History and the Rhymes of the Lost Battalion, by Buck Private McCollum, sketches by Franklin Sly and Tolman R. Reamer (small softcover (?leather), 1929, $4, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
In 1918 554 American soldiers advanced into the Argonne Forest. They got ahead of the rest of the army and were surrounded by Germans. Refusing to surrender, they somehow lasted 6 days with very little water, food or ammo. They were shelled by the Germans. They were even accidentally shelled by Americans. Their only communications were by carrier pigeon, the last of which, even though mortally wounded, would bring the message that would save those 200 soldiers still alive.
This book contains poems written by one of the survivors. He writes...
"You'll know how a Doughboy feels when he fights,
And also the joys of his play..."
Besides the private's poems are remembrances by two other privates.
To add to the sadness of all this, Major Charles Whittlesey, who did so much to keep his men alive, received the Medal of Honor, and was one of the pallbearers at the burial of The Unknown Soldier in Arlington, became another casualty of the battle when he later committed suicide. As was said at Whittlesey's funeral, "The scars of conflict or the wounds of battle are not only of the flesh."
As you read these words, the soldiers' grief at the loss of their heroic leader, added to the loss of 300 of their fellow soldiers, is tangible and contagious. I am reminded of a similar story of loss after the loss of the USS Indianapolis in WWII. Her captain was wrongfully accused of causing the sinking, and he too killed himself, leaving his sailors angry and in deep grief. Hopefully both of these groups were eventually able to find healing.
This interesting, but sad book can be found in the poetry section, avail. 3/14.
