INTRODUCTION | CEREMONIES & EVENTS | HONOR ROLL | MILITARY DECORATIONS | ENGAGEMENTS

"POLAR BEAR" STORIES | ARTICLES & REF. INFO. | PHOTO ALBUM | MORE LINKS | BOOKS | GUESTBOOK

The "Detroit's Own" Polar Bear Memorial Association is dedicated to honoring and maintaining the memory of the 339th Infantry Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the 310th Engineers, the 337th Ambulance Co. and the 337th Field Hospital of the U.S. Army's 85th Division. These men, officially designated the American North Russian Expeditionary Force and also known as "Detroit's Own" and "Polar Bears", were sent by President Wilson to North Russia where they fought the Bolshevik Red Army from September 1918 through June 1919.

Please read and sign our Guestbook before you leave!

What's New!

• Monday, May 25, 2009 - Polar Bear Memorial Day Ceremony and Film Screenings at White Chapel Cemetery
  Our thanks go out to all who attended the Memorial Day Ceremony and the film screenings that followed. We counted 500 attendees at the Ceremony, which was double the number from last year and making it probably the largest attendance for a Polar Bear Memorial Day Ceremony in more than 30 years. Special thanks go to the management and staff of White Chapel Cemetery for all of their efforts that made this day such a success.

• Saturday, June 6, 2009 - the State Theater in Bay City will host the Bay City-Saginaw premiere of Pamela Peak's new documentary, "Voices of a Never Ending Dawn". The program will begin at 6:00 PM and admission is $5.00 per person ($4.00 for Veterans). The State Theater is located at 913 Washington Ave, Bay City, MI 48708 [interactive map]. This event will also include a question and answer session with producer/director Pamela Peak, military historian Stan Bozich, and Saginaw actor Alex Alexandrou who portrays herioc Bay City soldier Sgt. Silver K. Parrish in the film.

• Sunday, June 14, 2009 - White Chapel Cemetery hosts a special screening of Pamela Peak's new documentary, "Voices of a Never Ending Dawn" for Military Veterans. The program will begin at 2:00 PM in the Temple of Memories at White Chapel Cemetery [interactive map]. Contrary to any reports you may have read, there is no charge to attend this screening.

• "Voices of a Never Ending Dawn" - visit the official web site for Pamela Peak's documentary about the Polar Bears that is now being premiered for Michigan audiences. Click here for some "behind-the-scenes" photos and information.

• The Canadian War Records Office oversaw the production of motion picture reports from the field that documented the Canadian contribution to the war effort not only on the Western Front but also in North Russia. Canada's National Film Board has archived the Canadian Expeditionary Force WW I film footage and has made it available for viewing on-line at their "Images of a Forgotten War" web site. Their North Russia footage totals more than 40 minutes and is titled "With General Ironside's Forces in North Russia". It contains embedded scene titles and is presented in four parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

• Look for "Detroit's Polar Bear Regiment" on your Public Television station - Beginning September 3, 2008, Michigan Public Media began broadcasting "Michigan Minutes," 90-second video shorts about interesting events in Michigan history. Watch for videos on the Polar Bear Brigade, the House of David baseball team, and the first heart machine. Each video will air on Flint's WFUM-TV and then periodically on other Michigan public television stations.

• "Major William H. Henry, 310th Eng. Medical Detachment" - Biographical sketch of William H. Henry, M.D., 1872-1963, including photos and citation.

• "ARCTIC CIRCLE by Steam 2009" - During the period of June 13 through 26, 2009, the Society of International Railway Travelers will be conducting a steam railway excursion in Russia that will include stops in Archangel, Murmansk, Obozerskaya, Vologda as well as Moscow and St. Petersburg. The train will depart Moscow on June 14th and will be pulled by Europe’s largest operating steam locomotive. Travelers will make their home aboard their own private sleeping car for the next thirteen days. Noted author Paul Theroux will be the onboard lecturer. Click here to request a PDF of the "Arctic Circle by Steam 2009" itinerary and additional information from the Society of International Railway Travelers.

• "Michigan War Veterans Memorial" - photos and information about the Memorial, which was dedicated in 1939 and is located at the northeast corner of Woodward and State Fair Avenues in Detroit.

• "Detroit's Own" Polar Bears lapel pin and tee shirts are available for purchase - view and order here. All proceeds benefit the Polar Bear Memorial Association.

• Photos from the Fronts - 21st Century views of the Dvina River Front and the Railroad Front; courtesy of Alexey Suhanovsky of Arkhangel'sk, Russia. Mr. Suhanovsky is a publisher, journalist, military archaeologist and Red Army veteran who has an avid interest in the local aspects of the Russian Civil War. He has recently made several trips to the fronts where the Polar Bears and their Allied forces fought the Bolshevik Army in 1918 and 1919. Armed with old maps, a GPS unit, a metal detector and a camera, he has explored some of the old fortifications and he has graciously shared his photos with us.

• "Vaga Dvina Junction" Map - A circa 1918 map (in English and with an interesting provenance) that shows the region encompassing the Dvina and Vaga River Fronts.

• The 1920 book The History of The American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki, by Capt. Joel R. Moore, Lt. Harry H. Mead and Lt. Lewis E. Jahns, is now available in electronic form at Project Gutenberg. It has has been transcribed by Don Kostuch, the son of John Kostuch, who was a Mechanic in Company M of the 339th Infantry Regiment. From this page, you can select any of several formats to read and/or download the book for free (all but the ".txt" format include the original photos).

"The American Expedition to North Russia in 1918-1919 has been oddly neglected by professional historians, with the result that most US citizens, including even the best educated and well-read, have been unaware of its existence. Partly, this has been because it got underway in the closing weeks of the Great War (now officially called World War I), and like a side show at a circus where they are already striking the tent, it drew little attention.

"Besides that, there was the confusion and obscurity surrounding it with regard to its purpose, especially in Washington and among the American troops who were involved: they literally had no idea what they were being sent to do. Even President Woodrow Wilson, as will be seen, was in a spin of uncertainty as to whether he should or should not authorize the expedition, and the British leadership (for it was to be an Allied operation, including British and French soldiers, but with the British officers in all the top command positions) offered little clarification.

"Without further enlightenment, five thousand American doughboys found themselves, early in September of 1918, after a long, slow trip from England through the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean, disembarking at the Russian port of Archangel - and more than half of them no sooner ashore than they were, with astonishment, packed off to "the front" to fight "the Bolos" - which was to say units of the Soviet Red Army. The operation thus turned out to be, willy-nilly and right from the start, an invasion of Soviet territory."

Ernest M. Halliday - from the Introduction to his book When Hell Froze Over