Courtesy Photo | Three men of 1st Battalion, 356th Infantry, who received Medals of Honor for their...... read more read more
by Lori S. Stewart, USAICoE Command Historian
On November 9, 1918, patrols from the 1st Battalion, 356th Infantry, 89th Division, crossed the cold, deep Meuse River to reconnoiter German positions on the east bank. Information from these patrols allowed the battalion to cross the river successfully and challenge the Germans until the armistice was announced two days later.
Late in September 1918, American forces pushed north from Verdun, through the rugged terrain between the Meuse River on the east and the dense Argonne Forest on the west, toward the rail center at Sedan. By mid-October, the Americans broke the German defensive line in the Cunel-Romagne area and cleared the Argonne Forest. The troops then took two weeks to rest, refit, and train for the next phase of the offensive.
On October 20, Col. Robert H. Allen’s 356th Infantry moved into the line near Sommerance with the rest of the 89th Division. After mopping up in the Bantheville Woods, the regiment was in the center of the American line that attacked north through Barricourt on November 1, and on to Stenay on the Meuse three days later. By November 5, the regiment was arrayed on the heights overlooking the river.
Although rumors of a possible armistice circulated among the frontline troops, the Allies continued to press the Germans, who had crossed the Meuse, destroying most of the bridges in their wake. On 8 November, Colonel Allen decided to send several patrols from 1st Battalion across the river to identify possible landing sites on the east bank and determine the enemy’s strength and positions. Weary from ten days of hard fighting, the men attempted to fashion rafts to cross the 200-foot-wide icy cold river. When those failed, six volunteers were chosen to swim across early the morning of November 9. Because of heavy German fire, a detachment of riflemen covered each patrol.
Company B’s Sgt. M. Waldo Hatler and Company D’s Cpl. John McAfee attempted to cross on the left of the regiment’s sector. McAfee drowned before reaching the west bank, but Hatler completed the reconnaissance and returned with detailed information on enemy strength in the area he surveyed. In the center, the Company A commander, 1st Lt. St. George S. Creaghe, and 1st Lt. Francis Hayes from Company D reached the center of the river when a German patrol boat passed. Moving further downstream for a second attempt, the two officers had to return after encountering a German guard on the other side.
On the right at Pouilly, Company A’s Pfc. Harold I. Johnston and Pvt. David B. Barkley (sometimes erroneously spelled Barkeley) crossed the river and crawled 150 yards from the bank without being detected. After locating a suitable landing site and gathering information on the German positions, the two reentered the water to swim back. Unfortunately, Barkley succumbed to cramps and drowned. Johnston, nearly frozen, had to be helped out of the river and, once sufficiently revived, he reported his findings to battalion headquarters.
Based on the information Hatler and Johnston brought back, the next afternoon, under heavy German artillery fire, Companies A and D crossed the river on rafts made from captured German pontoons. As they prepared to continue the advance the following morning, news of the armistice ending the war reached them.
For their selfless bravery that cold November night, Sergeant Hatler and Privates Johnston and Barkley received Medals of Honor in 1919. Private Barkley, a 19-year-old Texas native, has the distinction of being the first Hispanic American to receive the nation’s highest award for bravery. When he enlisted in 1917, he purposely kept his heritage secret to prevent being placed in a segregated unit far from the frontlines. The Army remained unaware of this until 1989, when his family revealed Barkley’s mother had been born in Mexico.
| Date Taken: | 11.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.07.2022 11:21 |
| Story ID: | 432779 |
| Location: | FORT HUACHUCA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 226 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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