat in what later came to be known as World War I began in August 1914. There was little public support for American entry into the conflict, and the federal government tried to maintain a strict policy of neutrality. However, many young men felt they couldn’t wait for their own military to join the fight, so they crossed the border to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force. It is estimated that 40,000 Americans went to war in this way. Elwood Smith, a graduate of Rhinelander High School, was one of these young men. Smith was entering his first year of
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