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cMuscatine Veterans of First WorldtWar Retain PoignantArmistice Day, November 119C4£A*41•jrMemories of Armistice day, November 11, 1918, which brought to a close the battles of World War No. 1, were foremost in the m inds of Muscatine servicemen as they joinedtoday in celebrating V-E day in the European theater of operations.For some, the celebrations of a quarter of a century ago featured mammoth parades and all the customary hilarity.For others, the day was a quiet one in hospitals.To those who were in the active battle areas, it was a day of relief and gladness,never to be forgotten.But for still others it was a period of routine duties.Questioned by Journal reporters, the Muscatine veterans of the first big world conflagration gave the following brief statements of their experiences on that all-importantdav:LAURENCEC. FLANNERYthe Kdward H. Iall day.JULIAN E. HAVERCAMPCompany.I wascommander of the Edward H. j ua*' We just droPPed every-Bit/er post of the American Le- j tJ1■ion. secretary of the Barry w«'c c. Hakes Co We were. ... . ; busy on reeonnaisance work butpoker game mtti some of the fel- proceeded to celebrat, in 'helows in the 34th division in the ^ appropnate manner, each foothills of the French Alps* I group following its own methods, he.d the winning hand with one j HavercamPt wh0 heid the rank ofcard to be played, but we never i sei-gcant in Battery C of the 126th* J ” j Field Artillery, was in France,stationed near LeMarc.t»finished.FRANK ALBERT — salesman, Iowa Pearl Button company. “I was at an Army camp in South Carolina. I was sleeping and went r:ght on sleeping, i was awfully tired.”RICHARD E. STEVENSON — Employed at Rock Island Arsenal. “I was in the front lines nearSedan with Co. H, 28th Infantry,First division. Although thefront was quiet at 11 o’clock the men did not receive word until 5 or 10 minutes after 11. The officers knew about it, however, an airplane dropped news of the Armistice around 11 o’clock. The men were immediately relieved and withdrew to a woodwhere they spent the afternoon and night. The next morning they started a hike that led them many miles to the Rhine, walkingall the way.”CLARENCE (DICK) WALTER— Employed at Huttig Manufacturing Co.; 1214 East street. ‘‘I was in New York, on shore leave on Nov. 11th and we celebrated on Broadway and Fifth Avenue (and other places.) We took tops from tall galvanized iron waste paper cans and used them as cymbals to makenoise and a good time was hadby all.” Wralter, fireman firstclass in the Navv. was on thein me i\avy, was on troop transport DeKalb, formerly the German liner Prince Eitel Frederick. He made 10 trips across with troops, arriving in New York from France on Nov. ■10. 1918.”GLENN 8. DOWNING—cashier. Central State bark. “Packing! a gun with company G. thUd regiment of the infantry at Camp Pike. Ark.”FRANK DRAKE — lawye r ‘‘Teaching at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso. Ind. I had 200 in a motor service class there We were tickled to death. We gvt up at 2 o’clock and celebratedMRS. JOHN HICKEY—Nurse. 1211 Isett avenue. “I was on duty at Fort Benjamin Harrison, outside of Indianapolis, Ind. One of the lieutenants on duty brought the report in so a group of us went out to a little railroad s’ation nearbv to celebrate.HAROLD EMMETT FEUSTEL —1142 Lusac street. ‘‘I was in midocean on Nov. 11, a sailor on the troop ship “Finland.” I was on the top deck, resting between shifts, when the news was received. This was the first trip the ‘Finland’ made after leaving dry-dock where she was repaired c.fter being torpecoed by a German sub, I made eight trips across the Atlantic on ships carrying troops.” CLARENCE KENNEDY — 120 Houser street Employed by Roach Musser Co. “Serving with company K, 166th Infantry, 42nd division, I was on a hospital traingoing back to base hospital No. Fourth j 115 at Vichy, Fi ance. I was butrecently wfounded when a shell struck battalion Headquarters and filled my eyes with broken glass and debus. We were located in a small town near Sedan. Battalion headquarters had received rumors on Nov. 7 of the forthcoming armistice.”RAYMOND DUNKER — Mayorof Muscatine and manager of theWestern Union office. “We were)busy in a poker game and im- j mediately began to celebrate. 1 was stationed at Camp Merritt,N. J., with the Seventh SignalBattalion.”WILLIAM MULL — Charles Lwholesalers. “Iwhere we were in the line 10 days We were on a train whichhad just passed a small .........Metz when news of the armistice’ came. The train backed up to the town, where the French informedus of the news.” (A large number of Muscatine men were this division.)DR. L. C. HOWE—Physician.“I was in service at the hospital at Fort Sheridan, 111. We went to Chicago on the false alarm, and when the real armistice came we went back again, but the enthusiasm on the real armistice didn’t amount to as much as on the firstone.”MRS. WALTER MOLIS—Nurse, 710 Iowa avenue. “I was on duty at U. S. general hospital No. 11, at Camp Maine, N. J. It was areconstruction and rehabilitation hospital. We were just going intodinner when we got the first word of the armistice. Then w’e went out and paraded through towns as everyone else was doing.”RAYMOND MARTIN —Adjutant, John Harold Kemble post, Veterans of Foreign Wars. “Wetodian of Muscatine public schools. “We were in Belgium. I was with the artillery firing on a town. When word of the armistice came, we went on into town to see what we had been shooting at ”E. J. SYWASSINK — SanitaryPlumbing Heating Co. ‘‘We were at Bordeau, France, deeply mired in ram and mud and hopeful of getting out of the muck when news of the armistice came. We were fresh from that falsearmistice report and had been killing time for a few days but were getting ready to go back to the front. Needless to say, the armistice flash was welcome and we all felt a surge of relief.”john m. McCullough —First district commander of American Legion posts and past commander of Edward,H. Bitzer post “I was in a hospital in Vichi, France, recovering from wounds received in the Meuse-Argonne, praying to God that I could get home just as soon as possible j when word of the armistice came town near | to the hospital.”FRED EICHENAUER — Owner of Eichenauer’s Cigar store. “In a camp in Atlanta, Ga. I was issuing clothing, and we went right on in working. We were eight miles out of Atlanta and didn’t know much about it until some fellows came in about 11 o’clock that night.” CLIFFORD C. HAKES—President of C. C. Hakes and Co. “I was in Bowling Green, Ky., where I was commanding officer ofthree sections of the S A. T. C. at three Kentucky colleges. My overseas orders were out and Iwas already to go. When the news broke I felt as if a great stone I had been carrying around had been taken awav.”RAYMOND GRIMM — GrimmDrug company. “We were training at a camp in southern France. There was no celebration. They took it very quietly. We celebrated that night, though, in Bor-deauxMB. L. McKEE —Vice president.Muscatine Bank and Trust. ‘T*4!were resting in a woods in France ■ was a sergeant in the 217th en-rieht back of the lines. We didn't; Oi nnpr Hi\rictr\n at PamnMull and Sons,was up in the Argonne with the 216th military police division. Wewere back a little ways from the lines and were getting ready to move into Sedan the next day. CHARLES J. ROSENBERGER“1 was finish-ightknow about the armistice until late afternoon, and even then we didn’t do much celebratingwere broke.” jANDREW NESTER—402 Cherry street. Mail carrier. “When news of the armistice was re-! ceived our outfit, at Camp DeSourge, near Bordeaux, was drill- j ing. There w^as no special celebration as troops were confined to camp.” Nester was a member of Battery C, 126th Field Artillery.ELSIE BEGEY — Office nurse for Dr. E. L. Emerson. “I was on duty at the base hospital at Camp Taylor, Louisville, Ky. I was taking care of a bunch of boys, and when word of the admistice came, thev took over.”ROY ATKINS —605 West Seventh street, school. “I was in No. l in central France and the news was taken quietly in the hospital.” Atkins, serving at the time with the 28th Division Infantry. was wounded on Aug. 6, at o’ciock in the morning, at the right of Chateau Thierry on the Vislie river. He was carried togineer division at Camp Forrest, Ga. I was sleeping, but from the time word of the armistice came, we i we celebrated. A ! that day therewas no work or training. We spent our time doing whatever wewanted to do.”V. H. LEARDR. H. C. SCHNEIDER — Minister, First Presbyterian church. I was at an army camp in Iowa, and inasmuch as we had celebrated the victory when wjord came on Nov. 9. our commanding officers wouldn’t allow us to celebrate again.** 'ELMER E. BLOOM—Bloom In-1surance Agency. “I was in a classroom at Fortress Monroe, 01 d Point Comfort, Va., taking tnefinals of my officers training course when new’s of the armistice reached us Fortress Monroe was one of the largest training camps in the nation and there was really a celebration when the news was announced.**Interviews — EIGHT--R. P. JACOBS. city assessor— { ‘‘As near as I remember I was going up a little street at the village of Claremont Ferrand, France, watching the French wo- jmen running down the street shouting “La guerre finit,’ which we understeood to mean‘the war is finished.’ We were on our wav to the front.”FRANK RATHBURN, oil dealer—“I was at Verdun w-ith the 102nd field artillery, on the way back to the front after being released from an infirmary after gas treatments.”RODNEY PATRICK, manager of U. S. Employment office—“Iwas with an infantry headquarters company at a little town near Metz preparing to go into action again after coming out of the lines near Verdun. Our outfit was in the remains of an oldFrench chateau which was without a roof, grouped near a fireplace to keep warm. The ‘slum’ was terrible that day — the cooks w'ere all ‘tight.’ ”JOHN MrCOFFREY. schools* attendance offices—On a switchboard for the signal corps atBeaufort. France. I heard the message come through to cease firing about two hours before hostilities were to end. There was a blackjack game going on in the room and wrhen I told the players what I’d overheard, they said, 'We have heard that one before too’; and kept right on playing. The firing ceased at 10:55 a. m.” j MISS MARGARET MATHE-SON, public health nurse—“I was , busy taking care of patients as a nurse at Fort Des Moines.” ;BEN GALLAHER, Y. M. C. Asecretary — “The armistice didn't mean any layoff. I was at Boston j at a naval aviation training center. We paraded that day for the entertainment of the crowds andtI1i.tttfci1(lt;iIGeneral manager,Muscatine Municipal Water andElectric Co. “Riding on a train , 4 „back to Camp Dodge. Des Moines,! h\rrv romki1with the flu. I didn’t do any HARRY »lt;MKE.celebrating; I went to bed.”DR. E. E. GOSS —Dentist. “Iwas at Camp Greenleaf, Ga , onNov. 11. We were out for calisthenics about that lime, and when w'ork came we started celebrating.—County attorney, ing a long stretch in the hospital iat Iowa City and wasn’t released j the ambulance by Grover Barkeruntil December. I had contracted the flu before entering the ser-and this later turned intoWe reallv celebrated.”FRANK WETZEL — 212 Fletcher avenue, employed bv Roach Musser Co. “With Co. *D. Sev-Janitor at Garfield j enth Division Ammunition Tram,base hospital' I was hauling ammunition to theartillery near St. Mihiel, France. We were going through a smail town when told of the armistice by French soldiers. After the armistice we hauled that area.”WILLIAMsalvage inAfter being out ofIvicepneumonia.the nospital for a short time, went back with a bronchial condition.”C. R. STAFFORD — Districtcourt judge. “We were based at Camp Funston in Kansas and had heard the false report of the arm-when the authenticthe menistice, so communicationwere not toldcame, of itthat day.and ~his brother, Charles Atkins, both of Musca’ine. He had stiffened a shrapnel wound on theshoulder but wrhen the ambulance had gone a short way it was struck by a shell and demolished, killing two of the occupants and wounding four. Atkins received another wound, this time in the leg. jWALTER FREEBERN — Manager of McColm and Co. “I was a corporal in training cadre at Camp Pike. Ark. I don’t remem-When the men came in from drill! ber just what I was doing whenword came, but I was really hap-they were ordered to bed in the barracks, presumably so the boys wouldn’t go out and celebrate,and they didn’t get the report oi the true armistice until the following day. Officers were as-i signed to sleep with the men in ! the barracks that night and I oc-j cupied a cot in one of the rooms.” i DR. H. G. JOHNSON—Dentist.“Stationed at Camp Dodge, Des:Moines, I was asleep when news j station attendant.of the armistice came. A sergeant came around and ordered everybody out. Then we celebrated by marching in a parade all dav.”ERNEST SIMONS—Rural routeNo. 4. Button cutter. “Attached to Co. M. 352nd Infantry. 88th Division, we were moving to the Metz front from Alsaice-Lorraine,py about it.”MRS. J. L. BERENS — Nurse. 918 Orange street. “I was on night duty at the base hospital at Camp MacArthur, Tex. There were about 3ft nurses on duty and since oniv the nurses were told of the armistice that night, there wasn’t much of a celebration.”GROVER BARKER — Filling“With a supply company. 108th Field Artillery, 2Rth Division, I was in Oike. Belgium, when news was received at around noon. Part of this regiment paraded before King Albert of Belgium a week later in Brussels. Later they were reviewed by General Pershing ”REV. DAVID M. FUNK — Minister. Grace Lutheran church. “I was with the 80th division of the infantry. We had just been released of duty in Luxembourg at j the front and were on our way bark for a rest behind the lines, j Then the word came so we iust wen* on to winter headquarters 212 miles away and stayed there for the winter.”FRED LANGE—Service officer of the J. H. Kemble post. Veterans of Foreign Wars, chief cus-H. SCHMOLDT —712 Fulliam avenue. “I was with a reserve unit back of the lines ready to relieve front line troop, a member of Co. F, 108th Infantry. 27th Division, New York National Guard outfit. We received the first news about R o'clock when marching orders were changed on Nov. 11, and were near Garbia, France, in a woods, when the final word came. However, two weeks previous, an Australian airplane flew' over and dropped bags filled with sand informing us that the end of the war was coming soon When the news was received T was 42 kilometers from the Belgian border Line.”JAMES HART — 422 Fletcher avenue. Employee of Swift Co. “I was attached to Co. F, 120th Infantry, 30th Division, and was in the town of Mezeres, France,] near the line on the St Quinten front. We were on our w’ay to relieve an outfit in line w’hen marching orders were changed the last minute. Warren Dodge, 526 Mulberry avenue, was in Co.H of this same regiment.”CLARENCE EITMAX — GeorgeEitman grocery. “I was in training at the University of Illinois at Champaign and had been inthe army for only a little more than three months.”CHARLES FISH — Desk Sergeant of police. “We were about 15 miles from Sedan, France, I above Verdun, at the front andwere fighting up to five minutes before the word w’as flashed of the armistice. A Fourth of July; celebration w’ould have been j slight in comparison to the one! the boys put on when they heard ;the announcement.” Fish was with;B battery, 147th Field Artillery, 32nd Division, and had been in France 17 months.postal clerk —“I was washing gun carriages on an artillery range at Fort Knox, Ky , at an officer training camp—and kept right on washing gun carriages that day and the | next, when we got up at 5 a. m.The only way we knew the war was over was because ar. engineer on a freight train tooted his whistle and told us.”CLARENCE HAHN, chief clerk, Muscatine rationing board—“We celebrated. I was in the air service at Portland, Ore. We sent out for a libation, which arrived in due time in a violin case. The situation was kept well in hand.” DR. P. M. JESSUP—Physician. “News of the signing of the armistice came over wireless at headquarters office and we heard it almost immediately. I was stationed at what is now Camp Knox, Ky., having been transferred there on Nov. 7, 1918. fromthe Mexican border where ue had been stat oned for a year and a half with the signal corps oflt;((II11IJ1Iiilt;Ithe 22nd Area Squadron, were experimenting w-ith airplanes to direct artillery fire on the range.” Dr. Jessup's home was at Marshall. Ind., when he enlisted for service.We!;.ft 1 1 1} m 1i
Newspaper Details
Muscatine Journal and News Tribune
Muscatine, Iowa, US
Mon, May 07, 1945
Page 140
Full Page
Clipped by
Anne C.
NA, 11 Nov 2022
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