Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Mann | Soldiers from the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Ohio Army National Guard stand...... read more read more
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As the U.S. Army commemorates the centennial of the Meuse-Argonne campaign this week, Soldiers from the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team are reflecting on their visit to France and Belgium this past summer to learn about and pay tribute to the 37th Division’s role in World War I.
The eight Buckeye Brigade Soldiers, including Col. Cory Lusk and Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Schuster, the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s commander and command sergeant major, joined about 50 other Army National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers Aug. 3-9 in northern France and Belgium as part of the Army’s Road to Armistice event.
“The history and lineage of the unit is always something that’s stressed to be important. But the specifics of the individual campaigns, the difficulties that these Soldiers faced and the adversities that they overcame were not a reality for me, personally, until I got a chance to visit the battle sites and walk the fields they fought across,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Davis of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 37th IBCT.
The event began in Belgium, where the Soldiers visited Flanders Field American Cemetery and were asked by the superintendent to conduct the morning flag raising ceremony. From there, the group followed the route the 37th Division traveled in November 1918, which ended in Eyne, Belgium at the Escault (Scheldt) River, where the 37th crossed under fire on Nov. 2. The Soldiers visited the Ohio Bridge, which was built after the war by the Belgians as a tribute to the Buckeye Division’s heroic deeds. The gratitude of the French and Belgians is something Davis said still holds true today.
“They were very excited to have us there. The people that were directly associated with American cemeteries and war memorials specifically, went above and beyond to try and connect with us and just really share with us the significance of all that the allied forces have done for them and how important that is to them still one hundred years later.”
The Soldiers then returned to France, where they were led on a tour of the 37th’s sector in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign by Charles Bowery, executive director of the U.S. Army Center of Military History. While there, the group visited the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, which contains a total of 14,246 graves; the largest number of American dead in Europe.
“The cemetery at the Meuse-Argonne was probably the most impactful because of the volume of graves that are there,” Davis said. “It really made the reality of the loss of human life involved in World War I something that was tangible and comprehensible for me.”
Davis said since returning to his unit he has had greater opportunities to share the impact with fellow Soldiers and relay the importance of wearing the 37th insignia on his uniform.
“For me, the unit patch was more of an organizational identifier, it was an administrative embellishment on my uniform. After that trip it’s a source of pride. To look down and to know what was accomplished in World War I and to know the history, to know the sacrifice, to look down on my sleeve and see that, it’s a sense of pride, it’s a sense of belonging. It’s something to be proud of.”
| Date Taken: | 09.24.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 09.26.2018 13:27 |
| Story ID: | 294222 |
| Location: | MONTFAUCON, FR |
| Web Views: | 184 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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