Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
FORTY & EIGHT
FORTY & EIGHT. The titles and symbols of the Forty & Eight reflect its origins IN WORLD WAR I. Americans were transported to the battle front on French trains within boxcars stenciled with a “40/8”, signifying its capacity to hold either forty men or eight horses. This uncomfortable mode of transportation was familiar to all who fought in the trenches; a common small misery among American soldiers who thereafter found “40/8” a lighthearted symbol of the deeper service, sacrifice and unspoken horrors of war.
The Forty & Eight was founded in 1920 by American veterans returning from France. Originally an arm of The American Legion, the Forty & Eight became an independent and separately incorporated veteran's organization in 1960. Membership is by invitation of honorably discharged veterans and honorably serving members of the United States Armed Forces.
There has been a chapter in Dubuque.
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Source:
"What is the Forty & Eight," Online: http://www.fortyandeight.org/what-is-the-408/