Meuse Argonne episode 3 by Host Pamela Clark

Part of the New Heights Show on Education sharing American Men and Woman stories of survial.
https://www.armyheritage.org/soldier-stories-information/blood-mud-concrete-and-barbed-wire-the-meuse-argonne-offensive/

https://vpiworldwarone.lib.vt.edu/exhibits/show/stories/meuse-argonne

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, welcome to the New Highs Show on Education. This

(00:51):
is your host, Family Clark, and this is an episode
of American Women or men and women tell their Stories
of Sir. Now all of the stories I have to
share from history, history sites, museums, and we hope to

(01:12):
start having actual veterans that are alive now that want
to tell their story. But we also understand how devastating,
you know, what they've been through is, and we don't
want to cause them more heartache. But we also want
to give them a choice if they want, you know,
to have a voice and to talk about something. But

(01:36):
that is one of our goals here on the New
Hids Show on Education. So this is the third episode
of the Music Are Gone, which I'd shared before that
my great grandfather served in it, and I'm sort of
I have a long history of a lot of people

(01:59):
that have served them my family. So until I kind
of build this up more, I'm going to share their
stories and their experiences with you and of course others
that I come along researching all of this as well.
So let's get right into today episode three. If you

(02:22):
haven't heard the past two, please go and do so.
I'm giving a lot of resources and homework. I guess
you would say, so you can follow along with me
visually or if I don't cover something like i've you know,

(02:43):
I've said watch this or do this before listening to
this episode, have done that in the past, then please
go and do that, all righty? This next one is
from armihartage dot org and it says soldiers, stories, information
and it starts as this blood, mud, concrete and barbed wire.

(03:07):
The Musargan Offensive the Musagon Offensive in September nineteen eighteen
was part of a large Allied effort to attack the
Germans along the entire front to force them out of
France and back into Germany. The plans sought to take
advantage of the arrival of the American Expeditionary Force under

(03:31):
General Pershing. After four years of fighting, European soldiers were exhausted,
but the arrival of the US forces gave the Allies
fresh troops a numerical superiority. The six hundred thousand manstrong
US First Army planned to attack the north ward with

(03:53):
nine divisions in the line and five in reserve, supported
by twenty seven hundred pieces of artillery artillery one hundred
and eighty nine tanks and eight hundred and twenty one
aircraft along a fifteen to twenty mile wide corridor bounded

(04:14):
by the impassable Mouse River on the east and the
dense are Gone forest and the Air River on the west.
The Germans had occupied the area for years and had
developed an elaborate defensive system of four fortified lines with
a dense network of wire entanglements, machine gun positions, and

(04:40):
concrete fighting posts. In Between these trench lines, the Germans
had a series of strong points in the woods and knolls,
with five divisions on the line and another seven in reserve.
French General Philippitaine believed that the German defenses were so

(05:03):
strong that the Americans would do well if they managed
to reach one of the first objectives, the town of
month Falcon, located a few miles behind enemy lines before winter.
At five point thirty am on September twenty sixth, nineteen eighteen,

(05:24):
after a three hour artillery bombardment, Pershing launched his attack.
Despite heavy fog, rugged terrain, and the network of barbed wire,
American soldiers quickly overran the Germans forward positions. For the
rest of September, the First Army plodded forward. Heavy rains

(05:47):
turned the terrain into mud, which bogged down the tanks
in artillerary and slowly slowed resupply efforts. The Germans used
the delay to bring in reinforcements, and German artillery rained
down fire from the heights of the Meuse and Argone forests.

(06:08):
The advance became a contentious series of bloody, hard fought engagement.
One of the nine US divisions in the initial assault,
only three had significant combat experience. The seventy ninth division
had only been in France for seven weeks. Heavy fog

(06:29):
rain and the broken terrain sorely tested the inexperienced troops.
Many divisions suffered from a lack of coordination, and the
infantry and artillery often failed to work together effectively. Despite
these problems, the First Army advanced eight miles into the

(06:51):
German lines by the end of September, fighting through some
of the strongest positions on the Western Front, in capturing
nine thousand prisoners and large amounts of supplies and equipment.
As the battle progressed, Pershing began to reorganize the First Army,
rotating three battle hardened divisions into the line to relieve

(07:16):
some of the last experienced units. The Germans also strengthened
their positions, adding six new divisions, bringing their total to eleven.
And now as I read this, there's different scenes and
images that you'll want to click on the link. It'll
be the first link shared in today's broadcast, so you

(07:40):
can see those images. On October fourth, the First Army
renewed the attack. The fighting was especially severe. The American
infantry launched a series of frontal attacks to penetrate the
German lines and to exploit the exposed enemy flanks. The

(08:00):
Americans made some gains against their objectives, but critical high
grounds remained in German hands As new American divisions were
rotated into line. The Germans continued their reinforcement efforts, and
by October sixth they had seven sorry had twenty seven

(08:21):
divisions in the area. By the third week of October,
the First Army had penetrated the third German defensive line
and cleared the art On Pershing reorganized the AEF, creating
the Second Army under General Robert L. Board. Pershing later

(08:44):
placed General Hunter Liggett in charge of the First Army
in order to focus his own attention on larger strategic
issues or to prepare for the second phase of the offensive,
a series of limited attacks to keep the pressure on
the Germans while his battle weary men re equipped and recuperated.

(09:10):
By the end of October, the First Army was ready
for the next general attack. On November one, Ligott's First
Army attacked north toward the Meuse River. Over the next
several days, the First Army advanced as fast as it
could move artillery and supplies forward. At one point, the

(09:35):
advance was so rapid that it ran off the AEF
headquarters maps. By November fourth, the Americans had achieved their objectives.
Ligott's careful preparation of the First Army paid off. Infantry
and artillery coordination was superb, and instead of stopping to

(09:57):
deal with fortified positions, regular troops pushed through and around them,
while special assault troops remained behind to deal with them.
Under Leggot's tutelage, the American units had finally developed into
a well trained, well organized fighting force. One week later,

(10:20):
the armistice was signed and World War One was over.
The fighting ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh
day of the eleventh month, November eleventh, nineteen eighteen, when
it ended. The Musargon campaign was the greatest battle that
the US Army had ever fought. Almost one point two

(10:42):
five million American troops had participated during the course of
the forty seven day campaign. American casualties were high over
one hundred and seventeen thousand, but the results were impressive.
First Army had driven forty three German divisions back about

(11:07):
thirty miles over some of the most difficult terrain and
most heavily fortified positions on the Western Front, while inflicting
over one hundred and twenty thousand casualties. While credit for
victory belongs to all the Allied nations, there's little doubt

(11:28):
the success of the American forces during this offensive was
a major factor in Germany's surrender. They can go down
the page that I'm going to share and it has
the adapted form and it has about and conduct information

(11:51):
for you to see. Now, I'm going to take a
quick commercial break and then we're gonna start on carrying
some of the experiences. Bear with me, there's an issue

(12:14):
with with my player. Here we go.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
If you're enjoying the New Heights show on education and
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Speaker 1 (12:51):
Welcome back to the New Hight Show on Education. This
is your host, pamlake Clark. So we're going over our
third episode to the muse are Gone. So let's get
right back into that. Okay, So the next information was

(13:13):
taken from VPI World War One, and I will share
it as the second link below meus are Gone offensive.
The MESA Gone defensive was the single largest offensive in
American history, involving over involving one point three million American troops. Okay,

(13:34):
we've read that just a moment. Okay. Below, well, the
first time age'll see is a map, and let's see here.
There is a description as part of the map that

(13:56):
you have to make it bigger to see it. But
it is a pretty impressive map, so please take a
look at that. Okay. So below are the stories of
three VPI men who were there. Let'll get to these
stories of the three men below. John Falconer, James Wayne

(14:26):
France served in the eightieth Division, while Earl Gregory served
with the twenty ninth Division. There are pictures of each
of these young men. John Waller, Faulkner, junior or Falconer.
I hope I'm saying all right, and this says at

(14:48):
a given time to the second we poured a terrifical,
terrific rain of our heavy high explosive shells into a
wood filled with enemy machine killed or ran out the
entire crew. It was a magnificent affair. Captain John Falconer

(15:13):
a describing combat in the Newsagon Offensive. John Waller Faulkner
or Falconer sorry from Tapohonnic, Virginia, graduated as part of
the Virginia Polytechnic Class of nineteen twelve. Nicknamed Pokey p

(15:34):
ok Y, he studied civil engineering, where he excelled academically.
A company commander and Company d of the Corps of Cadets,
Faconer also worked as business manager of the Bugle the
VPI Yearbook. Now underneath the picture you'll see see his

(16:01):
information and his dates of service. Okay, still staying with him.
This is just months after the war began. Falconer joined
the United States Army on June fifth, nineteen seventeen, as

(16:22):
a second lieutenant. Falconer was assigned as a battery commander
with the three hundred and fifteenth Field Artillery Regiment eightieth
Division with the three hundred and fifteenth Falconer participated in
the Mu Sargon offensive. On the evening of September ninth,

(16:43):
nineteen eighteen, Flaconer and his unit arrived at the battlefield
and began preparations for the upcoming U. Sargon offensive. Under
the cover of night in poor weather, the three fifteenth
built their gun positions. He described the work is harder
than any he ever done before, but he wrote that

(17:06):
the hard work was also reassuring because it meant that
him and his unit would have some protection from the
returning German artillery fire when the mews are gone. Offensive began,
Wakoner and his unit poured an incredible amount of artillery
fire into German lines in preparation for the infantry advance.

(17:32):
During the six hours of shelling before the infantry advance,
American artillery units expended more ammunition than what was spent
by both sides during the entirety of the American Civil War.
He was honorably discharged with the rank of captain at

(17:54):
the end of the war. There is a newspaper article
Wait a minute, okay, So underneath this article says John
WOLLERFA Koner letter in the Virginia Tech September fifteenth, nineteen eighteen,

(18:19):
and it says the sector over which we have just
made such a brilliant victory was considered one of Germany's
most powerful lines. And I can readily see why their
positions were backed by heights behind them, helped in a
great way by natured rivers, streams, woods and etc. And

(18:40):
are artificially by splendid trenches reinforced by heavy timbers and concrete.
In a trip over quote no man's land. This morning,
I saw the whole works, and was especially interested in
some of the German officers eat dugouts splendidly made deep underground,

(19:04):
with carpets, pictures, stoves, dining rooms, mahogany furniture, all stolen
and pillaged from captured French villages, and one with a
table all laid and set with cut glass, wine glasses
and decanters. I picked up a German helmet, which I

(19:26):
shall know you if we go where po is convenient.
If we are sent back as a probable, we hope
to be motorized and have heavy caterpillar tractors to pull
our guns with. For eight horses have a pretty hard

(19:47):
time pulling one of our heavy howitzers. Okay, so person
that this featured is Earl D. Gregory. I will get
them with this quote. Sergeant Earl D. Gregory, October eighth,

(20:10):
nineteen eighteen, usergone Offensive. Earlder Gregory from Chase City, Virginia
was a member of the United States Army before the
start of World War One. Before the war, Sergeant Gregory
served in Mexico during the Mexican Expedition against the Mexican
Revolutionary Forces Francisco Pancho Villa. It was in Mexico that

(20:37):
Gregory rose to the position of sergeant of his company
before his twentieth birthday. The remarkable leadership demonstrated by Gregory
and Mexico continued into World War One, where he was
the platoon sergeant of a transmortar platoon the Mews Sargonne Offensive.

(21:02):
In October nineteen eighteen, in fighting near the Bois d
Consenti Consented, Gregory's unit was pinned down by German machine
gun fire, shouting as a quote again, I will get
them end of quote. Gregory grabbing a rifle and using

(21:24):
trench mortars as grenades, charged the enemy positions, capturing twenty
three German soldiers machine gun and howitzer. For his actions,
Sergeant Gregory received the Medal of Honor, becoming the first
nady of born Virginian to receive this honor. Three days
after the action which earned him the Medal of Honor,

(21:47):
Gregory was wounded in the leg while attempting to seize
another German trench. After this, he spent six months in
the hospital, recovering partly in France and partly in Camp Lee,
virgin On April twenty fifth, nineteen nineteen, Gregory was honorably
discharged from the army. Four days later, he received his

(22:09):
Medal of Honor during a ceremony at Camp Lee. In
his honor, in May of nineteen sixty three, the Purshing
Rifles of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets was renamed
Gregory Guard. Now they do show an excerpt from Earl

(22:29):
Gregory's Virginia World War One History Commission questionnaire for you
to take a look at an official war record. There's
a picture of him and the dates he served and
so forth. Again, the link will be below. Okay, here's

(22:50):
another soldier that served. This is First Lieutenant James Wayne France. Quote.
All this makes us very proud of our boy. It
is what we expected of him. But oh nothing, nothing
can compensate us for his loss. End of quote Daisy

(23:14):
Wayne France on the death of her son, First Lieutenant
James France. Okay, so that was her quote. Excuse me.
James Wayne France, who graduated from VPI in nineteen fifteen
with a degree in agriculture, volunteered for the Army on
August twenty sixth, nineteen seventeen. After enlisting, France was assigned

(23:38):
to the company to Company one of the three hundred
and eightieth Infantry eightieth Division at Fort Meyer, Virginia. The
eightieth Infantry Division was nicknamed Blue Ridge Division because it
is because it primarily consisted of tiers and draftees from

(24:02):
the Blue Ridge Mountain region of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
France and the rest of the division trained at Fort
Meyer under November until November twenty sixth, nineteen eighteen, when
they were transferred to Camp Lee, Virginia. The division spent
the rest of the winter and early spring stationed at

(24:25):
Camp Lee until they departed for France May twenty sixth,
nineteen eighteen. Before going into combat. France and his division
began training alongside British soldiers before they were sent to
the front lines on August eighteenth, nineteen eighteen. On September twelfth,
France and his division saw their first combat during the

(24:48):
Battle of Saint Meil. France survived this battle unscathed and
would again go and sub beet combat. On September twenty
sixth and the cle stroke of the war, the Mews
Are Gone Offensive. On October eleventh, France was leading his
company in action against German trenches and other fortifications when

(25:14):
he was struck by an artillery shell and instantly killed.
In correspondence between his fellow soldiers and his mother, his
comrades reported that France was regowed as hard working model
officer whose quote men would have followed him anywhere. Then

(25:35):
there's a newspaper article on James Francis comrades reporting to
his mother, Daisy France, on how her son died. Letter
from the Virginia Tech December twelfth, nineteen eighteen. It says

(25:56):
that I might tell you of Wayne's work and success
and how he gave up his life fighting like a
man for his country and all it meant to him.
And at least show you that our country and the
progress of our regiment are better for his having been
in it. Jimmy had been working hard and faithfully ever

(26:19):
since we had been in France, and for that reason
Major Emery put him in command of Company I are one.
When Captain mcnauldy left. We had been in several attacks
previous to the last, and Wayne had done so well

(26:39):
in each that the Major put him with this company
in the front line. On this attack, Wayne did splendidly,
and under his leadership, we were able to take six
kilometers of front. He had finished cleaning the most strong

(27:01):
strongly held roads on our front. He had finished cleaning
out a Bosh machine gun nest in great style, and
reported to the Major that he had accomplished his mission.
I was standing beside him at the time. I don't
remember a thing except a terrible noise, a lightning flash,

(27:25):
and I was hurled to the ground. Wayne was killed instantly.
It is the way I want to die when my
time comes. Okay, this will be shared below as well. Okay,

(27:48):
I have more to share, but we're running out of time,
so on episode four we'll continue with all of this.
I hope you're getting inspired, maybe it's the right word,
to learn more about this war and other wars as well.

(28:11):
And I hope that the show makes you proud if
you've served, and that you're proud or even just proud
to be an American, maybe humbled and thankful, thankful for
what we have here in America and who we're allowed

(28:32):
to be as free men and women. So I want
to remind you the show airs on Wednesdays by six
o'clock Easterner Standard Time, and then of course our HR
Empowering HR show on airs Fridays with Manya Shukla, so

(28:53):
you want to check her show out as well. Until
next time, we hope you enjoyed today's show. Don't forget
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(29:14):
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