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Reality of War


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This is a couple days late, but I felt that I should share this.

 

My wife and I feel the necessity to spend Memorial Day weekend, Memorial Day in particular, honoring those who paid the price of freedom with the ultimate sacrifice. Each year, my wife and I take our now 12 year old son, 9 and 7 year old daughters out to the cemeteries to pay our respects to those who have laid down their lives for us. We also take the time to place flags on forgotten graves of veterans from decades past as we decorate our own family veterans' graves.

 

There is no teenager today (or, perhaps in history) who purposefully enlists to serve in the US Armed Forces with the idea that they are offering themselves as that sacrifice - meaning they do intend to fight, but also intend to return home to their loved ones. As I walked the veterans area of one of the cemeteries we visit annually, I find a marker that really moves me for one reason or another. This Memorial Day was no different.

 

As I peaked down amongst the GAR veterans, I observed the markers for some WWI veterans who were killed in action (or at least, killed during the period of hostilities). The grave marker belonging to LeRoy S. Abbott caught my focus. The first thing I observed was that he was nearly two years younger than my uncle (who enlisted prior to his 16th birthday to serve in the war). Then, I stared at the death date and saw the blaring fact about that day:

 

5779653117_cf77081a0e_o.jpg

 

Not only was LeRoy 17 when he was killed, but he died the day before the armistice went into effect.

 

Can any of you WWI USMC experts tell me about Mr. Abbot?

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m1ashooter

Can tell you about the fallen Marine but I would like to thank you for raising your children right.

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teufelhunde.ret

He was with Co. G - 5th Regiment. Final muster roll... He enlisted in Apr 1918 at Mare Is. Was in France by August. His first action was 3 weeks previous in Blanc Mont Ridge. The irony... he died on the Marine Corps birthday.

roy.jpg

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Thanks, teufelhunde!

 

Does that document list the engagement, battle, location, etc?

 

 

Forgot that I have an Ancestry account :ermm:

 

Company "G" , 5th Regiment, Marine Corps, A E F, Germany

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teufelhunde.ret
Thanks, teufelhunde!

 

Does that document list the engagement, battle, location, etc?

I overlooked, it said he also participated in the Champagne Sector as well.

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Just fantastic information for such a brief service to our nation. LeRoy's grave will be on my permanent list for receiving a flag on Memorial Day.

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devildog34

LeRoy Abbott was in the 51st Company 2nd Battalion 5th Marines. The following will hopefully paint a picture of his final night and the tragedy that befell him and his comrades that terrible final night of the war.

 

On the night of November 10, 1918, the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 5th Marines were tasked with crossing the Meuse River across two pontoon bridges constructed by the 2nd Engineers just north of Sartelle Farm. Leading the way the 1st Battalion was slated to follow a heavy rolling barrage. Across the river on the east bank, the ground sloped rather sharply on a wooded hill side and peaked at a height of about 260 meters. This was to the be the objective of both battalions of the 5th Marines. Just as the American barrage began to move forward of the advance, the Germans countered with a heavy barrage the included gas and high explosive rounds. The 1st Battalion began suffering heavy casualties but the worst was on the other side as machine guns open fired in addition to the withering barrage. The river crossing already created a bottleneck but the hanging fog that settled on the banks that night made it worse. crossed the river under extremely intense machine gun and artillery fire. 1st battalion's movement was very slow and often some men were forced across under the business end of a M1911 .45 as Non-commissioned officers forced the faint hearted to move into this kill zone. (See the case of Captain George R. Coxe adjutant of the 1st Battalion in George Clark's book)

 

By 10:30 that night the survivors of the 1st battalion had made it across. The 2nd battalion was next. They had specific objectives once across the river. The 43rd Company was ordered to go first and secure a stone quarry as well as Senegal Farm. The 51st Company which Abbot belonged to, was to push futher southeast and take the town of Moulins about 2 miles east of the crossing point and a mile east of the 43rd Company's objective. The 2nd battalion also met the same ferocity when they crossed the river. The 23rd Machine Gun Company of the 6th Machine Gun battalion crossed with the remnants of 1st battalion and 2nd battalion but they suffered horrendous casualties from the time they entered the line on November 1. On this particular night they lost all but one gun crew which amounted to 7 killed and 12 wounded. Among the dead was Captain Oscar Swan who was commanding the company. The one gun that made it across the bridge that night set up a forward position to defend the crossing point should the battalions be forced back.

 

Among the men of the 51st Company was Private William E. Lee of Liverpool, NY. He was just 19 years old and had left his job with the Syracuse lighting company to join the Marines in April of 1917. He had already been wounded at Belleau Wood and was no leading a squad at the Meuse Argonne. At the age of 104 years old back in March of 2004, I had the honor of hearing him discuss his memories about the night he cross the Meuse River. In 2004 Leatherneck did a feature about him and also discussed this event.

According to Gene Lee in a letter he wrote to a fallen comrade's mother, "We crossed the Meuse River on pontoon bridges under very heavy artillery fire. On the other side we went along the river for about a mile where we stopped and got down behind the river bank. There were shells falling all the time and I heard a big shell coming in and it landed in the river right in back of us. I heard Joe (Wnuk) holler to me and ask if I was alright. I said yes. In about two minutes I heard another of these big shells coming I could feel the wind from it when it went over me, it landed in the water in back of me so close that the water dropped on me. I heard one fellow cry out that he was hit in the leg then I crawled over where Joe was to see how he was, I found him laying on his side. He was hit in the chest and stomach by a piece of shell. In the morning I saw him. He laid there with a little smile on his face. He was killed outright and so did not suffer a bit." (the last bit obvious cushioning for a heart broken mother. Eugene's friend Joe Wnuk had been his best friend from the time they landed in France. Both were decorated for rescuing wounded Marines on Hill 142 on June 6, 1918.

 

Curiously enough Eugene's mess kit was located and in the possession of a forum member who located this along the 51st Company's position near Hill 142 in 1980. Ironically and poetically, a few days later another local who is a friend of the man who found Gene Lee's mess kit went to the same spot a few days later in the half buried crater where Gene's mess kit was found and uncovered a spoon. For years the spoon was a mystery since it had the term "Wnuk." Stamped upon it. When it was discovered that Eugene Lee was alive! (the last living survivor of Belleau Wood), they promptly sent a photo of the mess kit to Lee who recognized it as the one he had lost over 80 years earlier. As the story of Eugene's service came out and his memories of his good friend Joe Wnuk were brought to light, the connection was made and there in frozen in time after 7 decades was the archeological find of a friendship forged in battle and the manifestation of a loss and heart break felt more than three quarters of a century after Pvt. Joe Wnuk gave his life on the last night of the war. I know this topic has been discussed before but given the thread and the curiosity of the starter of this thread I figured it might put into context the terror and fear that Abbott and the rest of the 51st Company went through that night.

 

Attached are the mess kit lid of Gene Lee's found in 1980 as well as Joe Wnuk's spoon found in the same foxhole.

post-2182-1306970494.jpg

post-2182-1306970505.jpg

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devildog34
LeRoy Abbott was in the 51st Company 2nd Battalion 5th Marines. The following will hopefully paint a picture of his final night and the tragedy that befell him and his comrades that terrible final night of the war.

 

On the night of November 10, 1918, the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 5th Marines were tasked with crossing the Meuse River across two pontoon bridges constructed by the 2nd Engineers just north of Sartelle Farm. Leading the way the 1st Battalion was slated to follow a heavy rolling barrage. Across the river on the east bank, the ground sloped rather sharply on a wooded hill side and peaked at a height of about 260 meters. This was to the be the objective of both battalions of the 5th Marines. Just as the American barrage began to move forward of the advance, the Germans countered with a heavy barrage the included gas and high explosive rounds. The 1st Battalion began suffering heavy casualties but the worst was on the other side as machine guns open fired in addition to the withering barrage. The river crossing already created a bottleneck but the hanging fog that settled on the banks that night made it worse. crossed the river under extremely intense machine gun and artillery fire. 1st battalion's movement was very slow and often some men were forced across under the business end of a M1911 .45 as Non-commissioned officers forced the faint hearted to move into this kill zone. (See the case of Captain George R. Coxe adjutant of the 1st Battalion in George Clark's book)

 

By 10:30 that night the survivors of the 1st battalion had made it across. The 2nd battalion was next. They had specific objectives once across the river. The 43rd Company was ordered to go first and secure a stone quarry as well as Senegal Farm. The 51st Company which Abbot belonged to, was to push futher southeast and take the town of Moulins about 2 miles east of the crossing point and a mile east of the 43rd Company's objective. The 2nd battalion also met the same ferocity when they crossed the river. The 23rd Machine Gun Company of the 6th Machine Gun battalion crossed with the remnants of 1st battalion and 2nd battalion but they suffered horrendous casualties from the time they entered the line on November 1. On this particular night they lost all but one gun crew which amounted to 7 killed and 12 wounded. Among the dead was Captain Oscar Swan who was commanding the company. The one gun that made it across the bridge that night set up a forward position to defend the crossing point should the battalions be forced back.

 

Among the men of the 51st Company was Private William E. Lee of Liverpool, NY. He was just 19 years old and had left his job with the Syracuse lighting company to join the Marines in April of 1917. He had already been wounded at Belleau Wood and was no leading a squad at the Meuse Argonne. At the age of 104 years old back in March of 2004, I had the honor of hearing him discuss his memories about the night he cross the Meuse River. In 2004 Leatherneck did a feature about him and also discussed this event.

According to Gene Lee in a letter he wrote to a fallen comrade's mother, "We crossed the Meuse River on pontoon bridges under very heavy artillery fire. On the other side we went along the river for about a mile where we stopped and got down behind the river bank. There were shells falling all the time and I heard a big shell coming in and it landed in the river right in back of us. I heard Joe (Wnuk) holler to me and ask if I was alright. I said yes. In about two minutes I heard another of these big shells coming I could feel the wind from it when it went over me, it landed in the water in back of me so close that the water dropped on me. I heard one fellow cry out that he was hit in the leg then I crawled over where Joe was to see how he was, I found him laying on his side. He was hit in the chest and stomach by a piece of shell. In the morning I saw him. He laid there with a little smile on his face. He was killed outright and so did not suffer a bit." (the last bit obvious cushioning for a heart broken mother. Eugene's friend Joe Wnuk had been his best friend from the time they landed in France. Both were decorated for rescuing wounded Marines on Hill 142 on June 6, 1918.

 

Curiously enough Eugene's mess kit was located and in the possession of a forum member who located this along the 51st Company's position near Hill 142 in 1980. Ironically and poetically, a few days later another local who is a friend of the man who found Gene Lee's mess kit went to the same spot a few days later in the half buried crater where Gene's mess kit was found and uncovered a spoon. For years the spoon was a mystery since it had the term "Wnuk." Stamped upon it. When it was discovered that Eugene Lee was alive! (the last living survivor of Belleau Wood), they promptly sent a photo of the mess kit to Lee who recognized it as the one he had lost over 80 years earlier. As the story of Eugene's service came out and his memories of his good friend Joe Wnuk were brought to light, the connection was made and there in frozen in time after 7 decades was the archeological find of a friendship forged in battle and the manifestation of a loss and heart break felt more than three quarters of a century after Pvt. Joe Wnuk gave his life on the last night of the war. I know this topic has been discussed before but given the thread and the curiosity of the starter of this thread I figured it might put into context the terror and fear that Abbott and the rest of the 51st Company went through that night.

 

Attached are the mess kit lid of Gene Lee's found in 1980 as well as Joe Wnuk's spoon found in the same foxhole.

 

Here is Gene Lee in 2004. He passed away about 10 days after my visit with him. It will remain the greatest honor I have ever experienced. I still cannot believe I had the chance to meet and visit with a veteran of Belleau Wood. No artifact acquired for my collection would be valuable enough to trade my memories of the day I met Eugene Lee. It has and will serve as the biggest highlight for me as a Marine and a historian of the Marine Corps in WWI. Keep in mind I'm 33 now, I was only 26 years old when I met Gene Lee. That is the equivilant of my 63 year old father meeting a civil war veteran.

Semper Fi,

Kevin

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post-2182-1306971022.jpg

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Devildog,

 

Thank you very much for the detailed write-up of this battle. I can't imagine being a battle-hardened Marine a few short months into my enlistment...at the ripe old age of 17. It is just mind-boggling especially considering the ferocity of the battle as you've described. Finding those artifacts AND connecting with the owner of one is unreal.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

All this from a headstone that caught my attention on Monday.

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  • 5 years later...

Hello there over the pond...

 

I dig this old topic up, just to let you know that , beeing currently in possession of the mess kid of William Eugene Lee (In fact I unhearted it myself in 1980 in Bois Saint Martin,)

I decided that this item deserves a more suitable place than in my war room and therefore it will be donate, as well as other BW artefacts to the Quantico's USMC Museum

Some infos are still waiting from Quantico in order to ship these items back to US after they stay for 98 years in Europe.

The mess kit knife of Joe Wnuck was not mine will consequently not be included in the donation.

 

Cordialement votre.

Teufelhund

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I decided that this item deserves a more suitable place than in my war room and therefore it will be donate, as well as other BW artefacts to the Quantico's USMC Museum

 

Cordialement votre.

Teufelhund

 

 

Very nice of you to donate these items! It will be great to have them at the USMC Museum in Quantico for others to see. Thank you for donating them.

 

...Kat

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