Shiawassee County
and WWI

WWI

On April 6, 1917 the United States declared war on Germany. Owosso's pride in being the smallest city to have its own National Guard Unit backfired, and Owosso had the honor of having more casualties in World War I than any other city of comparable size.

The first Shiawassee County draft for service occurred on Friday July 20, 1917. Their quota was given out as 178 men and twice that number of names were drawn, it being figured that 50 percent of those drafted would later be exempted.

Owosso Armory built in 1915.

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Drawing for the Army started at 9:49 am. The first Shiawassee County man drafted was Urbain Frederick LeCureaux of rural Owosso and the first Owosso man, the second drawn was Arthur M. Willoughby.

Examinations for drafted men were held in Corunna on TuesdayAugust 7.

The Owosso Unit became Company M. On September 19th, 69 men were given a send-off including a colorful parade to the Grand Trunk Depot, where a short ceremony was held. Later that day, the contingent arrived at Camp Custer where it started the short, intensive training required before being sent to other camps or France.

Thanks to the Owosso Argus Press - Kelly Peters, who supplied the following list.

U.S. Army Private Clarence Lewis Armstrong

Private Glen McKinley Arnold

U.S. Army Private Leslie Barlow Austin

Private Harold William Bailey

U.S. Army Second Lieutenant Alvin Morrell Bentley Jr.

Lieutenant Wilmot Berry

Crawford J. Bonnell

U.S. Army Signal Man Ray I. Booth

U.S. Army Private Harry Bowers

U.S. Marine Corps Private George Marcus Bowlby

U.S. Army Private William E. Brimley

U.S. Army Private Clarence Harry Brown

Corporal Howard D. Brown

U.S. Navy Senior Lieutenant Arthur Burhans

U.S. Marine Corps Private Clare Nile Burt

U.S. Army Corporal Curtis LeRoy Byerly

U.S. Navy Albert Cohoon

U.S. Army Private Cecil E. Campbell

U.S. Army Private Glenn Howard Card

Bryce Homen Casteel

U>S> Army Corporal John Coleman

U.S. Army Private Frank Collister

U.S. Army Private Elza J. Cooper

U.S. Army Sergeant H.H. Cooper

U.S. Army Sergeant Albert Martin Dawson

Private Harvey C. Deaner

U.S. Army Corporal Ralph Ellis

Edd. P. Feurstein

U.S. Army Private Amos B. Franks

U.S. Army Corporal Charles Collins Freeman

U.S. Army Charles C. Frost

Private Jesse Lincoln Gage

U.S. Army Private Carl J. Geney

U.S. Marine Corps Leslie William Gibbs

U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Albert F. Goetzen

U.S. Army Private Carleton Grant Green

Carl S. Green

Earl Grieves

U.S. Army Private Joseph Haas

Private Louis C. Hall Jr.

U.S. Army Private Jesse F. Hardick

U.S. Army Private Howard Stirling Harding

U.S. Army Corporal Ward Montgomery Harding

U.S. Army Private Clarence Grant Harris

U.S. Army Mechanic Harry H. Heise

Private James C. Hickmann

Irving D. Hill

U.S. Army Private Allen Hinkle

U.S. Army Private Theodore William Holland

Private James Lynn Howell

Private Don McKinley Huffman

U.S. Navy Mike Jankowski

U.S. Merchant Marine Oscar Johnson

Private G.E. Judson

U.S. Army Sergeant Leo Fern Kingsbury

U.S. Army First Lieutenant Lyle A. Kneeland

Lieutenant Charles Lahman

Sergeant Ralph Lightbill

U.S. Navy Joseph Manuel Lindsey

U.S. Army Private Fred Looker

Alfred G. Lueckemann

U>S> Army Douglas K. McCloskey

Private William McNett

Private Lewis M. McQuaig

U.S. Navy Alba O. Meyers

U.S. Army Private Cecil B. Mole

Ernest F. Oldenburg

U.S. Army Sergeant Arthur Clifford Patterson

Charles Pease (W.G. Stokes)

Leslie Pennall

U.S. Army Private John William Powers

Chester Pratt

Private Frank Quarder

Private Oda Skylard Raymond

U.S. Army Corporal Cecil Reed

Charles H. Rorabeck

U.S. Army Sergeant Jesse Rowe

U.S. Army Coporal Daniel T. J. Rust

U.S. Army Private Rudolph Carl Sanftleben

Edward Simpson

Franklin Simpson

U.S. Naval Reserve Force Lynn D. Simpson

Roy A. Skutt

Claud Smith

Private Floyd L. Smith

U.S. Army Private Harry Elwin Smith

U.S. Naval Reserve Force Seaman Second Class Lester

Adelbert Sutton

Private Joseph Walter Tanks

Private Berl A. Temple

U.S Army Sergeant Fred William Tompkins

U.S. Army Corporal LeRoy William Upton

U.S. Army Private Lawrence J. Valentine

U.S. Army Private Gereene Van Burger

U.S. Army Albert Parker Van Doren

U.S. Army Private First Class Edward Thomas Vibbert

Private Hiram A. Waite

Private Roy S. Walker

U.S. Army Private Leonard T. Watson

U.S. Army Private Alfred Weatherwax

Lieutenant Ray Wiggens

U.S. Army First Lieutenant Charles S. Williams

U.S. Army Aviation Corps Sergeant Ora Jay Willoughby

Howard Wilson

American Expeditionary Forces Private Earl F. Woodworth

By William May...1936

It is recorded, although not officially established, that Owosso lost more men in the WWI than any other city of commparative size in the United States. This fact, if it is authentic or even nearly correct, is evidence enough of the patriotism which was manifest in Owosso and Shiawassee County in 1917 and 1918.

It is not difficult to believe that Owosso could have lost such enormous percentage of its soldiers when it is considered that it was one of the nation’s smallest cities to have a completely organized company of National Guard at the time war was declared.

Company H, 33rd Michigan Infantry was in service on the Mexican border until a few days before America entered the great cataclysm which had been going on in Europe since 1914.

Thus it was that company H was immediately pressed into action for European service. Approximately three-quarters of that company survived the war; all others were killed in action or died subsequently of wounds or illness contracted on European soil.

Shiawassee County had a total of about 1500 men in WWI. The National Guard company itself was a comparatively small part of the county's representation in the conflict, but it is around the company that the colorful history is woven. At thesame time it is difficult to trace the movements of other enlisted men as they joined or were transferred into nearly every branch of service and were scattered over virtually the entire globe. Some were in the Marines, some in the Navy, nearly a score in flying corps, others in artillery. training schools and a miscellany of other departments.

Company H was returning to Owosso from the Mexican border when on April 6, 1917, the United States joined the allied nations against Germany. Immediately the outfit was ordered not to disband as planned, but to proceed to Fort Wayne at Detroit.

In the process of reorganization Company H became, in Sept. 1917, Company M of the 125th Infantry, 32nd Division.

The company left Fort Wayne to do guard duty at Camp Custer, then a new government camp site, while the camp's buildings were in construction.

In January, 1918, Company M went to Waco, Texas. A short time later it moved to Camp Merritt, New Jersey. On February 7, 1918, it sailed for France. Company M was in the 6th Division to join the American Expeditionary Forces and was the first American troops to set foot on German soil, when they marched into Alsace in May, 1918.

The company went into action on June 15 in the Alsace sector. Opposite were three German divisions; The 44 Landwehr, the 25 Landwehr and 30 Bavarian division.

Early in July, General John J. Pershing visited Alsace to inspect the division and visited every unit.

"I like the snap of the 32nd Division," he said. He told the soldiers to expect service on the Big Front in short time.

By July 24, the whole division was in the vicinity of Pons St. Maxence, southwest of Soissons under orders of the 10th French Army.

On July 26, it was ordered to the region of Chateau Thierry with the 38th Corps of the 6th French Army. On July 27, Company M took its first real look at Chateau Thierry and late in the afternoon of the same day received orders to arrive in immediate rear of the division which was at grip with Germans.

The next day the regimental and battalion commander went front to reconnoiter and make plans for relieving the 3rd. Division. The troops remained concealed.

The companies first major engagment of the war occurred on July 31...the Battle of Chateau Thierry. It went into the battle with 212 men and came out that night with 126 killed. Many died of their wounds. Nine Shiawassee County men were among the dead including Leslie Austin, Albert Dawson, Howard Harding, Ward Harding, Arther Petterson, Jesse Rowe, Daniel Rust, Edward Vibert and Leonard Watson.

In the savage fighting that ensued, the German line was forced steadily back over ground, including the strongly fortified Ourcq for a distance of 19 kilometers to the Vesle River, where, as a brilliant climax to the American attacks, Company M helped take the important railhead of the Vesle. It was in this drive that the division received its appellation of "Les Terribles".

During the night time the 63rd and 64th Brigades moved up and in the morning the two brigades occupied the entire front which previously had been held by two French divisions. In front of Company M was Hill 212, above the village of Curges, a hornets' nest of German machine guns. Possession of Hills 212 and 230 was especially valuable to the Germans and they fought desperately. Hundreds died at their posts.

Leaving the front to resume training, Company M was out of action only two weeks when orders were received for it to move to the vicinity of Soissons and report to the 10th French Army's famed General Mangin.

On the night of August 26-27, as the company moved toward the front, the sector north of Soissons seemed as active as had Chateau Thierry a month before. Reaching the front itself, was a fight all along. For Company M it was five days of hell until the Moroccans provided relief. A million men took part in the Oise-Aisne offensive which resulted in the capture of Juvigny, the capturing of 189 prisoners and heavy losses to the Allies.

On September 22, Company M started into the Argonne-Meuse offensive, which was launched on September 26th.

On a cold rainy night, September 29, 1918. Company M with the 32nd Division received orders to relieve the 37th Division. All night long the division marched, single file, across No Mans Land to reach Bois de Montfaucon at early dawn. A bite of breakfast and Company M was into battle once more. By October 8 Company M was directly in front of the strongest position of the Hindenburg line in the Argonne-Meuse sector. The assault was made on October 9th.

The Kriemhild Stellung, a strong German position was completely penetrated by October 15th.

Company M was transferred to the 3rd Corps on November 1st, on the eve of the Meuse-Argonne offensive renewal.

Plans were perfected for an attack to occur at 7am on November 11th. At 6:30, officers were issuing their final instructions. At 5 minutes to seven the men were getting ready for the plunge into action. At 7am, just as some of them were getting away, runners from headquarters shouted the words, "Finis la Guerre!"--The Armistice.

Company M and other units of the 32nd Division were transferred to the Army of Occupation, it being the only division of National Guard to be in the original Army of Occupation.

It marched from Meuse to the Rhine where it was stationed until December 12, 1918. On December 13th, it occupied Coblenz.

What was left of Company M returned on April 20, 1919.

The end of WWI was cause for great celebration in Owosso and all of Shiawassee County and the entire country. When news of the Armistice was flashed over the wires, a celebration immediately broke out, which continued for many hours. Fires were kindled in the downtown streets. Parades were held and dummy replicas of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany were hung and tossed into the flames.