Hughes High School - Hughes Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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A FEW OF OUR HEROES Captain Joseph Coy Green, 1908, was decorated with the Belgian Order of the Crown, for service in Belgium with the Commission for Relief in Belgium during 1915-1916. Captain John A. West was given the Distinguished Service Cross Citation For extraordinary heroism in action near Blane Mont Ridge, France, October 2-5, 1918. He voluntarily led a reconnaissance patrol under difficult condi- tions and secured information necessary to an attack three days later. After the command of his company had devolved on him, he continued in action in spite of being sevefely wounded, leading his men to the objective and refusing to be evacuated until proper disposition had been made. Junior Lieutenant Tom Conroy was decorated by the King of Greece with The Order of the Redeemerf Quartermaster Sergeant Carroll E. Phillips 090m received Croix de Guerre for services in Belgium during the offensives in which he iZassisted materially in maintaining supplies and rations to the troops on the hring line and worked untiringly night and day in the performance of his duties, often crossing over roads that were almost impassable and under heavy hostile artillery fire. Captain Kenneth G. Althaus 0913 was thus cited in French Army Orders for Croix de Guerre: HThis officer on the first and second of November, V01- untarily established an Advanced Center of Information near Heurne, Belgium, in a position exposed to the most intense artillery fire, and during two days and nights maintained communications with units on the front line in spite of the fact that three of his horses were killed, his motorcycle wrecked by shell fire and wire communication was frequently cut by artillery lire. He remained at his post and kept the Division Commander informed at all times of the progress of operations. I20

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lmmmg :mqulgggmamgm 09m $11121 $1.3m William J. Byers Gilbert Fox William Heiert Lieut. John Koenig Leonard McKay Nicholas Miller Lieut. John Morrison Clifford J. Nelson Clifford D. Paddack J. Christian Peterson Sergeant Robert Shroder Earl C. Steinman Leo Weschke lwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww i191

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Cincinnati, 0., April 23, 1919. To the Students of Hughes High School: It was my good fortune to participate in the Welcome Home parade of the 147th Infantry. The rousing cheers and hearty greetings of the Citizens of Cincinnati filled all of us with pride, and again we realized how loyally the folks at home had supported us in our efforts Over Seas. Nine months of service in France and Belgium-were filled with new and thrilling experiences. However, I fear that the continued telling and re-telling of these war experiences will soon bore you to the utmost. After spending several weeks in the trenches and going Over the Top in the first phase of the Argonne Offensive, the 37th and 91st American Divisions were relieved from further operations in France and sent into Belgium, there to assist the Armies 0f the King in driving the hated Hun from their country. The 37th Division moved by train from an area near Verdun and after three days of tiring travel, detrained near the ruined city of Ypres, Belgium. From here we hiked across the famous HNo Man's Land of Ypres, a strip of territory ten miles Wide and over one hundred miles long, a tangled shell plowed desolation habited only by death, rats, and vultures. It stands as a monu- ment to the bravery and bull-dog tenacity of the British and Belgium soldiers.- It was extremely difficult to cross these battlefields over the hastily con- structed roads, and we stopped for a days rest in the ruined town of Hooglede, Belgium, which is situated on the Eastern edge of HNo Manls Land. There was little or no cover available for ofhces and billets, so we established Division Headquarters in an abandoned German barrack. The following morning a very disagreeable odor was noticed in the immediate vicinity and we sent the burying detail out to investigate. That evening they reported that they had buried 134 dead soldiers, most of them Germans who had fallen there eight days before. We did not know just what to expect in Belgium. We had heard so much about the German atrocities there. We thought that the entire country had been devastated and expected to find evidence of Child-mutilation everywhere. Much to our surprise, the country, except where there had been severe fighting, was in excellent condition. But Belgium has suffered. Its people have been robbed and enslaved. In the early months of the war, when the German army began its advance into Belgium, the German high command did not feel that any resistance would be offered. However, at Liege and Namur they soon hnd out that Belgium was a Nation, not a highway. As soon as a Belgian city came into their hands, many of the prominent citizens of the town were arrested and held as hostages. Then the Kom- mandantur issued the most stringent orders controlling the movements of the citizens and imposed the most severe taxes. If any of these laws were broken, l211