Why would America's wealthy sons of privilege put aside education, employment, and even their lives to serve in a war that was not their own?...  

​

The Harvard Section - The History of American Field Service Section Three Volume One 1914-1915 is the first of a two-volume history of the first American volunteer ambulance unit that was attached directly to the French army during World War One.  It tells the fascinating and unsung story of a great philanthropic effort to aid France in her war with Germany, with the creation of a vast military hospital financed entirely by private American donations, whose sole purpose was to treat wounded French soldiers.  Formed in the very first days of World War One, years before America's official entry into the war, the Ambulance of the American Hospital of Paris was a testament to America's greatness and compassion.  The hospital and its subsequent ambulance service were the physical embodiment of America's love and friendship with France.  The opportunity that the hospital and its concomitant ambulance service attracted the attention of wealthy adventurous Americans, who possessed the courage as well as the financial resources that allowed them to set aside their personal ambitions and travel to France at their own expense and afford to volunteer in a cause that they felt was right and just.

 

The Harvard Section, so called due to the fact that so many of its members were Harvard alumni, was one of these pioneering sections.  Hand-picked and selected based upon their moral character and bravery, this small group of American volunteers at the controls of their rugged Model T Fords was the vanguard of what would eventually become a vast organization, numbering over 2000 American volunteers that saw service at every sector of the French Front, from the trench of Verdun to the windswept mountains of Macedonia in the years prior to America's official entry into World War One.  

 

Comprised of hundreds of never-before-seen and unpublished personal photographs, letters, and diaries, The Harvard Section provides a unique and personal insight into the lives of these "gentlemen volunteers" but also attempts to address the question Why?  Why would America's wealthy sons of privilege put aside education, employment, and even their lives to serve in a war that was not their own?