A family recalls the Battle of Chateau Thierry

In a recent column, which dealt with World War I, the name Chateau Thierry stirred the memory of Grace Carmody, of Trenton. Mrs. Carmody was a girl of five, living in Grand Island when the war broke out in 1914. She remembers that her father's youngest brother, George Palmer and her mother's nephew, "Brudie" Roeser were both drafted together in the Army in 1917.

It seems that when war comes to America she is never prepared. This was certainly the case in 1914. Most of the European nations had chosen sides and were engaged in the conflict, yet America struggled to catch up our own military preparations.

Until America entered the war in 1917, U.S. troops were still using rifles from the previous century. Draftees trained with wooden cut-outs of rifles, as there were not enough real guns to go around. Many did not fire a gun before they arrived in France.

George Palmer and "Brudie" Roeser were an anomaly, yet the two very much reflected Middle America. George was English by heritage, on his father's and on his mother's side. "Brudie" was of German heritage, on both sides.

Both were Americans through-and-through, sons of the pioneers who settled Nebraska. Together they entered the Army, took their training, and were sent with their unit to fight in France, in time to repulse the last great German offensive, at Chateau Thierry. They were together to George's last day of life.

Chateau Thierry, on the River Marne, is about 35 miles northeast of Paris. This small village had also been the site of a major battle between the French and the Prussian forces during the Napoleonic War. Chateau Thierry and nearby Belleau Wood, jointly were the site of one of the great battles of World War I, which raged from June 3rd to the 26th, 1918. The battleground represented the deepest penetration into France by the German Army. It was one of the costliest battles in terms of American losses, and it was the last battle in which American forces were entirely under French command.

The Battle for Chateau Tierry/Belleau Wood was a confused mess tactically. Neither side ever knew for sure where they were, or just where the enemy front was, inside those deep woods -- reminiscent of the Battle of the Wilderness in the American Civil War.

Some historians feel that the battle never should have been fought -- that the Americans should have resisted French orders to attack. A major rift developed between the Americans and the French Commanders over the lack of a concentrated artillery barrage preceding the battle. On the first day of the battle, the U.S. Marines suffered the highest casualties in Marine Corps history. (That dubious record remained until the capture of the Pacific Island, Tarawa in World War II.)

During a month of fighting, U.S. forces captured Belleau Wood six times before the Germans were finally dispelled for good. American casualties numbered 9,777 -- including 1,811 killed. It is not known for sure the number of German casualties, though 1,600 German troops were captured by American and French forces.

This was the last great German offensive of World War I. The battle represented the high water mark for German forces in the war. Paris was saved, and for the remainder of the war German forces waged a defensive campaign.

George Palmer and Brudie Roeser arrived at Chateau Thierry as part of the 3rd American Expeditionary Force, under the command of Major Gen. Dickinson. They were in an infantry unit, backed up by motorized transport. A no-man's land separated the German trenches from the American/French trenches.

One night, Mrs. Carmody's Mother had a dream, that she found George dead on a battlefield and took hold of his cold hand. When she awoke she was gripping one of the rails on the metal bedstead. But the dream was so vivid that she marked the calendar.

Mrs. Carmody remembers hearing the story of the battle from "Brudie" Roeser when he returned home. The day of the battle it rained and rained. The soldiers were equipped with raincoats, all except for one young man, who had none. Her Uncle George gave him his coat, saying, "I won't need this after today." George and "Brudie" were in the front column as the American attack left the trenches, and were the first to be sent into no-man's land. George was killed immediately.

Eventually, the telegram came to George's parents announcing his death, and they received a gold star to hang in the window of their home, signifying that a member of that household had been killed in the service of his country.

By that time, Grace was 8 years old and had some understanding of the awful thing going on overseas. She remembers vividly the conversation and her grandmother's tears and grief. Her mother checked the date she had marked on the calendar when she had dreamed of George's death. That date and the date revealed in the telegram matched.

All nations wage propaganda campaigns, as well as military campaigns in times of war. The Germans had a very efficient propaganda machine in World War I.

They were not alone. As children, Grace and her older sister came to know another side of the war. Somewhere in Washington it was decided that stories needed to be planted in the papers to inflame the population, so they would back the war effort. As the war progressed the propaganda issued by our government became more and more hostile to the Germans, which spilled over to anyone with known German heritage.

Thugs in America hurled buckets of yellow paint on German churches. News-papers were full of stories about the horrible things the Huns (Germans) were doing to defenseless Belgian children.

At a Christmas program 8-year-old Grace and her 10- year-old sister were asked to sing carols in the original German, which they were honored to do. Somehow, this was enough to brand them as being pro-German in the war, and to hold these little girls responsible for German atrocities in Belgium.

It was not enough that the family was well known in the community, and represented the finest of American values. Both sets of grandparents were pioneers to Nebraska, and among the community's leading citizens. Two members of the family, Grace's Uncle George, and Cousin Brudie, were serving their country in France.

It made no difference. Grade school students in their school chased the girls home from school, through muddy alleys and threw mudballs at them, calling them Huns.

The girls were hurt and bewildered by the actions of those students, whom they had considered their friends. Says Mrs. Carmody, "That behavior of the children, of course, comes from their parents, who are not too bright."

Mrs. Carmody concludes, (referring to today's World situation) "I feel we are getting the same kind of untruth now, too. The grief and tears of those left behind mean nothing to the ones in power. It has been so for centuries and will continue as long as there are men left on earth."