The Great War years were a turning point for many different groups in both the greater United States and in the Asheville area as well.  African Americans were able to utilize opportunities that had previously been unavailable to them.  On the war front itself, several ‘Black Highlanders’ from the region would serve with both courage and honor.  Religion was the bedrock for many in Southern Appalachia and this conviction continued during the Great War.  Indeed, for many in the region their religious faith was needed even more in an age where the entire world would become embroiled in years of destruction and death.