American soldiers joined the fighting just after the Russians withdrew from the war, leaving France as the primary battleground. Americans sailed for France eager to do their part in making the world safe for democracy. Some doughboys maintained their idealism to the end. Although black soldiers eventually won respect under the French command, they faced discrimination under American commanders. The majority of American soldiers found little that was noble in rats, lice, and poison gas and—despite the progressives’ hopes—little to elevate the human soul in a landscape of utter destruction and death.