NANCOCK – With Nov. 11 marking the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War, the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society is launching a World War I exhibit featuring Eastern Shoremen and their role in America’s part of the conflict.

Begun in 1914 among European nations, the war soon spread throughout the world. The United States tried to remain neutral but declared war on Germany in 1917 after several attacks on U.S. ships by German submarines. From across the United States, thousands of men, including hundreds from the Eastern Shore, enlisted in the armed forces. Many would not see home again.

From personal letters, diaries, and artifacts, the story of America in wartime is told through the eyes of Eastern Shoremen. Nineteen-year-old Allen R. Watson of Locustville served with the 115th Infantry. In letters to his family and friends, he wrote of life at Alabama’s Camp McClellan, where he trained, and the horrors of the front lines. Ellet A. Lewis of Grotons served aboard the USS Westerdyk and kept a diary detailing the month leading up to the end of the conflict. John Bowdoin Mears of Keller was an older Navy surgeon on shore leave throughout much of the war, and he wrote down the goings-on of the Eastern Shore during this time period.

The aptly named exhibit “Over Here, Over There: Shore Stories from the Great War” runs Sept. 21 through Dec. 15 at the society’s Ker Place at 69 Market St. in Onancock. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. There is no admission fee, but donations are appreciated.

Be among the first to see the exhibit by attending the free opening reception on the evening of Friday, Sept. 21, from 6 to 8 p.m. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served, and a cash bar will be open