Category Archives: World War One

MEDAL OF HONOR OF FORT ROSECRANS HISTORY REVISITED

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Russell Iams in action at the left with Samuel Gross (middle) and Samuel Gross.
Russell Iams in action at the left with Samuel Gross (middle) and Samuel Gross.

Now we deal with some of the men who came through World War Two and beyond. Again, my visit to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery was brief. Through many sections, I never had a chance to visit or walk through. My time focused upon the older sections and my eyes diverted to the more unique headstones allowed in the cemetery before 1947. I managed to see the graves of five of the twenty-two Medal of Honor holders buried here at Fort Rosecrans. And while I did not get the chance to visit all of the twenty-two, here are their stories. I present them as they appeared in history. Note one medal holder gained an introduction in my post on the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, William S. Cronan. I reposted his story here for the sake of completion.

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FORT ROSECRANS – HEROES’ VALHALLA IN THE MODERN DAY

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Monument to the men who lost their lives in the 1905 boiler explosion. Her crew men lie with the low granite enclosure.
Monument to the men who lost their lives in the 1905 boiler explosion. Her crew men lie with the low granite enclosure.

Stories abound in cemeteries with military cemeteries no exception partly because of all the documentation available. Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery became one of seven national cemeteries established -1934-1939 – between the two World Wars. An aging population of veterans added to the need in light of available grave space in existing national cemeteries. Veterans’ benefits included burial space. On the Pacific Coast, at the time of establishment of the cemetery here, only one national cemetery existed in San Francisco. Army and Navy officials tried earlier to change the post cemetery at Fort Rosecrans as a national cemetery only to have the Department of War turn them down. The massive expansion of the military during World War I changed the situation dramatically.

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OREGON GENERALS AND THE GREAT WAR

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Oregon WW1 generals - Charles Martin as Oregon Governor left and Ulysses S. McAlexander as a brigadier general.
Oregon WW1 generals – Charles Martin as Oregon Governor left and Ulysses S. McAlexander as a brigadier general.

Two of the men who made the rank of major general in the U.S. Army during the period of World War One had strong Oregon ties. After the war, both would retire to Oregon and eventually die there. They were very similar in many ways, though history remembers each a bit differently. Here are the Oregon generals.

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L’AUTHION – STUDY OF DEFENSE FROM ONE CENTURY INTO THE NEXT

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Looking back on GR 52 coming out from Pas du Diable contouring the northern part of the Ortigue Ridge with the Fort of Point des Trois Communes above.
Looking back on GR 52 coming out from Pas du Diable contouring the northern part of the Ortigue Ridge with the Fort of Point des Trois Communes above.

The massif of L’Authion separates three valleys from each other in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the southeastern corner of France. Located at a strategic location, the peaks of L’Authion figure in history over the centuries as armies have clashed here high in the mountains.

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MAURICE DROUHIN – FRENCH VINTER EARNS AMERICAN VALOR IN THE MEUSE-ARGONNE

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Maurice Drouhin shown here as a Commandant - Drouhin Winery, Oregon.
Maurice Drouhin shown here as a Commandant – Drouhin Winery, Oregon.

If you visit the tasting room at Domaine Drouhin, a winery sitting high above the Willamette Valley in the Red Hills of Dundee, you might have noticed a photograph of one of the Drouhin ancestors – Maurice Drouhin. The Drouhin family figures among the early entries to the world of Oregon winemaking concentrating on making pinot noir and chardonnay wines. In that, they complement their French production from the Burgundy and Chablis regions of their home country.

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WORLD WAR ONE MEMORIAL – AMERICAN VALOR RECOGNIZED FINALLY

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National World War One Memorial at Pershing Park, Washington, D.C.
National World War One Memorial at Pershing Park, Washington, D.C.

This is from a talk I gave recently in Victoria, British Columbia regarding the recent American World War One Memorial finalized only recently in Washington DC. A century late, but late is better than nothing?

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AUSTRIA AND FRANCE IN THE HAPSBURG FINALE

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Very similar to the Italian episode of 1918 in France, Austria-Hungary sent several divisions to help her Central Power ally Germany in the last summer of the Great War. Unlike the Italians, there are no monuments or military cemeteries marking their presence on the battlefields. The only evidence of their participation is a lonely memorial and the few graves left behind in several German military cemeteries. You must look closely to find them.

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ITALY IN FRANCE – THE SECOND CORPS ON THE ROAD

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Graves of soldiers sent by Italy to fight for France in 1918 at the Italian military cemetery.

In covering the countryside of France in the region where elements of the American Expeditionary Force took part in the Second Battle of the Marne on a corps level, I ran across two Italian military cemeteries. Certainly, the appearance of these cemeteries came as a surprise to me. The story of how the Italians got here and their battles do not show up in many histories of the war. So, here is a quick rundown of Italy in France.

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DOBERDO – HUNGARIAN SACRIFICE RECAPTURED IN THE KRAS

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Headstone in the Austro-Hungarian military cemetery in Bovec, Slovenia bedecked with a faded Hungarian tri-colored ribbon.
Headstone in the Austro-Hungarian military cemetery in Bovec, Slovenia bedecked with a faded Hungarian tri-colored ribbon similar to graves in cemeteries in Doberdo.

In 2018, as part of centenary observances of World War 1, a monument unveiled atFiume Road Graveyard in Budapest. This became the first national memorial erected commemorating the efforts Hungarians undertook during the Great War. Government officials noted the memorial was in line with a fundamental theme of the nation: to restore historical continuity broken during the Nazi and Communist occupations.

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RAVELNIK AND ČELO – MEMORIES OF THE GREAT WAR IN THE BOVEC BASIN

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Ravelnik lies at the head of fields extending east of Bovec – Svinjak rises high in the distance.

Ravelnik and Čelo are two open-air museums allowing visitors a chance to visit spaces where soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army defended the Bovec basin from invading Italian troops from the end of May 1915 until the end of October 1917. The two sites restored by locals and the Slovene government are different in what they offer as well as their original purpose with regard to their roles in holding off the Italians.

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