Tag Archives: Medal of Honor

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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BEAVERS AT WAR – OAC RENOWNED FROM THE GREAT WAR

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Memorial Union building at Oregon State University. McAlexander helped with fundraising for the memorial to students killed in World War I.
Memorial Union building at Oregon State University, built as a memorial to students killed in World War I.

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.

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MEUSE-ARGONNE CEMETERY – VALOR BUT NOT QUITE ENOUGH

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Distinguished Service Cross – established in 1918 as a second rank for valor to the Medal of Honor.

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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ST MIHIEL ABMC CEMETERY – HISTORY RELIVES A HUNDRED YEARS ON

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St Mihiel Cemetery
Taken from the postwar Michelin Guide to the Battlefields is a early photo of the cemetery at St Mihiel.

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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