In 1917, five years after New Mexico received its statehood, the United States entered World War I. With border tensions festering between Mexico and the United States, Germany attempted unsuccessfully to secure Mexico's allegiance with its Zimmermann Telegram. More than sixteen thousand New Mexicans joined the military, while civilians supported from the home front. Groups like the Knights of Columbus, YMCA and the Salvation Army, as well as Governor W.E. Lindsey's New Mexico Council of Defense, raised military funding. Author Daniel R. Cillis recounts the Land of Enchantment's influence on World War I from its beginning through to the 1918 Armistice.
Dr. Daniel R. Cillis is a professor at Molloy College in New York, where he teaches leadership and management courses. He has also taught at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Cillis is the author of two historical novels: Water Damage, about Germany's secret war against the United States, and Statehood of Affairs, about New Mexico statehood and Southwest border issues. He has appeared on Good Day New Mexico and was featured in the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Rio Rancho Observer. Dr. Cillis served in the U.S. Army, strategic communications command, with top-secret and NATO security clearances. He lives in New York and in New Mexico.