Jack Smith Podcast

This podcast episode discusses the service of 2nd Lieutenant Arnold Hoke during World War I. Hoke served in the U.S. military and was stationed in various places, including the Mexican border, Iowa's National Guard, and France. After the war, Hoke was interviewed about his experiences, including being shelled by Germans. This is similar to the experiences of British soldier Edward Stewart. Both men shared similar tactics used by the enemy. Hoke's account is more factual, while Stewart expressed more emotion. It is important to learn from firsthand war experiences and honor the service of individuals like Hoke. Hello and welcome to my podcast. Today we'll be talking about 2nd Lieutenant Arnold Hoke and his service to our country during World War I. We will take a short listen to some clips from him and go over a brief biography of his life and how it connects and compares to other primary sources from the war. More commonly known by his full name Arnold Stephen Hoke, Arnold grew up in California and served in the U.S. military in the 42nd Infantry Division. Starting his service in 1916, he was first stationed on the Mexican border, then served Iowa's National Guard for some time and finished out the rest of his service as National Guard until 1922. He also served in more places for shorter amounts of time, including Texas, France, and Germany. It was only after World War I that Hoke received his highest rank as 2nd Lieutenant, which would have only been two years after his first date of service. Hoke after the war was interviewed on multiple occasions discussing his entire experience and accounts of the war. The clip we will be listening to will be Veteran Lieutenant Hoke telling us about his experience being shelled and under attack from Germans, which was more towards the end of his service over in France. Once we hear his account, we will compare it to other primary documents from their soldier with similar experiences from World War I. In the main street of that little town, the Germans, I think, had spotted us going in there and they opened up and they started to shell the town. You should have seen those Frenchmen disappear back down in their cellars and you should have seen me and my two men take up over that great big long hill and rejoin the company up on top. The darn Germans shelled me every foot of the way, all the way going back up that hill, but I never lost any men. Sure enough, that afternoon, that night, we were relieved and we started for the rear. As you can hear from this snippet, Hoke is standing in a street and is spotted by German opposition and is shelled upon. It is a similar experience to a British soldier that goes by the name of Edward Stewart. Stewart is a soldier who is shelled upon in the trenches and says this in a letter written by him. One morning, we were awakened by the most awful din. It seemed as though hell had broken loose. Shells were falling like summer rain. It seems like it is a common experience to be shelled by the enemy during the war. A difference that I noticed is that in their accounts that Stewart had more emotion attached to him being shelled upon and referred to it as the most awful time, while Hoke, his account is more purely factual and doesn't assert a good or bad connotation towards being shelled. Though both of these men originated from different countries, they share similar experiences with tactics which they attacked. It is very interesting to hear from the people who experienced war firsthand because we can learn from these individuals and honor their lives and the service that they made to their country. Thank you for tuning in today's short podcast. I hope you learned a thing or two about people's experience during World War I. Signing out, guys. Stay curious.