Oral History Program Columbus Whipple Interviewed by George Klipper 15 December 1974 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Columbus Whipple Interviewed by George Klipper 15 December 1974 Copyright © 2014 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. 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These oral history assignments were created to help Weber State students learn the value and importance of recording public history and to benefit the expansion of the Weber State oral history collections. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed Kelley Evans, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. 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It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Whipple, Columbus, an oral history by George Klipper, 15 December 1974, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: This interview is being conducted by George Klipper for the Weber State College oral history program. The interviewee is Mr. Columbus Whipple. The interview is being conducted at Mr. Whipple's residence at 219U West 5100 South in Roy, Utah, on December 15, 1974. GK: Now, Mr. Whipple, will you give us some general background on your early life? Where were you born, where were you raised, and your education? CW: I was born on a ranch near Show Low, Arizona. GK: How do you spell that? CW: Show Low. February 29, 1896. I was the seventh child in a family of 16 children. My father Edson Whipple and my mother Rowena McFate, were married at Alpine, Arizona, January 1, 1884. The families of both my grandparents had moved from Utah to Arizona in 1880. The Whipples settled at what is now Show Low, and the McFates at Alpine. My parents kept the Whipple Ranch when my grandparents moved on to Mexico in 1886, where they raised all of their family. GK: What was your educational background? Was it a country school? CW: Yes. My first school was in a one room log cabin with one teacher and about 16 children. We went through the grade schools there and then I went to the Snowflake Stake Academy, which was a high school sponsored by the L.D.S. Church. GK: You graduated from the academy? CW: Yes, from the academy. 1 GK: What year was that? CW: Oh, 1915. On our ranch was a farm. We had stock, sheep and cattle. That was my work until I went in the service, working on the farm and with the stock. GK: Okay, we’ll stop here and we'll check the tape. Now, Mr. Whipple, will you tell us how you got to go into the service? Did you enlist or were you drafted? CW: I was drafted. GK: And what date was that? Can you remember? CW: It was October 2, 1917, at Holbrook, Arizona. GK: Where did you go after you were drafted? Did you have a reporting station? CW: We went by train to Camp Funston, Kansas. I stayed at Camp Funston for about three weeks. We were then transferred to Camp Kerney, California. GK: What did you do at Kansas at that camp there? CW: Well, we were mustered into the Army and had some training, but very little training while we were there. At Camp Kerney, that's all we did, just train and get ready for overseas. GK: How long did that training last? CW: For six months. We left Camp Kerney on the 13th day of June in 1918. GK: Six months. CW: A little more than six months, yes. We sailed from New York City June 26, 1918, on a ship called the Lapland. I believe the Lapland had been condemned before the war, and put back into service to haul American troops overseas. It was a British ship. We 2 stopped at Plymouth, England for a few hours and then to Le Havre, France, landing July 9, 1918. GK: So, let's see that trip took… CW: 13 days. GK: 13 days. How was the accommodations aboard the transport? Were they pretty crowded, pretty packed? CW: I might say that before we passed the Statue of Liberty, I was sick, seasick. And I was sick until we hit land again. We were very crowded on the ship. GK: It must have been kind of a rough crossing. CW: Our food was fair, but I was too sick to eat. We slept on bunks. GK: Then you went over in a convoy, is that correct? CW: Yes. We left Camp Kearney as Company 13 "June Automatic Replacement Draft." Infantry men, going overseas as replacements to be placed wherever needed. GK: Were these American troops you were going to replace? CW: Yes, American troops. GK: American troops were already there by that time? CW: That's right. After docking at Le Havre the company was demobilized and the men were sent to different outfits. I, with a few other men were sent to the 47th Infantry of the 4th Division. They were then in the Aisne-Marne Offensive. GK: Were they attached to a British or a French unit or were they a separate? 3 CW: They were, I believe, separate. GK: So they didn't have any like some units I understand had a British or a French General commanding a mixture of troops. Was this the case or was this an actual separate unit? CW: The Division had had training with the British and with the French. But I believe at this time, Major General George H. Cameron was in command. He was placed in command when the Division was organized and was still in command at this time. GK: Now tell us about when you got to Le Havre. What was your reception there? How did the people receive you? CW: There was no reception at all there. Perhaps this was because there was not time for receptions. We were soon on our way to the different outfits which we had been assigned to. GK: About how many American troops were in that convoy disembarked there in Le Havre? CW: I am not able to make estimate of the number of troops in the convoy. When we left Camp Kearney there were approximately 200 in the company which I was with. GK: Now, what mode of transportation did you have from Le Havre to your different outfits? CW: From Le Havre we went by train to a place near Chateau-Therry, then by bus. I, with others which went to the 47th Infantry which was in reserve of the 39th Infantry, on the front line at the Ourcq River. GK: You said it was in reserve at the time? CW: Yes. GK: So it was not actually engaged. 4 CW: That is right. The 47th was not on the front line when I joined Company H, of that Regiment. We took the front line the night of August 6th near St. Thibaut. GK: St. Thibaut. CW: Yes. St. Thibaut is on the south side of the Vesle River. Across the river is Bazoches. Our orders were to go through St. Thibaut and on to the Vesle River and dig in. You know what dig in means, I presume? GK: Yes. CW: When we got to the river it was still dark and we received orders to go across the river. The road from St. Thibaut to Bazoches crossed the river at a point between where Company Q on our left, and H Company had reached the river. The enemy had destroyed the bridge with their heavy artillery fire. GK: Was this still at night? CW: Still before daylight. GK: Before daylight. CW: Just coming daylight then. It was daylight before we got across the river. Some were having a lot of trouble, trying to cross on trees which had been felled across the river, some on a foot-bridge, which was destroyed by direct hits from the enemy and rebuilt by our engineers, and still others by wading and swimming. One of the men of Company G was yelling for help. He was hanging on to a piece of timber which was wired to a part of the destroyed bridge. I thought he was wounded. I don't know if you want this or not… GK: Yes, yes. 5 CW: I threw off my pack and my sidearms, I was not carrying a rifle. I happened to be Company Runner and I didn't carry a rifle, I did have sidearms. GK: Company Runner would be messenger? CW: Messenger just for the company, to go from the Captain to the lieutenants and so forth, with messages. GK: Did they feel that a rifle would kind of hold you back, weigh you down? CW: That's right. GK: Is that the reason you had the sidearms? CW: Uh huh. GK: What type of weapon was it? CW: It’s been a long time, I've forgotten. It was a pistol, a six shooter. GK: Oh, a revolver. CW: A revolver, yes. And I threw those off on our side of the river, and jumped in the river to help the wounded man. I helped him across the river, a Lieutenant from his company helped me get him up the bank on the opposite side of the river. He had a slight wound in the leg, not serious. I left him with the lieutenant and swam back to get my pack and sidearms. GK: Now, when you were crossing the river, was the footbridge still intact? CW: No. GK: Did you have to wade across? 6 CW: Where I crossed the river it was too deep to wade. It was not too wide, I'd say about 60 feet. I might say that for helping this man out of the river, I was recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor. GK: You Were? CW: Yes, but I didn't receive the Medal of Honor. Instead I received the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military award given by the U.S. government. GK: Why, I didn't know that. CW: I'll say something about that later on, if you want me to. GK: Okay, fine. Yes, yes. I very much would. CW: Well, there was severe fighting there for the next 5 days. Most of our Company and parts of Companies "G" and "F" got across the river that morning and established ourselves along the railroad track. We took the town of Bazoche, that's B-a-z-o-c-h-e. GK: Did you have to go right through the town or did you deleted text house to house? CW: No. There wasn't much of the town left when we got through. They shelled the whole town. All the townspeople had vacated; it was occupied only by the enemy. We took prisoners of all who were not killed. GK: What were the German prisoners like? Were they surly when you had captured them or were they just glad to be out of the war? CW: Some of them were very glad to be captured. Some were not, they didn't like it. They didn't know what was going to happen to them. Some thought they would all be killed. Our command was very gentle with the prisoners. 7 GK: Did you have to send your prisoners that were captured, did you have to send them back? CW: Yes. GK: You sent them back to a holding area of some sort? CW: Yes. They were taken back by the M. P's. GK: What was your impression of the German soldier as a prisoner? Was he fed good? Was he clothed good? Did he have good equipment? CW: You mean by us, after we took him prisoner? GK: Yes. CW: We had but very little contact with them, as fast as they surrendered they were sent back to the holding area. We turned them over to the M. P's. I was never at a prisoncamp but I am sure they were as well fed, as was our own army. GK: I imagine you came across German equipment. Did it seem like good equipment? CW: Yes. They had very good equipment, including their arms which were superior to ours. GK: I see. CW: They had been in the war for several years, and... GK: They’d got all of the bugs out of the equipment. CW: Yes. We were relieved from the Veil front after 5 days, this was August 9th. We had had a lot of casualties, I am just referring to our own Company now. When I became a member of Company H, on the Ourcq River there were 248 men in the Company. When 8 we were relieved from the Veil front we had 94 casualties— killed, wounded or gassed— out of that 248. GK: So, that would be about 40% casualties. That signifies some very fierce fighting. CW: Yes, it does. We had a very fierce battle at the Vesle River. GK: What major French town would that be near? Would it be near Verdun or Nancy or…? CW: Verdun, I believe was nearest. GK: What direction would Verdun be? CW: I'd say south, southwest I believe. GK: Okay, so this took place pretty close to the German border then. Would you say? CW: Quite close yes. Yes we were quite a long ways east and north of Paris. Quite a long ways. We were relieved from the Vesle by the 305th Infantry of the 77th Division, August 12th. From then until the 20th we traveled south to a training area in the vicinity of Trampot— T-r-a-m-p-o-t— where we were to get replacements and, we thought, rest for a while. GK: How far was Trampot from the Vesle? CW: I'm unable to say how far. During the night of August 13th we marched 16 kilometers, we rested for two days in the woods, and then marched on to St. Simeon where we took a train and went south; I don't know how far, to the vicinity of Trampot. We rested for three days, got replacements, and for the next week or so, we had intensive training. GK: What was your next move? 9 CW: From there we were taken by French trucks to the St. Mihiel sector. The St. Mihiel front, where we were at, was trench warfare. These trenches had existed since the beginning of the war and had been occupied by both the French and the Germans. I believe they were dug by the French but they had been lost to the Germans, recaptured by the French, many times since the war began. The enemy held them at the time when our drive started. GK: Tell us about the fighting in the trenches. CW: The 47th were very fortunate at St. Mihiel. This was the first large scale operation, planned, executed, and developed entirely by Americans. Fighting at St. Mihiel had existed since the war began. 14 American divisions were ready for action. Other troops were ahead of the 47th and most of the enemy had evacuated before we went into the trenches. We were at or near the town Esnes, E-s-n-e-s. Don’t believe I pronounce it right. GK: I wouldn't know how to pronounce it either. CW: We went into the trenches during the night of September 25. We were relieved October 18th by the 38th Infantry. GK: Now, you said the trench lines ran through St. Mihiel. Did you have to dig in, so to speak, in the trenches themselves? CW: No. They were wonderful, the trenches, built for protection and for comfort. I would say the main trench was about 9 feet deep, with places every few feet so one could step up and look over the country side. GK: During the time of the fighting was this still a thorough American engagement? 10 CW: Yes. GK: There were no other Allied troops there? CW: Just a few. Just one or two with each company. I presume to observe. We were now ready for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. GK: Can you describe what the Argonne looked like at that time? Was it just a heavy wooded area or did it have hills and ravines? Was it flat? CW: The Argonne forest was heavily wooded with hills, flat places, ravines and rivers. We were on the Meuse and the Moselle Rivers. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive reached all the way from Metz on our right to the North Sea on the left. We were participating in the largest battle the world had ever seen. 14 American divisions were ready for action, along with our allies France and England. Our Regiment, the 47th Infantry had proven their ability by their actions on the Ourcq and the Vesle; with its ranks filled again they were ready. And at 5 o'clock on the morning of September 26, 1918 they led off, along with thousands of other American and Allied troops on that line which reached from Metz to the North Sea. Companies H and G were on the front line of our Battalion with Companies E and F a short distance behind us. Our orders were to advance for three hours at the rate of 100 meters every three minutes, these same orders were to the troops all along the line, from Metz to the North Sea. Every three minutes we were to halt for 30 minutes, to allow the Artillery to advance their fire, keeping their barrage 100 meters in front of our front line. The enemy, there was no opposition from them, many were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. GK: Well, you were right in the Argonne Forest itself at the time? 11 CW: Yes, that's right. Let's stop the recorder for a minute. On the right of our two Companies, H and G, the American front extended to the Meuse River. Across the river were the French. On our left, the American front extended to a point south of Grandpre. GK: How long was the American line? CW: I would say about 20 miles. GK: But the Argonne Forest battle was a combined Allied effort, was it not? CW: Yes, it was a combined Allied effort, but from the Meuse River to Grandpre, a distance of about 20 miles, there were nothing but American troops under the command of General Pershing. GK: What troops were on your flanks? Were they American troops also on your flanks? CW: Yes, on our own flanks, on the right of the 47th was the 39th, the other infantry regiment of the 4th Division. And to the right of the 39th was the 33rd Division and the 80th Division. These divisions extended to the Meuse River. The French were across the river. On our left was the 79th Division. This was at the starting of the drive. GK: Now how did you actually advance? Was it a method of crouching behind a tree into a shell hole or something like this? Was this how it went? CW: Yes. Yes we would shell holes mostly. Our artillery had made a lot of shell holes in front of us. We had to advance a hundred meters every three minutes, the entire front line had orders to make that hundred meters every three minutes, and we would rest for 30 minutes. This was to let the artillery to advance their shelling, in front of us. This lasted for two days before we were relieved. We were not on the front line all of the time during these two days. We would be relieved, rest for a few hours, then return to the front. 12 GK: Now were you still a messenger at this time? CW: Yes, I was Company Runner; we called it Company Runner. GK: Okay. CW: And I carried messages from our Captain, which he would receive from the Major or Colonel, to the Lieutenants in charge of the different platoons of our company. GK: I imagine being a Runner like that you got to see more than just your own area. CW: Yes. I was very fortunate, especially on the Vesle. I might tell you of one experience, I had carried a message to a platoon lieutenant, this was after we had crossed the river. He had dug in, a hole about 2 feet by 6 feet, about 2 feet deep. I had delivered my message and was waiting for his message to take back to the Captain. It was early morning, the sun was not yet up but it was light, I was just ready to leave when he was hit by machine-gun fire and killed. The town of Bazoche was on the hillside in front and to the left, about ½ mile. He was hit in the head and died instantly. The firing was from a building in the town and continued to fire every few seconds. The bullets would hit the side of the hole while I was there. I decided to leave, I held up his gun, it was shot through the stock. GK: Almost chopped in half. CW: Splintered. When I left, there was not a shot fired. I carried the gun back to show the Captain. I had a lot of close calls but was never wounded. But let's get back to the Argonne. GK: Oh, let me. One more question. These messages when you were Runner, were they oral or were they written? 13 CW: Some oral, some written, but most of them were oral. During our advance on the Argonne Front, each time we would have a 30-minute halt I would go from the Captain to each platoon lieutenant. The messages were all oral, most of them were. “Continue to advance as instructed.” By the way, we all carried two days ration in our pack, just a knapsack with the two days ration, two bandoliers of ammunition and two grenades. Each man had that equipment, and of course his gun but no blankets. For kilometer after kilometer very little resistance was met at 9:30 when the regimented halted for half an hour the 3rd Battalion leap-frogged the 2nd Battalion, which then continued to advance as the support battalion. The regiment pushed on to the Bois de Septsarges with only a few casualties. When we reached the Meuse River we had heavy resistance, and we had some casualties, I don’t know how many. The Meuse River was another stronghold for the Germans. We were shelled very severely there, and had more casualties. This was September 26, we dug in for the night and the following morning we again went over the top. It was raining and quite cold but we gained about 5 kilometers. We were then relieved by the 59th Infantry during the night of the 28th. We then drew back in reserve where we received a few replacements. We stayed there for four days, being under shell fire all the while. On the night of October 3rd we relieved the 59th, they had advanced only a short distance. For the next week or so we were actively engaged in battle. The Germans very strongly entrenched on the heights of the Meuse. We finally succeeded in driving them out, they withdrew from that position on the night of October 9th. We were relieved from this front, the 47th Infantry, during the week of October 14th. GK: Where did you go from there? What was your next assignment? 14 CW: We went back behind the lines, the 2nd Battalion to Cornieville, to rest and get replacements. On October 21st the regiment marched 16 kilometers, on the 22nd 15 kilometers and on the following day our battalion marched 20 kilometers to Cornieville. The next few days were spent resting and policing up. We received replacements, and during the last few days of the month we began active training and preparing for our next move. GK: About how many replacements did you receive? And where did they come from? CW: In 26 days in the front lines in the front lines in the Argonne we had done our share of the fighting, and we had had more than our share of casualties. The regiment received 70 new officers, most of them from the Army Candidates School at Langers, and 1228 enlisted men. Most of the enlisted men had just arrived in France from the United States. Before many of these replacements arrived the regiment was ordered to the front once more. We were sent to what we called the Belleau Woods. At half past five Sunday morning November 10th we started marching, we marched to the town of Montsec, in the old St. Mihiel sector. The town was in ruins from earlier fighting. We rested there for an hour at noon, and then marched on to the Bois de la Belle Oziere, this was in what we called the Belleau Woods. We there prepared to stay for the night. All night long we could hear the intensive artillery fire. Early the next morning we heard rumors that the armistice was to go into effect that day. We didn't believe it could be true, we could still hear the artillery fire as intensive as ever. Promptly at eleven o'clock the artillery ceased firing. We were still doubtful at first, but when the official announcement was made to all organizations from brigade headquarters, we realized that it must be true. It had been raining during the night, we were cold and wet. We were 15 told to make fires and get warm, which we did. It seemed too good to be true, but we shouted for Joy. The fighting was all over. GK: So that was at 5 o'clock in the morning on the 11th. That was the first inkling that you had that there would be an armistice. CW: That's right. GK: That's only 6 hours before the armistice. CW: Before armistice, and there was not another sound of gun fire to be heard. The official message came at 5 o'clock in the morning. It went to all units along the firing line at the same time, to our allies and to the enemy, and there was not another shot fired. GK: Was there any talk or any rumor before that, the day before, maybe 2 days before? CW: Not even a hint of any armistice, we hadn't even thought of an armistice. GK: So it came right out of the blue then? CW: That's right. Of course the higher-ups knew all about it. General Pershing and his staff I'm sure knew all about what was going on, but all we had to do was just take orders; advance and clean out the woods. There were many, many German casualties in the Argonne Forest. Those who were dead we would bury, to keep them from stinking and so forth. GK: Was there any method of identifying the German Soldier? CW: They had a tag on them, we called it a dog tag. The infantry men didn't bury the dead, there were cleanup men for this purpose. 16 GK: What kind of medical treatment was available for the wounded American soldier? Did you have a corpsman with your company? CW: Each soldier carried a first aid kit with him and we had Medical Corpsmen with each company, right on the front line with us. Our wounded had just as good a treatment as could have been given to them under the conditions. GK: So now after 5 o'clock after you got the message, your company didn't engage in any more fighting? CW: No GK: Did the Germans at the time do any more shelling or shooting, or did they just stop? CW: The German soldier, I believe, was just as anxious as were the Allies. I never heard a shot from any source after 11 A.M. November 11th. But another messenger came among us, telling us to build fires to keep warm and do anything we cared to do, we began to realize that it was true. GK: Keep warm? CW: Yes, keep warm, we were damp and cold. GK: So how long did you stay there? Now this was right in the Belleau Woods? CW: Well, we stayed there a couple of days, not longer than that. Then we went back and prepared to go into the army of occupation. GK: Before we get onto that, I want to ask you, at any time did your company have German tanks attack, or did you see any tanks, or were tanks used at all by either side where you were? 17 CW: No, no, not where we were. They were in other parts. Now, we did have some airplanes drop bombs on us. After we were relieved from the Vesle front, at three different times an airplane flew over us and dropped bombs. GK: It sounds like there wasn't much of a threat to the infantry from the airplane. CW: No, no, they weren't too bad, one of my very best friends was killed when a shell was dropped from an airplane. His name was Anastacio Trujillo, he had a brother also in our company. They too, were from Arizona, as was I. GK: Now, on this Army of Occupation, what happened, and where did you go from there? CW: We were going to Germany as an Army of Occupation. We started our march to Germany November 13, just two days after the armistice had been signed. That first night we stopped at Vignot, stayed there for a few days making preparation for the trip. From there we went to Briey, from there to Algringen and then to Ruttgen. I should like to refer again to my experience on the Vesle, remember I said I would say something more about the Distinguished Service Cross. After we had been relieved from action on the Vesle and when we were at the place where my friend Trujillo was killed, the Lieutenant who helped me get the soldier from G Company up the bank of the river came to me and told me he had recommended me to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I had forgotten about this until we arrived at Ruttgen. Would you like me to say more about that now? GK: Yes, indeed. CW: We stopped at Ruttgen for three days. On the morning of November 29th, our company commander, Captain Paul Coster, came to me and said "Private Whipple, you are to 18 report to Colonel Middleton, at his office, immediately.” That is all he said to me, I had no idea what for but I went to the Colonel's office which was upstairs in a home, about 2 blocks from where our company was billeted. His orderly was at the door and he told me to go right in. I went in, saluted and said. "Private Whipple reporting to the Colonel." He said, "Well, Columbus Whipple, sit down." He didn't say this in the tone that one would expect from his commanding officer but more like an old friend of the family. I sat down and he told me what I was there for. Major General Mark L. Hersey was going to inspect the regiment the following day, and I was to be decorated. He didn't say what the decoration would be, he may not have known. There was a parade ground which had been used by the German army, about two kilometers from the town of Ruttgen. The entire regiment was to be at the parade ground at 7 o'clock in the morning, his orderly would pick me up in the side seat of his motorcycle, and take me to where he and General Hersey would be at, to give me instructions as to what I would do. I don't know if you want me to tell you more about this or not. GK: Yes, yes, do tell us how you were decorated. CW: Colonel Middleton and the General were at the parade ground sitting in the back seat of a car, the Colonel stepped out and had me sit in the car between he and the General for instructions. The regiment was forming in brigade formation with the Regimental Band about 60 feet to the right, I was to stand between the band and the regiment, and when the command, "Private Whipple, front and center march" was given by the Colonel, I was to take 30 paces to the front, halt, left face and march forward until the Colonel gave the command. Halt, right face, forward march. The Colonel and I would then march to the General and salute him. General Hersey would return our salute, read my 19 citation, pin the Distinguished Service Cross on my left breast and salute me. I would then stand between the Colonel and General while the regiment passed in review. GK: Were you the only one to be decorated? CW: Yes, at that time. Others of our regiment received decorations at a later date. Major General Hersey told us that this was the first decoration that he had ever presented. The Distinguished Service Cross had just been approved by Congress as an award for valor. It is not as high an honor as is the Medal of Honor. GK: But it is the second ranking decoration that can be given to a serviceman. CW: That's right. GK: Do you still have it? CW: Yes, I have it. I am going to give it to my oldest son. I was going to tell you what I did. . . GK: Now what was the date of this, of your decoration? The awarding of your decoration? Do you remember that date? CW: Yes. I have it written here. It was at Ruttgen, November the 30th, 1918, I received the Distinguished Service Cross. The entire regiment stood at attention, while General Mark L. Hersey, that's spelled H-e-r-s-e-y. I was the first man in the 4th Division to receive the award. I might say, this decoration had just been approved by Congress, to be awarded to individuals who had performed deeds of valor "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty". GK: That's interesting to know. What kind of a day was it? Was it a cold day? 20 CW: It was cold but it was clear. It was not storming, the sun was shining but it was quite cold. It was quite an honor to receive that decoration and the cold didn't bother me. The company went all out, too. GK: Did your buddies kid you? CW: They didn’t kid me, they just praised me, and, and it was wonderful. They— GK: Had a little get together afterwards. Quite an honor to receive. CW: It was an honor to receive that. But, we were to leave Ruttgen at 5 o'clock the following morning, continuing our march into Germany. The company, Company H that I was with, went to a little town called Honningen on the Ahr. This river is a tributary to the Rhine. We stayed there all winter. Being a cook when we arrived there, I might say something about our kitchen. Our cook equipment was placed in a barn, well, it wasn’t just a barn; the building included the home, a shed, the barn which was our kitchen, and a stable where they had two milk-cows. It was a two story building, over the barn and stable was a hayloft. Not too attractive a place for an army kitchen, but it turned out to be the most popular place in town. I guess the main reason, the lower floor of the home was a beer-joint and the daughter and a cousin were the bartenders. GK: I guess that would make the place popular, for the men. CW: I didn't stay at Honningen too long, I was placed in the 3rd Army Composite Regiment, Company 1. GK: Mr. Whipple, why don't you talk a little about the Army of Occupation and their duties? CW: The Army of Occupation went into Germany after the war, I guess to keep the Germans from forming again. We went in as far as the Rhine. The 4th Division occupied territory 21 along the Rhine, where the Moselle River came in. After I left Company H of the 47th, the company was moved to Koblenz. I had left them before that time, into the 3rd Army Composite Regiment. This regiment was made up from all the different regiments of the Army of Occupation. Rumors were that we would go to all of the different Allied nations, and then return to the U. S. GK: Okay. Let me stop you right here and take a... Okay. CW: The regiment was organized at Koblenz, from there to Paris. At Paris, a large stadium had been built, it was named the John J. Pershing Stadium. The regiment was billeted, in tents, on a large parade ground at the side of the stadium. The stadium had been built for the Inter-Allied nations to hold a "track and field" meet. While we were at Paris the regiment paraded, two different days, on the streets of Paris. The Inter- Allied Track and Field meet, which was similar to an international Olympian contest, was held while we were at Paris. Excepting on the days which we paraded through the streets of Paris, we had nothing to do. So we watched the games at the stadium, went to the city or did whatever we cared to do. There was no "revilee" in the morning or "taps" at night. We were there for about two weeks. From there we went to London where we stayed in hotels. We paraded on two different days, all of the rest of the time we were free to do whatever we chose to do. And from there back to Paris for another two weeks. GK: When you were in Paris and you stayed two weeks did you get to see the city? CW: Yes. GK: And go out? 22 CW: Yes. Again, we were free to do whatever we cared to do. There was no drilling, no parades. We were again billeted at the same place where we were at before we went to London. GK: How did the people seem to you, the French people at that time? CW: Well, they were very friendly then. I, being a cook, was on duty every third day. I went to Paris, up to the city, nearly every day that I was off duty, at least 6 or 8 times. GK: So you were just a little out of the city? CW: We were at the edge of the city. Yes, right on the outskirts of the city, and they had a bus to take us up to town and it didn't cost us a thing to go or return on the bus. The French people were wonderful, very good to us. GK: That was quite an honor to be in the regiment. CW: Yes, I felt it was a great honor, many of the men had been decorated as I, with the Distinguished Service Cross, and the French Croix De Guerre, a few had received the Congressional Medal of Honor. GK: Can you describe a typical meal that you prepared for the men? CW: A typical breakfast would be hotcakes and eggs, scrambled eggs, or French-toast with bacon or eggs on the side. We had plenty of fresh meat while we were there at Paris, and we served a lot of roast-beef with potatoes and gravy. Fresh meat was very scarce before we went to Paris; we didn't often have it. Corned beef, hash, potatoes and beans were plentiful. We served a lot of this kind of food. GK: What would a typical lunch you would prepare be like? 23 CW: We only prepared two meals a day while we were at Paris. As I said, the men were free to come and go as they chose, there were not too many around after breakfast. But we did have to prepare two meals a day, at 9 o'clock in the morning mess-call would be heard, breakfast would be served, hotcakes and so forth. And at 5 o'clock in the evening mess-call would again be sounded, and supper would be served. GK: After this time in Paris, the first time, you say you went to London. CW: Yes. GK: Would you go by train? CW: We went by train to Brest, and then by boat over to England. I'm not sure where we landed… Oh yes, I believe it was at South Hampton and from there by train to London. We stayed in hotels while at London and were treated royally by the English people. It was good to be with people whom we could understand. I and most of the other men couldn't speak French. GK: How did you find the English people at the time? CW: The English were very nice to us, wonderful. We were there as their guests, they made us feel like guests at the hotels where we stayed. GK: So what happened then after London? CW: From London we went back to Paris. From London, most of the men, thought we were going home but instead we went back to Brest and then to Paris. And we stayed in Paris until about the middle of July. GK: In July of 1919? 24 CW: Yes, July of 1919. Let's turn the tape off a minute. GK: Okay. CW: When we left Paris for the last time, we went to Brest again and sailed from Brest to the United States. We sailed for home on the Leviathan which was the best ship on the ocean, some different between it and the Lapland, which I was on going over. General John J. Pershing came home on the boat with us. GK: Did you ever see General Pershing in person on board the ship anytime? CW: Oh yes, yes. GK: Would you describe him physically? CW: Oh he was a man about my size, a little taller, very dignified, when he walked you knew he was a soldier. He was a very dignified looking person whom we thought a lot of. The army men respected and thought a lot of General Pershing. He was a fine gentleman, fine general, who was respected by the French and our other Allies. GK: So your impression then is that he got along real good with the troops. CW: Yes. Yes he did. Yes he was a fine General. GK: So you came back to the United States in September of 1919. CW: Yes. GK: This was to New York, right? CW: Back to New York, yes. When we got back to New York we paraded there, and then we went down to Washington and did some more parading. I believe the 3rd Army Composite Regiment did more parading than any other organization of the U. S. 25 Military. We represented the rest, men from every unit which had taken part on the front lines during the war, were in the regiment. GK: After that, where did you go? How much longer were you in the service? CW: The entire regiment, was demobilized at Washington, D. C. I was sent to Camp Travis, Texas for my discharge. I received my discharge on the 29th day of September, 1919. I had been in the service for two years, minus three days. After receiving my discharge I went to my home at Show Low, Arizona. GK: You saw a lot of service in those two years. Do you care to say more? CW: I might say, I am a member of the Veterans of World War 1. Also a member of the Legion of Valor. GK: The Legion of Valor? What is the Legion of Valor? CW: Yes. The official name is the, Legion of Valor of the United States of America. I am the only member in the state of Utah who belongs to the organization. It was organized in Washington D. C., April 23, 1890, as the Medal of Honor Legion by Civil War veterans who had received the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1918 the name was changed to its present name, and holders of the Distinguished Service were then eligible for membership, I am the only member of the organization in the State of Utah. GK: You are the only member. CW: In the State of Utah. In September of 1960, my wife and I went to England and France with members of the Legion of Valor. The trip was sponsored by the Legion of Valor of the United States of America and the President’s "People to People" committee. GK: You did? Will you tell us about the trip? 26 CW: Our reunion that year, we have an annual once a year, was held in Boston and Paris. We flew from Boston, September 19, to London where we stayed for six days, then to Paris where we stayed for a week. While in France we toured the French Battlefields. While at Verdun, a number of men including myself, were decorated by the French Government. We received the Verdun Medal, for the service we performed there in 1918. We visited Flanders Fields and other cemeteries where thousands of our comrades were buried. That was a trip which we will never forget, it brought back memories of things which we had tried to forget. GK: Mr. Whipple, this has been very interesting, thank you very much for consenting to the interview, and I appreciate it greatly. CW: I have enjoyed the conversation, I hope you will be able to understand what we have put on the tape. 27