European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1958, Darmstadt, Hesse A r s Ai a p c t i o n us so battalion Moi what Tymy Safe officer War in which 679 i Only 194 survived r Fly look Over of photo october 2 is always a special Day for it col Ellis Vander Safe intelligence officer at because of the Many tragic events it brings to this year those memories will be particularly Vander Pyl was one of the 679 americans of the world War i lost battalion which began its epic de sense in the Argonne against the germans 40 years there were but 194 survivors after five fearful even after 40 cannot talk easily of the it was another Black Hole of Cal the colonel referring to the 146 prisoners of the Nawab of Bengal in who were forced into a room 18 feet by 14 10 with two Small win Only 23 came out for Vander to talk of his lost Bat Talion is to live Over again the four Days and five nights he spent As a machine gunner on a Steep wooded slope to the East of Cha Levaux Northeast of where he was swept by Ger Man machine gun pounded by Trench mortars and sprayed with liquid fire by flame the men included six companies of the 306th inf and parts of two companies of the 306th machine gun in of the 77th which struck North in the Argonne of the six companies and machine gunners were ordered to push ahead regardless of Progress on their the French were erroneously reported to have made a deep Advance North of and German resistance Wax believed the yanks Cut deeply through an unoccupied Section of the German meet ing Little a Day they kept Contact with the late in the eve nine of 2 a battalion of the 307th inf tried to link up with the Advance during the night the germans posted troops Between the Advance and main body of the division and closed the Gap in the by Daybreak on the americana were completely All efforts by the 77th to relieve the lost battalion one company was sent to Clear a Way but ran into heavy enemy fire another company tried it but was fiercely attacked on both flanks and returner with great the men of the lost battalion dug into their Hillside an Oval about 350 Yards Long with m average Width of 75 the machine gunners were on the the whole position was swept by incessant enemy Mamor tar fire from All causing 200 Cas the americans had but a Days food cop ply for four companies it gave out at Neon planes dropped food end medical supplies but they my out of one attempt two men were shot Down and killed by the Only nearby water was a Muddy Creek under enemy As ammunition became the americans salvaged what they could from dead German pigeons were sent out by the lost Bat Talion 3 and giving the exact Posi Tion and detailing the critical there was no medical and few medical you could get used to being without but the thirst was said Vander our lips cracked and we could hardly the fifth Day was the worst our 77th division renewed its attack and artillery shelled German positions around Sud Denly the shells begun to fall Short and dropped on us we lost 50 we sent out our last Pigeon to let them know what they were we sent six boys out for they were fired on and five were the the stats and sinks whose name was was taken that the germans sent Hollinshead Back to see our maj Charles he brought a de Mand for our surrender from a German capt who had worked in the states before the Printz said a White Flag in our position would be the signal of the germans Tell you to return Whittlesey asked he youre were not said it was reported later that Whittlesey sent the message go to hell to the Ger actually that want a our commander did was order the men to null in the White panels we had As for our when we coiled to the Ger mans smashed at us with Trench mortars and sprayed us with flame the first we had weak As we we struck killed the operators of the flame throwers and beat off the shortly afterwards we were relieved by our troops who finally broke forcing the germans to it was a great moment when a sergeant and two corporals arrived and tapped helmets of our men As our accustomed for a time we were kept in the ruins of an old Chapel to rest before moved behind the Floyd Gibbons was one of the War correspondents who came for our but our Mouths were so sore from we five congressional medal of Honor awards were presented As a result of the action in which the lost battalion Par recipients were Whittlesey capt George a battalion commander capt Nelson commander of one of the 2d it Harold Goettler and 2d it Erwin the two brought Down trying to Supply the sur rounded Vander Pyl himself waa awarded the distinguished service Whittlesey never recovered from the sex Vander Pyl shortly after the end of the he disappeared from a ship going to it was believed to have been Vander Pyl is not the Only Veteran at Safe he who participated in 40 years Only one floor above Hia own office in Headquarters is that of Safe historian Joseph a member of the Crew Manning one of the five 14inch naval guns which saw action in France in october ours was the Only outfit of its kind in world War Tustin the guns were scrapped from the battleship Iowa after the 1916 Battle of Jutland proved the superiority of 16inch rear adm Charles Plunkett rescued the guns from the scrap had them mounted on Railroad cars and brought to France to help Pershing before they went into action at Soissons and near where my gun ing enemy targets and communications 20 Miles i was the Only one of the 500 men with the five guns who was a when i heard the naval guns were being sent to i applied to join the the Crews were full a chief told me one of the 500 men was if the Man you can take his the chief the Man did die and i went Over with the we wore Odd uniforms with Navy and a chief Insigne on our Caps instead of the Marine Tustin said that his Battery was inspected in France in August 1918 by the late Franklin then assistant Secretary of the it
