I had been up to the base of Cathedral Ridge once before, but that was many years ago. With my new little toy – a 360-degree camera – it was time to go up for another view of Hood.
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Others beyond the golden dead (Medal of Honor winners have their names inscribed in gold at cemeteries administered by the American Battlefields and Monuments Commission (ABMC)) earned medals for valor. Their headstones are inscribed with their awards, as well, here at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery, just not in gold. You have to look a little harder.
This is the second of a series looking at some of the men and women lying buried at America’s largest cemetery in Europe, Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery in Romagne, France. Here, we look at the award given out on the second rung of heroism in the pantheon of awards for heroism in the American military system – the Distinguished Service Cross.
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We met an aspiring couple on top of Cathedral Ridge training for longer distance events. They mentioned for their money the views from Cooper Spur were the best on Mt Hood they had seen. I have been past the Cooper Spur shelter several times as well as playing in the crevasses of Eliot Glacier but have never gone up on the top of the Spur so, with a friend in tow, off we went. Thankful it was his car taking the beating on the washboarded road up and not mine.
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Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery is by far the largest of the cemeteries administered by the American Battlefields and Monuments Commission from the First World War. In fact, the cemetery is the largest ABMC cemetery in Europe, second in size in the World only behind the giant cemetery on the south side of Manila.
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General John J. Pershing resisted calls from the British and French to insert incoming American units as replacements for existing units. Pershing and President Woodrow Wilson both wanted American units to fight as an amalgamated unit on the Western Front. They wanted a true American army to provide a backbone for the future.
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The Zulu and Afrikanse name are both used for this exceptional mountain range and both names are superb in their own rights. “uKhahlamba” is the Zulu name meaning ‘Barrier of Spears’. The escarpment resembles the name from the distance. “Drakensberg”, the Afrikanse name, means ‘Dragon’s Mountain’. A mythical beast one would not be altogether surprised at seeing when climbing/hiking amongst the often-misty rock walls and towers of the range.
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Written after a hike to Mount Margaret on the Boundary Trail in 2019 from a series of hikes up into the Cascades. It was a very good summer in there were no complications from forest fires which seem to mar things in August and early September in recent years.
Save the best for last? Mount Margaret lies along the Boundary Trail, the 53
mile trail running from Johnstone Observatory in the Mt St Helens Volcanic National
Monument to Mt Adams. The trail was built in 1910 to service fire
lookouts on the border between the forest reserves of the Cowlitz – to the
north – and the Lewis – to the south.
The Spring Offensives of 1918 rocked the Allies to the core. For a moment, it appeared the Great War could actually be lost. Enter America and the American Expeditionary Force – AEF. General John J. Pershing had been pushing against the desires of his fellow Allies to insert American troops as they became available into the ranks of the French or British armies. In the emergency of spring 1918, Pershing finally relented, agreeing to allow American divisions already present into the front lines as needed. The Aisne-Marne ABMC – American Battlefield and Monuments Commission – Cemetery is a result of that decision.
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People not acquainted well with the First World War might be surprised there was more than one Battle of the Marne. The first battle was by far the more famous, but the second proved to be as decisive, if not more, than the first. In this campaign, American units fought for lengthy periods of time in division sized units in a truly international campaign. The bulk of the effort was French, but there were British and Italian troops fighting alongside the Doughboys, throughout. The American efforts in the Second Marne are remembered in the ABMC – American Battlefields and Monuments Commission – Oise-Aisne Cemetery equidistant between the town of Fère-en-Tardenois to the west and Nesles to the east – about 1 kilometer either direction.
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World War One was not the first time American soldiers died and were left on foreign soil. The Great War did leave by far the largest number of dead Americans outside the native country, however. To establish and maintain cemeteries outside the United States to honor the sacrifices made by so many, the American Battlefield and Monuments Commission was set up in 1923 headed by no other than General John Pershing. There are 28 cemeteries falling under the guise of the ABMC today. Here is the ABMC St Mihiel Cemetery filled with soldiers many falling during the first offensive campaign fought by the US Army as a cohesive unit – St Mihiel.
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