Wittenberg University - Witt Yearbook (Springfield, OH)

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1913 1013 51 if t 11 i 11 it It r r y e • • , r , nf«he I etter Sent to the Parents of Sergeant E. Gray Swingle, Original Copy of the Letter Newark Ohio Somewhere in France, July 19th, 1918. 1 i. „,;ii he rather surprised if you receive this letter, but I hlp d to°secure Sergt. Swingle's address and thot you would want ° kTtoiUk 4m as we usually called him, at Camp Ame Srsity, D8 C He ‘ It is superfluous to write that we all liked Dick eiy muen After going to Camp Belvoir, Va., he was made Corporal and so then he became‘‘Corporal Swingle to us He was Corporal of my squad until we went to Washington barracks, Washington D. C where he was made Sergeant. From then until his death he was Sergt. Swingle. He held the respect of his comrades so well that they addressed him by his rank gladly. After becoming Sergeant we always were in the same platoon, so were thrown together quite often. After coming to France we were separated about February 15th, and I did not see Sergeant until about March 25th. On the night of March 27th Co. B went into the trenches. We arrived there between 10:00 and 11:00 p. m. We worked fixing the trenches and patroling for quite a while. About 4:00 a. m. our First Sergeant, Clifford Brundage, came along and told us that Sergt. Swingle was missing. “Dick” had taken out a patrol of 15 or 20 men during the night and in some manner—I have never been able to learn just how it happened but—he was wounded in a skirmish and fell. His comrades lost him in the dark and not being able to locate him again came back and reported him missing. They thot he was captured by the Huns. We received no more word from “Dick” until about 7:00 a. m. While working near the left of our lines we saw Capt. Harris scanning “No Man’s Land” with a field glass. Suddenly he discovered “Dick” lying out near the German lines. He could see with the glass that “Dick” was trying to crawl and knew from his action that he was wounded. Soon Sergt. Brundage came to where Frank Goldcamp and I were working with some other men and said, “We have spotted Sergt. Swingle out about 50 yards from the German trenches and want two big huskies «.«♦HI,11 i ',ni in‘ Goldcamp and I were picked from among those that vol- e,la Were 00r,)°n the way out lt seemed to me to be about Th™.5,ck was ,yin£- We could just see him. guard in r««J thU tj1 n eS- u?nt out part tlle way w th us to act as a gum ci m case the Huns might try to capture us. riflemenCsko si alled for us to keep down low. The “How clo vouovnpl t (ber r and 1 crawled 011 out to “Dick.” He said, my legs are brake? in? Y,?u shou,d have a stretcher. Both of midway of the knee and Sh e- H,e .was.shot thru both legs about his head toward onr lim ,IIe was lyin ln the prone position with position butour and I,were als° 1» the prone several hundred yards to Ines- We could see Germans ‘ Dick” to safety umAserveiT!} « that we might possibly get mg and soon put an end to oSrefforts A German sniPPer w«s watch- t ent -four

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1 01 S Oilj? litt nb rg r mia Mrs. W. C. Hewitt I HIS noble woman was the one who gave her A life while nursing patients of the Wittenberg S. A. T. C. during the influenza epidemic. When the plague broke out in Springfield she was one of the first to volunteer to relieve the patients in our temporary hospital at Wittenberg, and her kind and loving attentions were always in evidence wherever she happened to be. The Wittenberg company attended the funeral service in a body as a token of their sympathy and as taps were sounded the soul of this dear woman passed to its reward. tventy-thrcc

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huh ® If t litlenb rj r 1913 I took hold of “Dick's” right arm up near the shoulder and Goldcamp the same with his left. We would draw him toward us then slide back- wards and pull again. His wounds had bled a great deal and were still bleeding. Goldcamp kept talking and encouraging him. It pained him to have us move him, but he told us to keep pulling, he would stand the pain. My tongue seemed glued to the roof of my mouth, I could not say a word to him. We had moved “Dick” about 25 or 30 feet and X thot we were going to get him in, but suddenly a snipper’s bullet came singing over our heads. Then “Dick” gave a lurch and said, “Oh, it is all over now. You boys should never have come after me.” He had been hit again but I don’t know where. Goldcamp said, “Stick to it a little longer, Sergeant, we will soon have you in.” Just then a bullet pierced Goldcamp’s chest and struck me in the right side. Goldcamp died almost instantly and I sort of doubled up and began rolling out of range of the bullets. I soon stopped and played “possum.” The snipper soon stopped firing. Suppose he thot we were all dead. Then “Dick” called to Goldcamp but received no answer. Then I called down to the three men with rifles and told them what had happened. They said they would come out and get us that night. “Dick” asked me what they said. When I told him he seemed to give up and said, “They may as well not come at all then, I’ll be frozen.” It was quite a cold day and I was soon chilled thru myself. He never spoke to me again that I remember of, but I could see him breathe. He had turned his face away from me and lay with his head resting on his arms as if sleeping. After lying there awhile trying to hide from the Germans X began to feel that I could not stay there all day. I felt that I should try to do something, but I knew that I could not move “Dick” myself. In fact I did not know whether I could use my own legs or not, but it seemed as if my Guardian Angel told me I should get away if I could. So I decided to try. So suddenly X jumped up and started toward our lines as fast as I could. The Huns must not have seen me going as they did not fire at me anyway. Soon I was on my way to this hospital where I have recovered very rapidly considering the nature of my wounds. While I was coming in I passed an English Lieutenant going out to examine us. They said he went on out and examined “Dick” and Gold- camp. He said they were both dead. My brother came out to meet me as I was coming in and helped me to get back to our lines. He was in the trenches the following eight days. He told me on a visit here that “Dick” and Goldcamp were never buried as far as he knew. I heard that our trenches were somewhere between Villers-Bretonneux and Hamel. I received the Military Medal from the British government and was so glad to hear of “Dick” and Goldcamp getting the D. S. C. from Uncle Sam. I received a letter from Mr. Paul B. Grove, R. F. D. No. 5, Newark, Ohio, asking about Dick’s death. I thot perhaps you people would like to know the details of your son’s death and happening to secure your address recently, decided to tell you all about it as clearly as I could. I.f any points are not clear I will gladly explain them or answer any questions the best I know. Sincerely, Wagoner Carl G. Duncan, No. 9 Gen. Hosp., (Lakeside Unit, U. S. A.) A. E. F. ( cnl))-fi c