27. Setting the Stage For a Hero
Marcelino Serna’s moment to shine as a hero came during the run-up to America’s moment to shine in the Great War: the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. By 1918, America’s allies, the Entente Powers of Britain and France, were exhausted by years of ceaseless bloodshed. The British were nearly bankrupt, while the French were bankrupt and demoralized, their army had recently staged a widespread mutiny after one bungled offensive too many. Fresh American troops, full of fight and not yet worn out and dispirited by the tragedy of trench warfare, were to tip the balance in the Entente’s favor.
Serna’s heroics began when his unit was ordered to move towards the Meuse River and Argonne Forrest in northeastern France. It was an opening move, preparatory to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which became the largest offensive in US military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers. As a preliminary, the Americans had to straighten out a salient – a massive engagement in its own right, involving 550,000 US and 110,000 French soldiers, known as the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.