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.
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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,
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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
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am excentions. but you see we