Clara Petersen, Army Nurse Corps, World War I

Clara Petersen (1886-1966) was two years old when her young mother died, leaving father Robert to work the farm near Elba, Nebraska and to raise four daughters, aged 7 to 2. Clara grew to be a strong, independent woman. Trained as a Red Cross nurse, at age 31 Clara volunteered for service in the Army Nurse Corps.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison holds, among its collections, Clara's uniform and medical kit. When she donated those items, she wrote the following statement about her service:

”I was a member of Base Hosp. 11 which was a Chicago Unit comprised of Augustana St. Mary and St. Joseph nurses and doctors. I was on duty at Camp Upton, Long Island (New York) 3 months before going overseas. While there I was on duty with Base Hospital 11 from August 25, 1918 til January 15, 1919 and transported to Evacuation Hospital 28 which took over the Base 11 when their personnel was sent back to the States. I was with Evac. 28 until they closed about June 1, 1919, returned here in July. While in France stationed at Base Section 5 at Grand Blottereau”.

From the museum's searchable online artifacts collection, here is Clara's hat:

  

and medical kit:

  

Clara continued to care for the health needs of veterans, working at the National Military Home at Wood in Milwaukee during the 1930s. Her Christensen nephews remembered her as their "rich aunt," because she always drove a late model car. With a sister, she invested in rental property in California, where she died in 1966. 

Sources:

• MacDonald, Lyn. The Roses of no man's land: nurses on the Western front. London, England : Penguin books, 2013. Your local public library's interlibrary loan service can help you borrow a copy of this book if you are interested in this topic.

•  United States World War I Centennial Commission 

• wisvetsmuseum.com (To see more photographs of Clara's uniform, go to Collections->Search Collections->Collections Database->Advanced Search by Name of Clara Petersen).

• Portrait from: Yellowstone County, Montana, in the world war, 1917-1918-1919, by William W. Gail.

Os and Jennie CHRISTENSEN farm, early 1940s

Photos taken on Os and Jennie's farm in 1941 and 1942

 

Dated in album as Spring 1941, from left to right. Back row, Clifford ("Kip") Christensen, Robert ("Bob") Christensen, Oswald ("Os") Christensen. Front row, Ron Hardel (son of Jennie's sister Alta), Donald Christensen, Dorothy Christensen, possibly Kenneth Dunn (son of Kip & Os's sister Mabel). One of the horses is "Prince". Identifications provided by Dorothy Inderdahl (nee Christensen), December 2017.

Dated in album as July 1942, left photo is Dorothy Christensen; right photo is Dorothy with Audrey E Christensen (nee Radloff)

 Dated in album July 1942, from left to right: Ron Hardel, Os Christensen, Bob Christensen, Don Christensen. Dorothy Christensen is between an unidentified couple, friends of Os and Jennie Christensen.

Ruth Eliza YOHN, 1905 - 2001

The photo below has been identified as being of Ruth Eliza Jarnick (nee Yohn), 1905 - 2001. Ruth was the daughter of Albert and Lillie Yohn (nee Davies).  Although I do not have an exact date for the photo, the hairstyle dates it to the mid-1920s. 

Photo identified by Janet King (nee Straw), Ruth's grand-niece, December 2017.

Daughters of John Walter DAVIES and Eliza Jane (nee JONES)

Ethel Radloff (nee Davies) and her sisters, 1937. The five sisters were daughters of John W Davies and his wife Eliza J - nee Jones. In this photo, from left to right, are Laura E Freeman, Alice E Washatko, Edith J Nelson, Ethel M Radloff, and Lillie A Yohn. The photo was probably taken in Waushara County, Wisconsin.

SHANKLIN, Arthur and Wilma (nee RADLOFF), ca mid 1930s

SHANKLIN, Arthur Edward, 1909 - 1995, and Wilma Gertrude (nee RADLOFF), 1910 - 2001.

RADLOFF Family post-war baby boom. Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA. October 1946.

All left to right. Back row: CA Christensen, Frank Radloff; left of stairs: Ruth Mortenson Radloff, Eileen Johnson Radloff, Wilma Radloff Shanklin, Adeline Radloff DeGodt; KIDS: David Shanklin, Dennis DeGodt, Donnie Radloff, Jay DeGodt with Lynn Christensen just behind, and Vicki Christensen; Right of stairs: Ethel Radloff, Kip Christensen, Harold Radloff, Art Shanklin.

 

Same farmhouse as in 1946 photo, November 2017, taken by Jason DeGodt. Farmhouse is just south of Highway 10 in Waupaca.

Remembering Walter Edward Dier, 1892 - 1918

On this Memorial Day 2017, I want to remember Walter Edward Dier, who died on 1 November 1918 in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive that brought an end to World War I.

Walter Dier, born in 1892, was the younger brother of my great-grandmother, Mary Ann "Mayme" Duwe (nee Dier). His parents, Matthew "Matt" and Signe "Cena" Dier farmed in the Town of Sevastapol, northeast of Sturgeon Bay, in Door County, Wisconsin. Walter grew up to be a Cheesemaker, working in Ephraim at the time he registered for the draft in June 1917.

Walter's draft registration card tells us that, at age 25, he was of medium height and build, and had black hair and grey eyes.  Here is his signature on the card:

As part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), Walter served in the 89th Infantry Division, 354th Regiment. The 354th, formed in September 1917 at Camp Funston, Kansas, was mostly composed of Missouri men, but was later filled out with men from Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois.

By 20 October 1918, when the 89th Division moved to the front lines, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive had been underway for almost one month. This massive offensive in northeastern France sought to cut vital German rail lines by penetrating to the vicinity of Sedan and Meziere near the border with Belgium.

As the regimental history relates:

"...we were in the first wave launched against an enemy strong point, consisting of fourteen machine guns on a hillside just southeast of Barricourt. This was the hardest and fiercest resistance we had met during our whole time on the front."

It is likely that Walter Dier died in the assault on those machine guns. Ironically, Walter, a second-generation American, died less than 80 miles from his father's birthplace in Merzig, Saarland, Germany.

Here is Walter Dier's grave marker in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, located in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, Departement de la Meuse, Lorraine, France.

According to the excellent interactive encyclopedia created by the American Battle Monuments Commission, 

"Over 1,200,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines took part in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Of these, over 170,000 became casualties; and 26,000 died."

The same source tells us that the 89th Division suffered 5,625 wounded and 1,466 killed during the course of the war.

As a point of comparison, there are 58,300 names of American service men and women carved into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.

Please consider visiting the Wisconsin Veterans Museum on the Capitol Square in Madison, where the exhibition "WWI Beyond the Trenches: Stories From The Front" will run until April 2019.

Sources:

History of Company F, 354th Infantry, 89th Division.

 

Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Wikipedia article.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, 26 September to 11 November 1918, interactive learning resource presented by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Meuse-Argonne offensive, map showing daily position of front line : Map Room G-3, G.H.Q., May 24, 1919. (Library of Congress)

The Virtual Wall Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

PVT Walter Ed Dier, Find A Grave record.