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Objector to War,Once Outcast, BackWith 315th a Heroeel by the enemy, and of this number,Continued From First Pageireer that dated tar back.to his S’amp Meade training days, when he refused to shoulder a gun. From then until his outfit arrived tn France the big j Pittsburgher’s life was not worth living. To employ an idiom of the streets, ‘•the best he got was the? worst of it,” and since Private Stierheim’s regard for the military life had undergone little or no transformation up to thr.t time, he decided to desert without further ado. This he did. only to be overtaken and returned to his company.The court-martial followed, but while awaiting sentence. Stiorheinvs unit ran into the big jam at therto one gave him a selt; ----from then on until the day he went to (\donel Alden C. Knowles and offered to carry water to the thirsty fightersout in front.“All right, see if you can t redeemyourself,” was (’olonel Knowles reply.The rest is now history with the fighting 315th. “Philadelphia's Own.”aILieutenant Theodore Rosen of Philadelphia, was badly wounded before hesurrendered. . . nThe regiment pierced the Germanline for a distance of fifteen miles and herecaptured, or assisted in the capture.of nine French villages. A total of 114 prisoners were taken, wmle twenty-seven officers and men received theDistinguished Service Dross and fifteen the Croix de Guerre, comprising more than one-third of the total decorations awarded the Twenty-ninth Division. , .A glance down the list of heroes an }imposing coterie in which 1 hiladelphia .ran claim more than its share, reveals an almost unparallelled story of sacii-i fice and devotion to the cause that i must be written high in the annals ofthe great war.For instance, there is the case of 1 ri-vate Giuseppe Spodofora. ”400 ^ W est Harold stret. This revitalized Aineri-I can stood up under a shower of xplosives that fell almost in lt;aslt;about him while, at the point of *bavonet. lie forced four German piis-to carrv American sick andH. Sehweibenz, 542 West Sedgley ave-• JJii!_____1 Til., 11 n V- Il/V *. wj * * — TV •/ .- wnue, are two additional Philadelphians whose deeds of bravery have placed them in line for the .coveted decoration. The men on the Santa Rosa came primed to stage a parade rightfrom the pier to the centre of the city. It was tjheir preconceived idea that sm*hprocedure wasbe followed amtheir disappointment was profound upon j being informed to the contrary. »Colonel Knowles, when asked as tc his attitude toward the projected parade as a welcome to the 79th, declared that the division’s participationwould be put up to the men themselves.If they agreed, well and good: if not the parade would be off. he intimated.Ileim s i to (.arrv American sick aimArgonne and £ro‘m a threatened fiHd hospi-•ond s thought ^ norfh of Montfaucon. on September 28. Not a man was lost thanks io Private Spodofora’s grit and the pointof his insistent bayonet. He is ing home the D. S. C. and the ( rmxde Guerre as mementoes pf tin olt; .sion.The menno longer regard him withdisdain, and Colonel Knowles’ contempt has turned to the whole-hearted admiration that one brave man ever accordsanother.Single-Handed Silenced NestAnother case in point is furnished 1Sergeant Joseph K. W ilroy. 2731 La**tproud owner ofLehifgh avenue, a proud owner o« tneId. s. Cm who sallied forth single-handled on the morning of November 5 andsilenced a machine gun nest at Hill *» This battle was the divisions greatest)he declared. orlt;ioai nf the campaign.“The man was aosoiuieiv jeant-s:*. i Other PhiladelphianR ■1 he man was uuslt; iui ■ , heights at tin* crucial moment andhe scaped death on that shell-torn field B rewarded accordingly, are the fol• i \ Ik! i.ii t 1 i nColonel’s Unstinted Praise“It was the greatest single achieve- _A mMont 1 saw IB tho war,• The man was absolutely fearless. How— .a a iin theoutfit.I do not know.”Likewise, has the man risenestimation of the boys of hisWhere once he was the target of and abuse, he *is now their tintheir pride and their all.“The greatest man in the war. thegibesgod.lowing recipients of the DistinguishedServilt;*e lt;Toss: • ,Sergeant Paul P. Jenkins, decease*..Sergeant Jacob Recktenwald. Sergeant Ludwig J. Nachtnmn. Sergeant Arthur W. (Hanson. Coporal Joseph A. Keenan Private Frank Lomonoco. 1 nvate“The greatest man in the war they Goodman. Private Charles Wleoiared yesterday without the slight* st j |»a'iilrciv Private America Di Pasqualo. dea that they might be stretching the - private Kugene C. Watkinspoint a trifle. . , • I'rimtr Frank H Flejr-1 :»*»ipoint .....All of which only goes as furthercorroboration of the statement Private Stierheim, indeed, cameyesterday.Put he was by no means the onlypne Dn the contrary, there were so many real “come backs” among the troops that swarmed over the Snyder avenue wharf shortly before noon yesterday that a history of the regimentwould fill a library. Surfice it to say that the unit, between September 2lt; and November 11. the tenure of its.but hectic service overseas, lostdeceased! Private Frank H Fleg-d --*1that 1 Private Giacomo Masciarelli and I n-back ! vate Stanley Roberts.In addition to Major 1* Imning and Ki«-roy Sweeiiev. Lomonoco. Spadofora. Goodman. Bryson and Schwearmgen. enlisted men. the following received rim (Toix de Guerre;Lieutenant Walter h. Hibbard. Doyle st own: Sergeant Paul G. Koch.Brooklyn: Sergeant Clarence P. Weis**. Avis. Pa.:-Corporal Leroy Haghe. Corporal Frank J. Holland. Philadelphia: Corporal Benjamin A. Evan*. Philadelphia. and Private Harry Tignor, Phila-riof -v,— -ilmost fiftv per rent, of its strength infilled and wounded. Its proudest mo- delphia. nent is when some one re.alls the tact- Sergeant W. f Dolde.hat only eight of its men were captur- Fortieth street, and » ergeantN.ort hFrank
Newspaper Details
Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, May 31, 1919
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
AK, USA 26 Sep 2021
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