MyIndianaHome.net

The County's Wounded

    Shortly after war was declared Ensign Jesse Lock, of Bennington, while a member of the crew of the U. S. gunboat Castine, was slightly wounded by a bursting shell while his boat was in battle with a German submarine.
    William R. Bliss, 21, of East Enterprise, was badly gassed in action in April, 1918. His lungs were badly burned and for a time he hovered between life and death. He finally recovered.
    James Grammer Oakley, whose life was spent in Vevay, was badly gassed in action during the summer of 1918, when the Americans were making a drive. He was found lying in the mud face down and was carried to the rear by stretcher bearers. He never recovered sufficiently to get into the fighting again before the armistice was signed.
    In the summer of 1918 Ernest Lackland, who had resided in Vevay for a number of years, was severely wounded in action. He recovered, returned to his company, and took an active part in the fighting until the armistice was signed. He arrived home in the spring of 1919.
    On July 19, 1918, Howard P. Burton, of Vevay, was badly wounded in action at Soissons. Unable to get to the first aid he remained where he had fallen for eighteen hours until he was found by stretcher bearers. He received treatment for a year and although he recovered his health his arm was left in a crippled condition.
    Sam Huff, of near Patriot, was gassed during the summer of 1918 but recovered.
    Walter Green, of near Florence, was wounded by a machine gun bullet in August, 1918, and twenty-four hours later, while lying on the ground at a first aid station, he was struck in the foot by a piece of shrapnel.
    Robert E. Smith, of near Patriot, was seriously wounded on August 31, 1918. He and four comrades were sent out on a scouting expedition. While crawling through No Man's Land a boche shell burst in their midst. Smith was badly hurt and each of his four comrades was killed.
    Lieut. George B. Hall, Jr., was shot down in an airplane battle with huns in September, 1918. Two bullets passed through his legs and one through his arm. His plane crashed to the earth in flames and he was severely burned. His observer was killed.
    While doing scout duty in the Argonne Forest George Platt, Jr., of Patriot was shot though the body by a machine gun sniper in October, 1918. He crawed about a kilometer to get out of range of the sniper and then was assisted to the first aid by a comrade. Being unable to fight again he was returned to the States, where he fully recovered.

    On the morning of September 29, 1918, in a charge that broke the Hindenburg line, Ermon Brown, of Patriot, was shot through the leg by a machine gun bullet. He dropped into a shell hole, bound the wound himself, then crawled out and began fighting again. A few hours later a bullet struck him in the right jaw, tore out the teeth on that side of his face, cut a ridge across the top of his tongue, then passed through the left jaw bone. Holding his jaws together with his hand he walked several hours until he reached the first aid station. Skilled surgeons performed such a marvelous operation that when he recovered his face was not disfigured.

    In a drive on the German lines Edward L. Means, of near Vevay, had his ankle broken and was in a hospital for several weeks.
    On October 2, 1918, Frank Pelsor, of Vevay, was wounded in the hand, arm and both legs by shrapnel. He recovered.
    Vere Graham, 21, of Mt. Sterling, was badly wounded on October 8, 1918. Pieces of a high explosive shell struck him in the right forearm, hand, left wrist and forehead. The piece of metal that buried itself in his forehead was more than an inch long. His health was finally restored but his right hand was left in a crippled condition.
    Hubert Hamilton was shot in the shoulder during the early part of October 1918. He recovered rapidly and was mustered out of service in May, 1919.
    Pryor Smith, of Center Square, was wounded on the Ypres front in Belgium and after recovering and again getting on the firing line was wounded a second time during a drive in France. He was also decorated for being the first American soldier to enter Belgium, going in as a member of a scouting party.
    Claude Barton, of Vevay, was badly shell shocked while in France, and after treatment in a hospital at Camp Sherman, was finally mustered out of service.
    Leslie A. Byram was seriously wounded in the shoulder in October, 1918, by a piece of high explosive shell. While lying on the ground a doughboy came along marching four prisoners to the rear. The doughboy forced the prisoners to pick Byrma up and carry him to the first aid station. An operation was performed by army surgeons and he finally recovered.
    Raymond Scudder, of East Enterprise, was seriously wounded in action a short time before the armistice was signed.
    William Bowen, of Vevay, was badly wounded on October 5, 1918, while fighting in the Argonne Forest. Army surgeons operating on him removed a piece of shrapnel weighing one ounce from his leg.
    Harry Smith, of Vevay, was gassed in the Argonne Forest and, while in a critical condition for some time, he recovered and arrived at his home in the spring of 1919.
    Charles L. Petit was gassed in action and was in a critical condition for some time but finally recovered.
    Serg't Gerald Frazier, 17, was struck by five pieces of shrapnel on November 1, 1918, while leading a platoon of men against the Germans. His wounds were not serious and he continued fighting. On the following day a machine gun bullet went through his left arm.
    Sylvester Gray, of Craig township, was seriously wounded in action a few minutes before the armistice was signed on the morning of November 11, 1918. He had previously been wounded on August 28, 1918.
    Hervey F. Adams, of Craig township, was badly wounded in action in the fall of 1918. He was under treatment in hospitals in France for several weeks and finally was sent back to the States about the first of January, 1919. For several weeks he received further treatment at St. Mary's hospital at Hoboken, and he finally recovered.
    In the early part of September, 1918, Halstead Ferguson, member of the Marine Corps, was wounded in the army by shrapnel. The wound was a slight one and he continued fighting until the battle had been won.
    Roscoe A. Graham, of Mt. Sterling, was shot through the right leg by a machine gun bullet on July 18, 1918, at Soissons. He was removed to a hospital at Bordeaux and before his wound had entirely healed was sent back to his company and took part in the fighting at St. Mihiel, Champagne, Meuse and the Argonne. His wound left his leg in a shriveled condition.