The May 1921 arrival of the USAT Wheaton was selected for the planned commemoration.
The Wheaton loaded on caskets in Cherbourg, France, and Antwerp, Belgium.
The ship carried home 5,169 military members, representing almost every unit in the American Expeditionary Force and nearly every county in the United States. Her returnees included women, African-Americans, other minorities and immigrants.
She arrived in New York Harbor and docked in Hoboken, New Jersey, on May 18, 1921.
