Oregon Agricultural College, OAC, is a land grant university.  As such, military science and tactics became part of the curriculum.  This in order for the school to receive land grants to help fund the establishment and development of the college.

All male students studied military classes for their first two years at school, taking part in military drills and parades in all the years of the school before 1917 – military classes would remain mandatory until 1961.  Many remained in the classes for their entire sojourn at the school.  With so many indoctrinated in the mysteries of military life, it should not surprise anyone that many students and graduates of OAC served in one branch or another during the first world conflagration the United States found itself involved with in 1917.

Many students from all over the United States participated in the Great War, some out of patriotism and many more for adventure – others simply got drafted.  This story is about three of the students and alumni playing a role in those times.  One became instrumental in the beautiful building holding center stage on the campus.  One became the governor of the State of Oregon.  The last stayed in the Army keeping the fires warm during the interwar years for what would emerge in the 1940’s as America’s armored forces, as the US tried to play catch up in the nasty business of war.

This is not to say Oregon Agricultural College played any more significant role in the American effort in WW1.  It is simply a glance at one American college and a few of the graduates who made a mark in the fight and afterwards.

STUDENTS AT WAR

The 20^th Engineering Regiment comprised mainly of men with a forest background, either as foresters or millwork.  Men from the Pacific Northwest enrolled into this special regiment because of their experiences.  Many of the men of the 20^th Engineers were aboard the SS Tuscania when the German U-77 torpedoed the troopship heading for Liverpool on 5 February 1918.  The ship sunk after some hours off the coast of the Scottish island of Islay – known best today for the special Scotch whiskys created from the peat waters of the island.  Two men drowned following the action in the cold night waters off the rugged Islay coast.  Several of those involved had attended or graduated from OAC.  From surviving reports, it seems most of the OAC men survived, however.

There used to be a nice article on the Oregon State Alumni Association website “Amazing Beavers” which included a section about some of the men who fought oi enlisted in the war.  The page seems to have evaporated into the ether for now, however. 1,400 men took part from OAC enlisting in one or another of the military branches.  Over fifty died with more suffering wounds incurred in the combats.  Four men who played significant roles in the war did have direct connections to the college in Corvallis – three students and one professor.  The professor, Ulysses Grant McAlexander, I have already written about.  Leading the 38^th Infantry Regiment in battle at the Second Marne in France won him, his regiment and the 3^rd US Division, the sobriquet of “Rock of the Marne”.

three alums

But there were three graduates of the college who also played roles in both the war and beyond.  All three would have known McAlexander.  McAlexander served a military professor at OAC from 1907 until 1911 and again from 1915 – 1916.  Between 1911 and 1915, he was not far away, assigned as an instructor with the 3^rd Oregon Volunteers – today’s Oregon National guard.

EDWARD CHRISTOPHER ALLWORTH

Edward C. Allworth lived the most direct connection between war and school.  The war would impact him for the rest of his long life.  A Medal of Honor winner – the only such medal awardee from OAC during World War I, Allworth played an instrumental role in the building of the Memorial Union building.  He, then, spent the rest of his adult life as manager of the MU, a building built in memory to those of OAC who died during the Great War of the other skirmishes before, from the Spanish-American War of 1898 onwards to 1917.

Allworth grew up on a family farm just east of Battle Ground, Washington – along Crawford Road.  His parents had moved from southwestern Ontario.  He attended OAC majoring in commerce.  Edward was a member of both wrestling team – 1916 and 1917 when he was captain of the team – and the football team where he played at fullback. Off the athletic venues, he edited the OAC yearbook and was involved with

Allworth joins the fight

Two months after the nation entered the First War, Allworth joined the Army as a 2^nd Lieutenant.  Assigned to the 60^th Infantry Regiment he trained with cadres from the decorated 7^th Infantry.  Assigned to the 5^th Infantry Division, the regiment sailed for France 4 April 1918.  With the 5^th Division, the regiment saw action in four campaigns including actions in the Alsace and in Lorraine as well as during the first American offensive at St Mihiel in mid-September.

The next offensive was the hardest for the 5^th Division and the American Expeditionary Force – AEF – in general, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  At the village of Cunel, the 5^th succeeded where others failed.  During the capture of the village, Allworth was wounded, but he remained leading his men. 

medal of honor

From there, the division pushed down to the west bank of the Meuse gaining a crossing.  On the east bank lie another canal to cross before advances could go up onto the east bank.  Allworth, a captain now, was leading Company I of the 60^th Infantry on 5 November.  He saw his company struggling in front of him to cross the final stretch of water.  Two platoons made it across moving up fortified slopes above the east bank before the small footbridge on which they crossed became shot away leaving but the rest of the company stuck.  Facing half sunken bridges and a hailstorm of bullets, Allworth called his men to follow as he plunged into the canal.  Swimming across, he dashed ahead to his forward platoons.

His men answered his call and along with men from the neighboring 61^st Infantry, they gained the top of Hill 260 dominating the canal.  Several machine gun nests were taken along with one hundred prisoners – more men than what Allworth had under his command.  AEF commander General John Pershing later wrote “… The feat of arms … which marks especially the division’s ability as a fighting unit, was the crossing of the Meuse River and the establishment of a bridgehead on the eastern bank.  This operation was one of the most brilliant military feats in the history of the American Army in France … “Allworth used a cane at times for the rest of his life as a result of his wound.

Allworth after the War

The war soon after ended.  Allworth gained promotion again in 1919 to major.  He stayed in the Army until 1922, returning stateside to Camp Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina.  Upon his return, he married his sweetheart whom he met in his last year at OAC, Peggy, a senior then at Corvallis High School.  Peggy also graduated from OAC – 1919 – and together they raised a family.

Back to the Pacific Northwest, Allworth worked in Portland for three years before tabbed to lead a fund-raising effort to build a new large student union building on the campus at OAC.  Joining in the effort at times was his old professor, recently retired Major General Ulysses McAlexander. 

Funds raised, the Memorial Union building was dedicated to the dead associated from the school – students, faculty, college workers – 1 June 1918.  The neoclassical building still looms at the center of the now university.  Allworth would spend the next thirty plus years as manager to the MU retiring in 1963.

Other Allworths in the Game

An interesting sidenote, Allworth’s family had emigrated to the Northwest from Ontario.  One of his brothers, Alfred, had remained before World War 1 as a chemist in their old hometown of Paris, Ontario.  Alfred, at age 30, enlisted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a member of the 125^th Battalion in late 1915.  The battalion became part of the 5^th Division.  That division never fought in France as a unit, however, since the division commander, Major General Burke Garnet Hughes was not trusted by CEF commander, General Sir Arthur Currie.  Instead, the division became a replacement division with men drafted away to fill holes in the lines of Canada’s other four divisions.

After the war, Alfred would join the rest of the family in Washington and lies buried with many other Allworths in the Crawford Cemetery east of Battle Ground.

Edward’s first son, Edward Alfred, followed in his parent’s footsteps attending the newly renamed Oregon State College just before World War 2.  With another war, the son joined the Army as a second lieutenant.  He underwent airborne training and won a bronze star during actions with the 101^st Airborne Division in France.  Eventually, Edward A. would first return to finish his bachelor’s degree at OSC.  He moved on to the University of Chicago for a masters and finally a doctorate at Columbia University.  Edward Alfred returned later to Columbia becoming a professor and leading American scholar in Central Asian studies.

DOUGLAS MCKAY

James Douglas – he went by his middle name – McKay was another graduate of OAC in 1917.  Douglas’ family were old Oregonians. His grandfather served as storekeeper at Fort Vancouver with the Hudson Bay Company. His father, a carpenter, abandoned the family though possibly through death. Douglas started working after school and on weekends at thirteen to help the family. He left school at eighteen to work fulltime without a diploma. Night school gained him the diploma while he worked as an office boy for the Union Pacific Railroad.

Gaining admission to OAC, McKay started his political career as President of the Freshman Class before going on as President of the Student Body his senior year.  His career field was agriculture, his hope was to become a county agent.

service in the great war

McKay joined the Army upon graduation – after first, getting married – and went to France with the 361^st Infantry Regiment of the Wild West Division, the 91^st.  The division reached France at the end of June 1918.  Their first major action was on the opening days of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive 26 September.

Douglas led a platoon in Company K as the division advanced towards the town of Epionville.  Several days of hard fighting for the division.  For McKay, the fighting culminated 3 October when he was severely wounded by shell fire.  Wounded in the leg, right arm and shoulder, the young first lieutenant’s war had ended.  The disability – he needed several operations to regain the use of his shoulder – also finished him from a career as a farmer.

Trading farming for politics

Returning to Portland after the war, he sold insurance and then cars.  From a sales job he moved up to sales manager and eventually opened a couple of car dealerships in Salem.  Business led to politics.  McKay was elected mayor of Salem in 1932 going on to the State Senate two years later serving four terms only interrupted by service in back in the Army during World War 2. He started as a captain at Camp Murray in Washington before becoming a public relations office at the training center Camp Adair north of Corvallis.

After the war – released as a major – he served as the successful campaign manager for Earl Snell’s bid for governor of Oregon in 1946.  Snell died in an air crash the next year.  McKay then won a special election in 1948 to fill out the governor’s term.  He won a full term after re-election in 1950.

secretary of the interior

Representing the conservative wing of the Republican party led by Robert Taft, Eisenhower tabbed him as Secretary of the Interior in 1953 – McKay had been Eisenhower’s campaign chairman in Oregon.

Three years later, at the urging of Ike, McKay resigned to challenge Wayne Morse’s run for a third term in the Senate.  Beaten, he retired to Salem and his vacation home in Neskowin.

SERENO ELMER BRETT

Sereno Brett grew up in Portland.  Through his teen years, he worked for his father with his half-brother Thomas. Like Allworth, Brett’s family emigrated from Canada running a drayage business in Portland from their horse ranch on the eastern outskirts of the city.

At the age of 21, Brett entered OAC to study forestry.  At OAC, he was the captain of the Rifle Club.  He led his company to win the 1914-1915 rifle competition where he scored on 48 out of 50 targets.  Rounding out his extracurricular life, Brett was also a member of the Shakopean Society, a literary group also offering members opportunities in public speaking.

Brett joins the Army

Graduating in 1916, he joined the Army.  After an officer training course, he gained a commission as a second lieutenant in the Oregon National Guard, also known at the time as the 3^rd Oregon Volunteers.  Serving with the Regular Army 3^rd Infantry regiment, Brett saw initial service on the Mexican border.  The 3^rd guarded the Texas-Mexico border during Brigadier General John Pershing’s Mexican Expedition to retaliate after Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico.

the 37mm M1916

He made good use of his time before and just after the US entry into World War 1. Brett became an expert on the 37mm cannon.  The Canon d’Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP was an infantry support gun used by the French.  The main purpose, to destroy enemy machine gun nests.  One could fit the gun to a tripod and wheels or taken apart into two loads, the gun could be carried by four soldiers.  A gun crew consisted of two soldiers – an aimer and a loader.  Maximum fire rate was about 35 rounds per minute.  A telescopic sight allowed better aiming for direct fire while a quadrant sight used for indirect.  Each gun also had a limber holding 14 sixteen-round boxes of ammunition.  Normally, the gun and limber could be pulled by a single horse or mule.

The 37mm M1916 gun – the American designation – proved not as effective in destroying enemy gun emplacements than mortars.  With time, especially in the interwar period, the gun became an antitank weapon.  Some saw use on Bataan in 1941-1942.  The gun also found a use in pursuit fighters.  The highest French ace René Fonck used one in his SPAD S.XII.  Another use for the gun was in the Renault FT light tank.

The Tank Corps

In early 1918, Brett – now a captain – taught classes on the 37mm gun at the AEF Infantry School.  One of his discourses he impressed George Patton, Jr., the newly appointed Tank School commander. Not only was Patton impressed by Brett’s knowledge, but with his desire for combat command. With Patton’s influence, the chief of the Tank Corps, Colonel Samuel Rockenbach got Brett transferred from the Infantry to the Tank Corps at the end of March.

Initially, Brett served as Patton’s senior instructor at the Tank School in Bourg. With the formation of the1^st Light Tank Battalion, he took command of Company B.  As Patton moved up later in command, so did Brett, taking over battalion command from his mentor. For an interesting view of tanks in action in a demonstration composed by Colonel Patton for the General Staff, try this.

tank corps in action

Being Patton’s senior battalion commander, he acted as Patton’s right-hand man.  Aggressive leadership from the front gained him a Distinguished Service Cross from actions in the St. Mihiel campaign. 

Two weeks later, at the onset of the Meuse Argonne campaign, tank brigade commander, Colonel Patton found himself wounded on the first day.  The newly promoted Major Brett took over brigade command and led the unit for the remainder of the war. 

Brett suffered wounds three occasions. In addition to his DSC, for his work in the Tank Corps he gained a Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Stars, the French Croix de guerre with palm and became an Officer of the Legion of Honor.  During one of his wound episodes, he may have come into contact with his future wife, 2^nd Lieutenant Elizabeth, an Army nurse.

Brett after the war

The Tank Corps and Brett returned to Camp Meade in Maryland after the war.  He joined Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower who had commanded the largest stateside tank training command at Camp Colt, Pennsylvania.  Together the two served as Tank Corps representatives for the Army’s First Transcontinental Motor Company across the newly formed Lincoln Highway in 1919.

Brett stayed with the Tank Corps throughout the interwar period, gaining command of the Expeditionary Tank Force in Panama between 1923 and 1924.  He served as the executive officer for the Experimental Mechanized Force in 1930-1931 as well as a member of the Infantry Board.  With the new Armored Force created at Fort Knox, Brett served as Chief of Staff in 1940.  A year later, he gained command of the 31^st Armored Regiment.  He was given command of the 5^th Armored Division, now a brigadier general, from 1942-1943. But a training accident forced his retirement before he could deploy overseas for a second war missing the chance to continue his large role in the development of America’s armored forces.  The accident left him in poor health from which he never truly recovered dying in 1952 at an age of 61.

father to son

Like Allworth, Brett’s son, James, joined the military. He attended West Point after growing up on several Army posts.  Later, James gained a master’s degree in political science from Yale from his time in the Army.  Serving in the Middle East and in Korea, he got out of the Army in 1962. 

Like Edward Alfred Allworth, James was a man of many interests – history, military, but from his mother, a love for gardening grafting fruit trees in his back yard capable of producing a variety of different fruits from the same tree.  He wrote on a large and disparate variety of topics while teaching history and political science in the San Francisco Bay area and later Santa Barbara.  James also served as a technical advisor for a couple of episodes on the television series West Point from the late 1950’s – note the ending credits listing one Lieutenant Brett.

BEAVERS AT WAR

The Great War finished – at least for the US – in a relatively short time.  Just as the nation – and the school – amped up militarily, Germany and her Allies gave up.  Those who served gave money and support for the Memorial Union campaign to remember those alumni, staff and former students who did not come back.  Their memory is still present if you look close enough, but another war rose up, twenty-two years later, dimming the memory of the first go around.  The next war produced an even greater profound effect on nation and college.