Veterans Day - Coming Home

On this Veterans Day, 2011, I thought I'd present a letter from our collection that details probably the best loved activity of any soldier - coming home.

Glenn C. Frazier was born in Rantoul, Illinois on November 22, 1893.   In 1917, he was 23 and working as a post office clerk.  When the United States became embroiled in the First World War in April of that year, his life changed forever.  He was drafted on September 5, 1917 and sent for training to Camp Dodge, Iowa.  There he was assigned to the headquarters staff of the 88th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.  He went with the 88th to France, served honorably, and was promoted to Sergeant.  After the Armistice, he stayed with his unit as they moved to occupy German territory.  On May 15, 1919, he began his journey home:

Camp Hill, Va
June 3, 1919


Dear Mother,

Suppose you received the telegram O.K. and know we are almost home again.  We were on the boat ten days, an awful tiresome trip.  Have been in this camp since Sunday (June 1) and expect to leave tonight or tomorrow morning for Camp Grant [located in Rockford, Illnois], a three day trip in the train but no more box cars for us.  Will possibly be in Grant a day or two and I intend to stop in Chicago few hours and buy some clothes.  Will send a telegram from there as to what train I will arrive at Rantoul.  It will no doubt be some time next week.


It is sure some hot in this country.  Don't expect to go back to the office till about July 1.


We are confined to a small area and will have to run away to mail this letter.  Hope all is well at home.  Will see you soon. 


With Love,
Glenn

Private Glenn C. Frazier, Camp Dodge, Iowa, 1917

A Lucky Draftee

Notice the date this draftee was scheduled to enter military service - November 11, 1918. Armistice Day, the day World War One officially ended.

Memorial Day - One Soldier's Story

William Frank Earnest always stood out among his peers. Born in Tennessee, he was eight when his family moved him to Homer, Illinois. He quickly acclimated to his new surroundings, and graduated in Homer High School's Class of 1915 with high honors in both academics and athletics. From there he entered the University of Illinois and began a promising academic career.

Upon America's entry into the First World War, Earnest acted as any other patriotic young man and enlisted in Company "L" of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the Illinois National Guard in May 1917, which would become the 370th Infantry Regiment in the U.S. Army. The 8th was the only unit with a full complement of African-American officers in the then segregated army. Earnest trained hard with his fellow soldiers, first in Chicago, then at Camp Logan, Texas (outside of Houston), and finally at Hampton Roads, Virginia, before departing to France in April 1918. He did well, and soon was promoted to sergeant.

By 1918 the French Army was in dire need for replacement troops after four years of war, and the U.S. Army leadership was willing to accommodate them with their "inferior" soldiers. As a result, African-American combat units were divided up piecemeal and attached to French divisions upon their arrival. The 370th was moved several times over the entire length of the front line until it was attached to the French 59th Infantry Division. It was with them that Earnest saw combat for the first time as the 370th took positions near Oise and Aisne Rivers facing the German Hindenburg Line in mid-September 1918.

Captain William Braddan, chaplain of the 370th, described the scene after they were shelled by the Germans for the first time:

Early the next A. M. we crawled out of the cave to orient
ourselves, and what a sight! Missiles of death were everywhere
falling; death was all around us, dead Frenchmen, Germans and
horses. Equipments of every description lay in the recently
evacuated trenches; the sight was appalling, the scent nauseating.

The unit moved out in mid-October, but Sgt. Earnest did not go with them. Ordered to the attack soon after their arrival, Earnest was struck down September 17, 1918. Capt. Braddan remembered:

Sgt. Ernest [sic] of Co. "L," being the first to make the supreme sacrifice on the Hindenburg Line, one of the most excellent, exemplary soldiers that I have known in my twenty and four years' service. His body, poor, bleeding, torn and mutilated was buried in No-Man's Land by his comrades.

The 8th Illinois National Guard Infantry Regiment served until the conclusion of the war and were cheered on their return to Chicago in February 1919. They suffered twenty percent casualties with 96 officers and men killed during their time in France. These "inferior" soldiers earned two campaign streamers and received twenty-one Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, and twenty French Croix de Guerre.

William Earnest, full of promise and potential, forever lies in the fields of France, a testament to the struggles and sacrifices of the men and women we honor this Memorial Day.

William Frank Earnest, 1895-1918