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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1921)
THE OREGON STATESMAN. SALEM, OREGON SATURDAY MORNING. NOVEMBER 19. 1921 STORY IS TOLD OF HEROIC DEATH OF ERNEST ECKERLEN Shortly before Armistice day of tbla yqar, and dated November 3 at East Orange, N. J . a letter wa receded by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Eckerlen of Salem giving an act count of tbe death In battle, of their son, Ernest T. Eckerlen. in France, November : or 6, 1918. The letter coms from J. W, Crecca4 who "was a buddy of the Salem youth, and is addressed "To the Mother of Ernest T. Eck erlen." As recorded in the letter Eckerfen's heroic spirit was man ifest over a period of weeks, dur ing which his health was exhaust ed, and bis adventures culminat ed In his death while under shell fire. The letter follows: 1 am it last about to perform a 'duty which I have already pro crastinated for a long: time. The contents of 'my letter will un doubtedly seem strange and un expected to you, but I hop that you will fully understand the in dention and feelings with which 1 write. First, I ; beg: to extend to you and yours "ray . deepest sympathy In your bereavement of the glor ious and honorable sacrifice of your son, Ernest T. Eckerlen. It is with the same affection ana - tr,u friendship that made Ernest OREGON ELECTRIC 1 - FOOTBALL special 1 rain Leaves Eugene 5:25 p. m. Saturday for Albany, Salem and Portland only. Arrive Albany 6:30 p. m., Salem 7:15 p. m., Portland 8:55 p. m., Jef ferson Street, 9:10 p. m. North Bank Station. Regular trains leave Eu gene daily 7:30 a. m., li:i5 a. m., 2:00 p. m. and 5:25 p. m., aFfive Sa lem 7:50 p. m. Trains to Eugene leave Salem " daily 8:35 and 10 :2d a. in. (two sections Saturday) 4:15 and 045 p." m. " $3.84 Round Trip Plus 31c war tax. ' - " ..' J Friday and Saturday, re turn limit Monday- OREGON ELECTRIC RY. and me buddies for over a year in France that I fulfill this ob sequious duty. Shortly after your son was killed, you probably received an' oriiclal notice Trora Washington, D. C, stating more or less that v mate .Ernest T. Eckerlen was killed in action at ttai front In France. -That mere statement of sad news is a very Inadequate: manner of telling a hero's mother the story of the courageous and fearless adventures' of her son bei fore his death on the battle! front- 1 can fully Imagine with what shock you received this news at that time , about , three years ago, and I realize how manV sad hours you rauBt have spent; since tnen, especially m your rec ollections ot Ernest's childhood. his youth, his. budding manhood stirred at the outbreak of the war, the day he left home to vol-i unteer his services to his counf try, his departure for. France, hl4 long stay away from home. and finally the fatal news of his hav-j ing fallen in battle. It is because of this, that ori November &th or 6th. 1918. wheri Ernest waskilled, that I resolve4 to some day write to his mothe and tell her the truth about hU heroic deeds. So, Mrs Eckerteni I will take this opportunity to re late briefly those events In yonf son's military career, which will reveal the truth to you and help mitigate the, grief and suffering which his loss Has caused you I met Ernest for the first timfe at Ghaumont, .France, in - that cold dreary winter of 1917. Ik those days friendships weje easf ily begun, and It took but a short time for. Ernest and I to become intimately acquainted. Oujr friendship was strenethened when on Christmas day, 1917, we went to confession. . . f While staying at cnaumpni we were in the company that was appointed General Pershing honor guard. It as there doing that duty, that by his proficiency in- military duty, his athletic abil ity and his fidelity to his comv rades,' that Ernest won this friendship and good will of his company mates. It was a pleas ure to bunk near Ernest or to be on duty with him. He was faithful; manly and true. After our company ithe 7th?) was at Chaumont for some tim we naturally became impatient We began to get anxious for h taste of real war, for which wje an had enlisted. We were feeling rather uncoiri fortable staying behind the lin?3 and seeing our friends from other companies of the regiment that was on the front, come marchlnfc back wounded and maimed by the enemy. In time the spirit of the company, was so aroused, thai It few deserted and Joined the units in the trenches at the rlak of bet ing imprisoned, for a long time. Partly because of this our com manding officer received order to pack up, and a few days late we were on our way to thait worst of all places. f We joined the Second division In the Champagne sector at Sont me Py, a part f the. battlefield which was deserted ty the Get mans, and rt was there that our real, experiences were beguri They placed the C's, D's, E's and F's In the 23 company of the Sixth machine gun battalion, t,ha(t put Ernest and I in the same com pany, and In the same piaioon, , v, " . I ' '- , , , ' v S -' : ?;?.' V: ' JvV. ' :;' '.V' i f ' .-" 5 h f ! t - v -...Iv. y -.i.v.-vN ? - . . . . -;.: ...- x:ve.-.-vi v:yt....-.-. ' ! ..--rV-. ,,,., I i Henry Souyaine ' Distinguished American flanist Penelope Dayies Soprano Assisted by Ampico Reproducing Piano These distinguished artists will appear in v Recital, in this city, at the Armory, VVednes day evening, November 23rd. A rich treat for all music lovers. Last week m Portland an audience of over three thousand people was delighted with song and instrument by these New York artists. This concert being sponsored by tne G. F. Johnson Piano Co. there is to be only a nominal ..admission fee of 50 cents charged. il aad most of the time even In the same .gun crew. ! i ' To reach this sector, we hiked about 60 r 70 miles with little or nothing to eat, carryin; heu?y packs, rifles and pistols (niachfne gunners, are the heaviest loaded men on the line) and through a ontinuoua rain You cau upder- stand how miserable we must have been with such a load t" carry and wet to the skin. When w would stop for a rest, some ot the fellows were so exhausted that they would fall over as soon as the command was glrenTeu though they were standing in a puddle of water. Our . hardships wera extraordinary on this hike, be cause our company commander had lost us. consequently we hiked many miles in a roundabout way- . It may seem strange, but It is a tact, mat a nig man nas mucn more difficulty than a. small one on a hike of this nature.' A big fellow not only has a heavier load! on himself to carry, hut nis pact as a rule Is heavier than a smal ler man's. When It comes to dig- glng out of danger the larger sol dier would have, to of course dig a larger hole for himself, and in modern warfare, digging in, is about the most important opera tion at the front. Without a bo!e for a hiding place, a soldier un der shell fire Is absolutely out or luck. Because of these racts when we reached Somme Py, we found that Earnest not only bad trench feet (so swollen he could hardly, take off rfis shoes) but he was feverish and sd sick he could hardly talk He was so game, however. I be lieve I was the only one who no ticed his real conZTTtiOn-. becaus-? I was bis bunky. Everybody in the company Would like to be r-r nest's bunky. In. an outfit like ours, a man of his calibre was re spected as a leader, even though he was but a private. When the whole gun crew learned that Ernept was thus handicapped, we all .encourageU him, in fact, tried to compel him to go to the doctor, who would send him jo a field hospital for treatment. He felt it an insult to be told this, and all we could do was admire him for sticHng- it out, although I kept, telling him all the time that It wa? foolish for him not to go back for a rest and then join us again Just be fore "going over the top. We were in th:s sector for nuhiber of days, under shell fire most of the time. " Ernest's, phy sical condition was becoming1 con stantly worrfe. On the other hand his morale was made stronger by the hardships and the constant danger. j In the lines a machine gunner was required to carry the follow ing: His pack (weighing about -0 pounds) a pistol and ammunition (about 12 pounds), and cither a tripod (40 pounds) a machine gun (50 pounds) or two boxes of machine gun ammunition (about 20 pounds apiece) thus the aver age weight carried by one man was" about 60 Or 70 pounds, be' sides helmet, blankets and other things. Xt course we could take turns with the 1 heavy equipment One would carry the gun for a while, the other the ammunition or the tripod- ("With this' weignt on our shoulders we would have to sometimes jhike for miles through darkneBs, rain, shell fire fog, over ditches and shell holes. across ravines and rivers. When all these facts are considered one would not wonder why everyone in our company could not under stand how it was humanly possi ble for anyone as sick and as ex hausted as Ernest to remain with us. One night we stopped on the slope of a hill for a rest, while changing sectors. It was so dark in those wood we could hardly see our own hands. Ernest was ' still with me. As miserable as he was, he immediately started with me to dig a trench. We did not haye to gb.very deep because the lay of the land was in our favor. Without thinking ot anything to eat, We snuggled against each other in our small hole in this thick forest, and then ' we fell asleep. j " 1 woke up in the middle of the night with a ring in my ear. It was the noise of the shells. There is nothing more terrifying than the whistle of a shell going through the trees. It seemed as though they Were all falling in once place, in a hdOow just be low us. When ;l woke up I found myself shivering like a leaf, my knees were actually knocking each other. Then I realized that Eck was alongside, so I shook him to see If he was awake. He was as still as a rock when he said 'What's the trouble?" I asked him if the shelling bothered him, and he said 'INo," he was too tired. That surely did encourage nie. We Went; through a miser able night ! There were any number of ex ploits and nafrow escapes that Eck and I went through after that. To be brief I will only say that Ernest went through it ali In the same exhausted and sickly condition, but j with plenty of courage and pluck. On the morn of November 1st about 3:30 a. m. we were ordered to pack up and get ready to take our" position in the front line. You see our commanders had planned to launch a big drive in the Ar gonne, and our company was a liason company, that is, we were designated to hold a gap between our division and the 89th. Ern et seemed a bit refreshed, btft later I found out he only acted so to conceal his feelings. We start ed out for the; wilderness in sin gle file, each j man carrying his own load, as jmuch as possible (we could not carry too much ammunition, i was too badly needed) Ernest; was behind me and we were lase in the column. As we were hiking along through a downpour of heavy shells, the strap on my I ammunition box broke. I stopped to repair it, looked around, and did not see Ernest. I was alone there on that road and i I admit I felt ra ther uneasy. The orders in tbo marine corps re that a marine doing duty at the front cannot had Just been told before Btartinf out, that nothing should kp n behind. It was too hot on the road so T ran to a pnllv frr shelter. 1 hollered for Eck, but a human voice in that noise was like the noise of a watch ticking in a boil er factory. As I was lying in tfc gully for protection.- I noticed 3. big smoke and gas and in it a human form approaching. It wa3 unmistakably Ernest. I got out of my hole to talk to him. He certainly was exhausted. We both thought it best to got out of shell fire, so we jumped into a shell hole alongside the xoad After a very short time we de cided to make an attempt to find the outfit. Ernest jumped out oi the shell crater, straightened his shoulders and headed for the ai" Tection of the company. A man as exhausted as he showing tnat much courage was enough to mftke any one feel like going t-i Berlin. After some difficult meander ing through the forest, we met a corporal who was looking for us. We reached the outfit after many narrow escapes and we took our places In the front line witb the rest of them ready to go over at dawn. The hell we went through that mornine until" dawn was be yond description. We really wera so terrified by the nerve racking noise of the bombardment, tnai when the zero hour approached it was a relief to get the command to go up and over. Anything to keep a man active in danger, tends to steady his nerves. It is the terrifying whistle the shell? first in ibont two week.: ad the cries of the wounded men that are more annoying than the evident danger itself. From November first to No vember sixth we bad rotted the enemy fully ten miles from Cran.l $re to a point near Beaumont. We captured a number of gun. a large number of prisoners ana. fortunately we aad some raw coi sevral towns and one-stronghold : fee. Wf hud everything rea-Iy During that time we "had little or i and found we had no matches. The I and -as he ! was boint farrle;! weather was probably the chief j through the barrage, both (ause for Krnes"l4; improved phy-' stretcher aad bearers were hit. sical condition. After we had Su-t : One of them, Joe Francois, .a about ihjree fet detp we decided! very intimate friend of Ernest, it would be a treat to have some-1 was killed, i and the other was thing hot to, drink. I had foun4 j badly injured. I was still sitting a German trench heater a small near Ernesti lis kept asking in tan wiiii kougukhi a:eohon ana, ti, fiml nll. .hit was ftrut.e wuht his other le," it pained him so. There waa a small hole tit hit If It knee. There was evidently i no pain : In the right one and It seemed as though tha paia In t$ left lep waa relieved as t Height ened it; having lost hi right left (Continued on bare t nothing to eat, no rest except a seat in the mud hole, and the se vere loss in our platoon of .about out oT 33 men. Besides there were no signs of them being re lieved. I don't know how we stood it. and it is beyond me how in God's world Ernest stuck it out. o tr Just then . the German flying ; squadron hovered over u.s auj we heard them send th- range back to the artillery. We knw ih's was a sign of some heavy shell fire. Ther-j was a fellow in a hole nearby who offered Ernest a aiatclv. To reach him tirnest At times he would just fail had to lie on his siJe aeros the and lie on the groifnd till ' parapet.! As he was in this posl- another atom of strength came to j tion a very heavy shell whistled his limbs, and then he would' so loud:I knew it wa? Rome to plug along again. We tried ouri land nar. It wa, the fir;: hc-ll !( utmost to get him to becomt of a heavy bombardment whicn I evacuated (sent back to a hospt-j which lasted all afternoon- I telt ! tal) but in vain. 'We at least re-; myself covered with mud as it ; lieved him of a great deal of his load and tried to help him as much as we could- On about November th. 1918, our platoon consisted of 13 men. exploded right in our midst. I extracted myself and" as I stood up I saw Ernest in pain- I im mediately noticed that his rlgnt leg wa fevered just above the before the attack we had 33. We! Knee, and he was holding his were ordered to hol5 a machine thigh with both hands looking at gun position on a hill in a dense ) the ugl" wound. He said to me forest We reached there after' "Crecca, see if you can get a a memorable hike that none of j stretcher." Corporal Sigel and T1S Will ever forget. We imnied-j myself strapped a belt around his lately began to dig ourselves in. 1 right thigh to-prevent further Ernest and I wefe still together. ! oi ;Diooa. tnere was onsy We started to dig for all we -nrere worth. Tt seemed that Ernest had found -new stamina. It was one stretcher around and Charles ; Davidson, who was bad ly wouhded at the same time. clear sunny afternoon, (the i was already placed in that one. NOTICE Owing to the very disastrous fire ia our store on October 31, we are now.oc cupying temporarily quarters at corner of High and Trade street. Telephone same, No. 1374. 5 " We .will be able to take care of til needs in a Very few days. Showalter & Jacobs help another marine In distress, it ta the first-kid man's duty, to take care of wounded and ick men However, at times . there JV Children All j '. They Can Eat M Makes Sturdy Boys and Girls mi y Fresh Every Morning at Your Grocers jff 1 BUTTER-NUT is the Equal of the Best Home-Made Loaf That Ever Left y rT It VT ' ' ' An0ven t . Cherry City j yf A . . f. , . - - 1 ...... - - 'i - -A . I am excentions. but you see we