Students at War: William Buedinger ’20

Today’s Student at War is William Buedinger, Gettysburg College class of 1920. Buedinger interrupted his studies in 1917 to enlist with the newly forming Army Air Corps and was stationed at Ellinston Field in Houston, Texas. Although protected from the dangers of the front by some six thousand miles, life training in the Air Corps was nonetheless dangers. Air power was an infant technology. Although American industrial companies such as Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company strove to put out quality aeroplanes in mass amounts, trial and error of the new technology meant planes were often notorious for technical failure. This combined with inexperienced pilots created frequent crashes, such as the one humorously recalled by Buedinger in a letter to one of his former Gettysburg professors, Dr. Parsons. Buedinger wrote:

“Perhaps you will remember how, during the last collegiate year, when I was still attending your classes, I asked you, in a half jesting way, about the Theory of Falling Bodies. That was shoritly after I had enlisted in this branch of the service. Since that time, in fact to be definite Saturday morning, May 25, I worked out the experiment by falling 3500 feet in an aeroplane and as a result I am now a patient in the Post Hospital with a two inch gash in my right leg.”

Assembly line of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, circa 1917-1918. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Although he never made it to France, Buedinger served on the front lines of new technology and spent six weeks in hospital recovering from his death-defying tail spin. After the war he returned to Gettysburg College and graduated in 1920. The short excerpt from his letter reveals a continued connection between student and professor and an interesting effort at humor despite what must have been a terrifying crash.

In the Future: When Germany Invades

One hundred years ago today, The Gettysburg Times ran an unconcerting but rather curious front page article:

Front Page Gettysburg Times, June 18, 1915. From Google Archive.

 

The piece, small, short, and tossed at the bottom of the page, was nonetheless judged to be front-matter worthy. To date, only the Lusitania survivor story (see excerpt here) had made front page headlines when releated to the war raging in Europe and Asia. The lack of context makes the piece somewhat mysterious. The name of the magazine is not mentioned, and the only information in a cursory search for Cleveland Moffett identified him as an author and journalist who worked at various times for the New York Herald and New York Recorder.  The language of “when” Germany invade displays a certain anxiety and belief that America may not be able to remain neutral in the current war. At this time, President Wilson was at diplomatic loggerheads with German officials over U-boat policy, but that alone was not enough to spark a war between Germany and the United States.  It is interesting that the author of this piece also cited the 50th Civil War Reunion and Gettysburg’s rather famous logigistical capabilities for massing armies. Imagining a German invasion in 1921 seems fantasical and far-fetched for June of 1915, but it betrays two underlying anxieties: first, that perhaps a victorious Germany could pose an imperial threat to the United States and second, that America and Gettysburg specifically would need to be ready to respond and mobilize for another war.

 

 

100 Years Ago Today: ZEPPELINS RAID BRITISH TOWNS

The Gettysburg Times, January 20, 1915

100 years ago today, reports of the first Imperial German zeppelin raid onto British towns was reported in the Gettysburg Times. The invention of the zeppelin had made such a raid possible and long feared, but it late January, it arrived, bringing with it a grim harbinger of how much industrialization would change the face of battle from earlier Napoleonic styles of warfare. Britannia had long ruled the seas, protecting its island from foreign invaders. Now, with the ability to cross the channel at night from the air and rain destruction from above, British civilians were confronted with war in a way they had never been before.

The zeppelin was the invention of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. His idea came from his time as a foreign observer of the Union Army of the Potomac in the American Civil War, where he first saw stationary observation balloons.

Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Wikimedia Commons

Zeppelin on the ground. LC-DIG-ggbain-04178

100 Years Ago Today: Challenging the Christmas Truce

This holiday season, I made a resolution for myself: DO NOT publicly complain about the rampage of Christmas Truce ridiculousness that is about to hit Great War commemoration efforts. But, resolutions are made for breaking anyways so, when my “100 Years Ago Today” coverage of the Gettysburg Times offered up some challenging material, I couldn’t resist. Images of enemies playing football and fraternizing in No Man’s Land have flooded the public consciousness in the last month, most notably (and perhaps notoriously) through the controversial Sainsbury’s Chocolate Commercial. To believe the commemorative hype, one would be led into thinking that the entire Western Front halted, had epiphanies about the fellow humanity of the foe, and kicked soccer balls to their heart’s content. Unfortunately, this memory obscures reality. On January 9, 1914, the Gettysburg Times did relay reports of small sections of the line where soldiers were found “fraternizing with forces of the enemy” over the Christmas Holiday, but rather than create a sappy sensationalized story, the Times reported that military authorities on both sides reinstituted order and forbade fraternization in the line. On the same day, the Times also reported on the continuation of the war, something the 1914 commemorations have entirely missed. Two other headlines read, “Over 3,000 Civilians Killed in Belgium” and “Sniping Also the Same as Murder: Awful New German Shell.” The first article detailed civilian deaths town by town in the wake of the German invasion through Belgium. The second was a feature of the new minenwerfer, a deadly shell that reportedly, “smashes the earthworks and blows men to bits, stupefying and poisoning others. Shot from distance of 300 yards.”

100 Years Ago today the Times reported the Christmas Truce side by side with reports of civilian killings in Belgium. Gettysburg Times, Jan. 9, 1915.

So yes, something that can be called a Christmas Truce did happen. But taking it out of context and creating a fuzzy, feel- good Christmas story from a winter in the trenches and a World War is a serious issue. Commemorative efforts during these Centennial Years need to challenge our understanding of the war and examine subjects that we’d rather skip over rather than resort to overused clichés. And don’t sell chocolate by trivializing an extremely dangerous and uncomfortable war zone.

100 Years Ago Today: U.S. URGED TO PRESS DEMAND

In Gettysburg, the year 1915 opened with considerable ambivalence over the war raging in Europe. The Gettysburg Times expressed outrage over the actions of the British Navy. The British had held up 31 American copper ships valued at $6,500,000. The article urged the Wilson administration to take a stronger stance demanding that Great Britain respect the neutrality of the United States and stop seizing merchant vessels.

Often when thinking about world allies of the United States, a closer affinity to Great Britain over Germany is often assumed. This assumption has most likely formed because of the eventual entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Allies and especially the role of the allies in the Second World War fighting against Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Often, there is an assumed myth that the English-speaking peoples of the world are and have always been united as allies, and yet, that assumption did not yet exist at the start of the Great War. German, Irish, and Eastern European immigrants had been streaming into America since the late 19th century, changing the complexion and culture of America. These immigrant groups and their descendants, Irish and German in particular, had little inclination to form attachments to England or the British army. Gettysburg is located near the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch territory and the majority of inhabitants were of German or  Scots-Irish descent.

As will be seen, the theme of 1915 became deep ambivalence with great powers on both sides of the European conflict. Imperial German U-boat warfare and British seizure of American vessels were equally protested at the opening of the new year.

BIG FRENCH CITY IS SAID TO BE BURNING

On this day 100 years ago, the Gettysburg Times reported with horror the stories coming from the city of Rheims. Reports of buildings aflame, the famous Cathedral bombarded and destroyed, and the murdering of 400 citizens shocked Americans. Bombarding of civilians was not necessarily a new occurrence, it had happened at Fredericksburg, Virginia during the American Civil War, but with some key differences. At Fredericksburg, the order was given to shell the town because Confederate soldiers were occupying houses and taking potshots at Union soldiers. Military necessity overruled the preservation of that part of town. At Rheims, however, the situation was entirely different. There were no soldiers, only terrified civilians as the Germany army descended upon the town, burning homes and dragging citizens into the streets. The bombardment of the Cathedral has been discussed in terms of war atrocity. The deliberate targeting of a religious center for no obvious military purpose devastated the populace. The first four months of the war were deadly ones for Belgian and Northern French citizens. Historian Alan Kramer in his book Dynamic of Destruction, defines mass killing as any incident where 10+ noncombatants are killed. From August to September alone, Kramer counted 119 incidents were more than ten civilians were killed at a time. In some places, such as around Louvain, the German army panicked for fear of civilian resistance and began burning homes, beating, and shooting civilians in the streets. Somewhere between 1300 and 1500 Belgians were deported to Germany to work in forced labor camps. For Gettysburgians, this level of total war against civilians was shocking. Reports of 400 dead civilians and the loss of beautiful French cities sickened readers in Gettysburg and revealed the sinister nature of the war at hand.

Deliberate destruction of places of worship horrified and angered many people worldwide. Pieces taken from the ruins of French churches. The piece of crown molding at the bottom comes from the Cathedral of Rheims. National WW1 Museum.

100 Years Ago Today: First Effect of War Felt in Gettysburg

Following the declaration of war, the price of imported sugar had a marked increase. In Gettysburg, the price of sugar went up 20 cents per 100 pounds. The peach industry was immediately impacted, August means harvest season in Gettysburg and suddenly a key ingredient for preserving peaches became expensive. Although American involvement in the Great War was still almost three years away, the small American hamlet felt reverberations from the guns of the Western & Eastern Fronts thousands of miles away. The sugar price increase in August of 1914 heralded a long and bitter fight with food and amenity prices in Gettysburg throughout the war.

Food Administration Propaganda. LC-USZC4-9739

100 Years Ago Today: U.S. Proclaims Neutrality

Despite the bulk of my summer research being completed, I have found that I am enjoying myself too much with this blog to simply let it go. Thus, the blog will be transitioning to track real-time Gettysburg’s movements and responses to the Great War as it was going on one hundred years ago to the day. I will also still be featuring Gettysburgians in the “Students at War” series.

Today in 1914, President Wilson declared neutrality in regards to the war quickly engulfing Europe. He forbade United States citizens from accepting commissions or enlisting in the armies of any belligerent nation. The war in Europe seemed far away, a curiosity to attract the passing attention of anyone in Gettysburg reading the papers, but Wilson had decreed the United States was to stay out of the war, so it was of little consequence.

 

Gettysburg Times, 8/5/14

Gettysburg Times 8/5/14

President Wilson and wife Edith Bolling Galt. LC-DIG-ppmsca-13425

 

 

Agent of Memory: Percy Eichelberger

1922 Gettysburg College Spectrum, Special Collections, Gettysburg College.

Where I last left you, Percy Eichelberger was a 25 year old combat veteran with wound chevrons, returning to Gettysburg College to try and resume his pre-war life. Eichelberger’s track record between 1919 and his graduation in 1921 is amazing, to say the least. He threw himself back into college life, becoming the Captain of the Debating Team, President of the Educational Club, and a member of the Active Service Men’s Club. In addition to a full course load and leadership in these extra-curricular clubs, Eichelberger stepped up to command the newly organized Albert J. Lentz American Legion post, named in honor of the first fallen soldier from Gettysburg. The Legion chapter had been organized by fellow veteran John Hartman, but Hartman stepped down shortly after when he was elected town sheriff.

With the assiduous Eichelberger at the helm, the ship of historical memory began to set sail in Gettysburg. It is not an exaggeration to state any official commemoration, memorialization, or remembrance of the Gettysburg’s role in the immediate post war years had Eichelberger’s name all over it. He played a key role in organizing for the 1920 dedication of the Memorial Tablet to honor the County dead and delivered one of the dedication addresses. Speaking of the tablet, he framed the way Gettysburgians should view the list of the 53 dead men from the county:

“In the first place this tablet represents great sacrifices—sacrifices so great that they cannot be computed—sacrifices the cost of which lie beyond the domain of mathematics…In the next place this tablet we dedicate is not a tablet representing sorrow. It is a memorial of honor. In honor of mothers who bade their sons do brave deeds, in honor of wives who wept for husbands who should never come home again, in honor of children whose heritage is their fallen father’s name, in honor of men who counted not their lives dear when their country needed them. They answered their country’s call in defense of its honor. By this the red of our flag has been deepened by the crimson flow of their blood, the white has been made purer on account of the new order it proclaims. So it now remains for us as we dedicate this tablet to here resolve that this land shall no know other banner than the Stars and Stripes and that is shall forever float in triumph and in glory.”

Memorial Tablet

For Eichelberger, his own wounding and the experience of war had increased his dedication to his beloved “Stars and Stripes.” Although recognizing the severity of sacrifice not only of the men, but of their families, he did not want Gettysburgians to see only blind grief. His tireless efforts to commemorate did not stop there.  After having a conversation with a fellow college war veteran, Paul Foulke, and coming to the conclusion that the county had played a “noble part in the war,” Foulke and Eichelberger decided “…for the sake of posterity…to preserve in tangible form a record of these noble deeds of military activity, and the home work.” This culminated in the 1921 book Adams County’s Role in the Great War. Compiled by Eichelberger and edited by Foulke, the book deals with the town Red Cross, the Liberty Loan, military campaigns Adams County men were involved in, and a detailed Roll of Honor of every man who served with special attention paid to those who had died.

In many ways, any memory of Gettysburg and the Great War is largely thanks to the efforts of Percy Eichelberger. Though he moved to New York in 1921 after his graduation and lived there and in New Jersey until his death in 1968, Eichelberger’s work in Gettysburg during the end of his college career has been key to my research. Eichelberger’s body was returned to Gettysburg after his death and today he is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery with his family right next to the Soldier’s National Cemetery. Today at the college, we have a motto, “Gettysburg Great.” This Great War Gettysburgian certainly fulfilled the motto.

 

 

 

Students at War: Percy Eichelberger, Class of 1921

 

1922 Gettysburg College Spectrum, Special Collections, Gettysburg College.

As a resident of Adams County, Eichelberger spent his childhood growing up in the Gettysburg area. When war came in 1917, 23 year old Eichelberger enlisted with the 4th Infantry, stationed at a training camp on the Gettysburg battlefield for the summer.

Draft Card, accessed via Ancestry.com

Eichelberger and the rest of his comrades in the 4th Infantry were sent to the western front some time in the late spring of 1918. Some time in early August, 1918, Eichelberger was wounded. As he convalesced, the base hospital was bombed by German planes.  In his letter home, he told his aunt he remarked to a fellow patient that he did not think he would be able to sleep in the silence, having become so used to the “music,” sounds of artillery barrage and machine guns at the front. Several minutes later, he heard the nearby anti-aircraft batteries open up and bombs began to fall on the hospital.  As the bombs fell on a hospital of already wounded men, Eichelberger wrote that two enlisted men were killed, nine injured, and one Red Cross nurse also was killed.

Front Page Headline, Gettysburg Times August 14, 1918. Google News Archive.

Eichelberger would fully recover from his wounds and return to front lines, reporting home in mid-October that the rear lines were filling with surrendering Germans being escorted to prisoner of war camps.

After the armistice, Eichelberger returned to Gettysburg College to finish his interrupted college degree and resume life as a civilian. His interpretation of the war and its legacy set him on a fascinating path of shaping memory and commemoration of Gettysburg in the Great War. But that is a story for another time.