Racine county in the world war, Part 4

Author: Haight, Walter L
Publication date: c1920]
Publisher: [Racine, Western Prtg. & Lithographing Co.
Number of Pages: 612

USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Racine county in the world war > Part 4

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In May, 1917, the army sent a recruiting sergeant to Racine to assist in filling the quota for the ambulance company of the National guard, and during most of the summer regular army and navy recruiting parties were station- ed in the Commercial club rooms. Every post- master of the country acted as part of the re- cruiting service to the extent of seeing that men who desired to enlist could reach a re- cruiting station if none existed near his home. Some advertising posters were put out urging men to join the colors. The Commercial Club donated its rooms as a recruiting office, and another was established in the Knights of Pythias building a week after the war started.

In spite of the somewhat mild campaign for voluntary enlistments Racine contributed about 700 men to the regular army, marine corps and navy by that method before the rule was put in effect that no more men would be accepted in the army excepting through the selective service machinery.

Some of these enlisted here, others went to Chicago or Milwaukee to take the oath. Upon doing so they were usually sent to recruit de- pots for preliminary training and then assign- ed to regiments as needed.

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

In Congress, some of the members put up a fight against the selective service law on the alleged grounds that America could always de- pend upon her volunteer soldiery; but their real reason was that they feared such a stupendous measure, put into effect without having its necessity absolutely proven by ex- perience, might have a bad effect upon the political chances of those who supported it. Army officers pointed out that it would be several months before the first men could be inducted into service, anyway, and by that time a huge army would be needed. Their view pre- vailed.

Some older men, recalling draft riots and bounty jumpers of Civil war days, were insist- ant that men raised by a draft would be of no value as fighters. Happily, their theory was proven wrong.

During April, May and June the navy got most of the Racine recruits who did not care to join the artillery batteries or ambulance com- pany. As many as fifteen a day enlisted and were sent to Great Lakes training station near Lake Bluff, Ill.

In May orders were received from Washing- ton that no married men should be recruited, and that those already in service should be dis- charged upon request. The only exceptions were in cases where it was shown that the wives would not be dependent upon the sold- ier's pay for a livelihood. Of course, some men who should have come under this ruling evaded it and remained in service, but it gave the first indication that the government intended to raise its army with men who would not leave dependents at home to become public charges.

Later the rule was modified somewhat, and married men who wished to serve and who alloted half their pay to dependents could also obtain an additional $15 per month from the government to be paid to those actually de- pendent upon the soldiers for support.

By autumn, the War Risk Insurance law was made effective, and under this act a soldier or sailor who might become disabled in service was guaranteed a certain compensation, based upon $30 per month for total disability. He also had the privilege of taking out life insur- ance in any sum up to $10,000 at a low month- ly rate. If he were killed or died in service, this amount would be paid to wife, children, mother or dependent father, as he should specify in his policy, in monthly installments of $58 for twenty years. He himself would be able to collect on the policy only in case he were totally, and permanently disabled. The obvious purpose of the law was to end the

veteran's pension system, and particularly as applied to families of ex-soldiers.

In practice, the sums awarded for compensa- tion were entirely inadequate. For instance, if a person were 50 percent disabled it is quite likely that he would be unable to get a job, yet his compensation would be but 50 percent of $30, or $15 per month, which would not buy meals for one at prices prevailing just after the war. This law was altered after the war.

Late in the summer of 1917, it was decided that the selective service act was ready for actual operation, and efforts to obtain volun- teer recruits were abandoned excepting in the navy and marines. It was found easy to get almost enough men for the navy by enlistment, as there was a definite limit on the number of men who could be used. Also there was no heavy loss of life to require replacements. The marine corps was small, and the splendid advertising given it enabled it to obtain most of its quota by voluntary enlistment. All the recruiting done during the last part of the war was at the larger centers, such as Chicago and New York.

A couple of years before the declaration of hostilities between America and Germany the government had tried an experiment. It es- tablished a "Reserve Officers Training Camp" at Plattsburg, N. Y., to enable business men who desired to do so to take three months in- tensive training as soldiers, and then become members of the army reserve if qualified. Even the army officers who originated the plan were astounded, not only at the eager re- sponse to their invitation, but at the apparent efficiency of the officers thus graduated. The military experts had declared for so many generations that it took at least three years to make a soldier, that they would not admit that even a start at creating an officer could be made in three months.

The men who took the course at Plattsburg, however, were mature. They knew business methods and were accustomed to handling men and also handling problems. They mastered the elements of military methods in short or- der.

When the war broke out this plan of obtain- ing officers from picked classes of men recom- mended for special training, was tried out at once. It could be seen that it was the only possible way of getting officers for the million National army men who would come into camps as soon as the Regular and National Guard divisions were on their way to the front.

Into these camps, then, went hundreds of young men, mostly college graduates or busi-

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

PHOTO BY LEONARD

First Row-R. P. W. Capwell, Paul V. Brown, Gust Newman, W. O. Axtell, John Strankowski, Archie Knudsen Second-Edward J. Peters, Harry Herzog, William White, Harry Wagner, Howard Brotherson, Hubert Wendt. Third-A. C. Owen, Roy Smith, Benoyt S. Bull, Shirley Em mett, John C. Gist, H. Christanson. Fourth-Ilugh Webb, Ludwig Kuehl, Frank H. Fancher, Phillip Clancy, Jack Ramsey, Stanley Belden. Fifth-John Belden, Judge E B. Belden, Rev. F. S. Penfold, Joseph Oliver, John C. Fervoy, Ted Cushing. Sixth-Griffith Townsend, Richard G. Bryant, Charles Smader. 11. L. Bickel, James Nelson, Harry A. McCullough.

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

ness men holding executive positions. The candidates from Racine went to the Fort Sheridan camp in most instances. Some went to training camps in the west and east. Ra- cine contributed several score of young men to the army through the medium of these camps.

Physicians were commissioned in the medi- cal corps without any examination excepting a

physical one. Their college diploma, license to practice and recommendation by public officials was all that was required. Generally medical men were sent to special training camps where they listened to lectures on sanitation and army surgery part of the day, and spent the rest of the time in drill and fatigue duty just like the cadets at other training camps.

CHAPTER VII

RACINE AND THE SELECTIVE SERVICE LAW

T HE success of the Selective Service law was due to the fact that the American people realized that if we were to win the war, in a military sense, we must put in the field an army large enough to crush Germany. The sooner this army was ready the better, and while half a million men promptly volun- teered for the army and navy, this number was not enough. The actual induction of men into service by means of the draft was not carried into effect until the volunteer method had been shown to be too unreliable to answer the pur- pose of modern warfare. The American peo- ple were ready to accept the draft cheerfully, because they had seen all other nations in the war gradually adopt universal military service as the only fair method of providing enough men for their armies and navies.

It would not be truthful to say that all young American men accepted gladly the chance to get into service via the Selective Service law. There are cowards and slackers in this country as elsewhere; there are men who place their personal prosperity and com- fort above their country's welfare.

Local boards foresaw more trouble from "slackers" than actually occurred, however. The great majority of eligible men, certainly, accepted the order to report for service with- out protest. A few opposed their induction bitterly, taking advantage of every possible claim to exemption. Some even swore that they had dependents and otherwise perjured themselves to escape service. Usually such subterfuges were of no avail. Their claims for exemption had to be proven worthy, and were judged by strict rules laid down by the judge advocate general's department.

As a general thing, Racine county draft boards gave the benefit of the doubt to the government in case of a dispute. Protesting parents and other relatives were lectured upon their obligations to the government, and weak-kneed candidates were handled firmly but

tactfully in an effort to arouse their patriotism and courage.

However, these cases of would-be slackers were but the exceptions that proved the rule. The public accepted and favored the draft law. Criticism of it was considered unpatriotic and decidedly bad form, especially as no one could question the fairness of either the law itself or its administration. Those who were called to the colors under its terms realized this and of all the thousands thus summoned, few in- deed were intentionally delinquent.

Racine was the headquarters of the district exemption board, which heard appeals from the decisions of the local boards. Its members were Harry W. Bolens, Port Washington, chairman; A. J. Horlick, Racine, secretary; Chester D. Barnes, Kenosha; Dr. Grove Hark- ness, Waukesha; G. L. Harrington, Elkhorn; Stephen Benish, Racine, chief clerk.

The following account of the work of the local boards, written for the Times-Call by Chairman E. W. Leach of Board No. 1, Racine, is so complete and interesting that it is re- produced here in full:

A few days after his appointment as chair- man of the Registration Board in May, 1917, the writer met a well known manufacturer of Racine at the Post Office corner, who without breaking his stride as he proceeded up Main street, greeted him with an expressive wave of the hand and the following reassuring pre- diction: "Gene, in three weeks you will be the most hated man in Racine." If his idea was to "throw a scare" into us he did not succeed, for our mind was made up to stay with that job if it was the last thing we ever did. What- ever his notion then he has since given full proof of his patriotism to the credit of himself and his home community.

At that time, however, there was a general feeling of uncertainty, bordering on appre- hension, concerning the attitude of the people toward the Selective Service Law when its

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

administration should be begun, and the pre- diction seemed safely within the probabilities. It may now be stated truthfully that not "three weeks" after that day, nor at any time since, has any member of Local Board Number One been made aware that he had incurred the hatred of any person whose approval would have been worth having.

On the contrary, it may be recorded as a fact concerning Racine county, that although the United States Government, for the first time in more than a half century, was under- taking the experiment of drafting men for war, and for war in a foreign country, the response of our people in the emergency was so nearly unanimous in approval, that what little opposi- tion was felt, was, for prudential reasons, al- most entirely self-suppressed, and the local boards had the enthusiastic, effective co-opera- tion of nearly all of the factory, fraternal and church organizations, as well as the encourage- ment and support of influential individuals when and where they were needed.

The work of the local boards was serious business. Not since the Civil War, if ever in this country, has such power been given civilian bodies as was theirs to exercise in their discre- tion, under the regulations, in the raising of the new National Army. There were 4,648 of these boards, including those in the territories, with a total membership of 14,416. That there should have been some misuse of that power was to be expected under the circumstances; that such misuse was in fact a negligible quan- tity and did not at all seriously affect the gen- erally efficient administration of the law, is the testimony of Provost Marshal General Crowder, author and administrator in chief of the Selective Service system. In closing his report on the work of the local boards he said: "But it is idle to attempt to put into words here the full story of what the local boards achieved. Every military man must recognize what they did for the Nation's army; and ev- ery civilian must recognize what they did for the Nation's Liberty and welfare. And every American is proud of them. Whatever of credit is accorded to other agencies of the selective service law, the local boards must be deemed the cornerstone of the system."

With the power placed in their hands there was laid on the local boards also a burden of very great responsibility, the sobering effect of which, in connection with the fact that not only were the board members acquainted, more or less intimately with the people with whom they had to deal, but the people knew the board members who dealt with them, operated generally to secure a just administration of the

law, through mutual sympathy and under- standing. Attention is called here to the para- graph in the final report of the Provost Marshal General to the Secretary of War in which this phase of the work of the local boards is dis- cussed.

Gen. Crowder says :- "It will be seen that the responsibility of the Local Boards was stag- gering. Men hitherto safe from the turmoil of life were being withdrawn from sheltered homes; to be thrown into the maw of a military machine. The course of lives was being radic- ally and violently turned. Most of the selec- tives were severing family ties. All were called for the supreme sacrifice of their lives. Any other than a democratic government would have scouted the idea of intrusting to civilians, in most cases untrained in administrative capacities, such an enormous and complex task. The tremendous menace of the German mili- tary machine was never more obvious than at the time America took up arms. Many wise men of our own government doubted the feasi- bility of creating an army entirely through civilian agencies. It is an irrefutable proof of the high capacity of our people for self-govern- ment, and an everlasting vindication of true democracy, that a system so intimately affect- ing the lives of our people should have been entrusted to untrained representatives of the local community and that it should have been so well executed."

The success of the local boards was, in our opinion, due chiefly to the fact that the law which they were called upon to administer, was perfectly adapted for the purpose for which it was devised. It was reasonable, just and fair, and where honestly administered left no room for criticism. As the war progressed and the system developed, difficulties were en- countered, in the meeting of which it was a frequent cause of surprise and satisfaction to the local boards to discover that almost every eventuality had apparently been foreseen and provided for in the law and the regulations.

Another thing that contributed largely to the efficient working of the Selective Service System was the policy of the Provost Marshal General and his aids in disclosing to the local boards only one step at a time in its develop- ment with the result that for many weeks af- ter their organization there was not at any time any great amount of work in view ahead. The regulations came along in a series, one set for each developing phase, and each a little more serious in its demand on our resources of time and talent, until it seemed that we had been extended to the limit, and still they came, and the apparently impossible had to be done,

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

. "

FHOTOS BY LEONAR )

Top Row-L. H. Iverson, Il. F. Jacobs, A. Anderson, Joe Chiappetta, David Delarge, F. A. Bauer, J. P. Vakos. Second-K. C. Blonde, W. B. Tomlinson, A. Kruienski, P. Buechaklian, L. Malinowski, Earl Olson, Arthur C. Johnson. Third-Wm. Proost, Edw. G. Klepel, H. M. Bohn, Ernest Piepenherg, Ernest Roever, John P. Nelson, James Brehm. Fourth-Alex Last, Walter Kobrierski, E. A. Hegeman, Wm. Sopko, Robt. E. Davies, Daniel Dexter, Nels Martin. Fifth-M. J. Mickulecky, James Matson, Thorwald Pedersen, Frank Granger, Il. Hansen, T. E. Morgenson, Jr., J. W. Fall. Bottom-A. E. Hader, John Ityduke, Paul Kristopeit, A. W. Kohl, Simon Kinosian, Sato Gayegian, Cornelius J. Rooney.

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

and was done. It is our conviction that if the whole scheme of the Selective Service System had been a matter of public knowledge at the beginning of the war, the final report of its operation would have been a different and less satisfying story.

In this connection we are reminded of a scene in the board room on the day that the "mobi- lization regulations" came, that we will not soon forget. The new rules contained the first intimation that had been given them that the local boards would have charge of the actual drafting and mobilizing of the soldiers. From the manner in which they were received it was evident that no hint of that responsibility be- ing put upon them had previously entered the mind of any member our board.

As John B. Simmons read the document aloud, and the serious nature of its contents began to appear, the faces of the men made an interesting study in expression which we will not attempt to interpret now. The surprise was so complete, and the prospect appeared so serious, that there was nothing else to do but to have a good laugh at the situation in which we found ourselves, and then to settle down to get an understanding of the instructions, and work out the program outlined therein, which we proceeded at once to do.

The administration of the selective service law in Racine began with the appointment by the Governor of two registration boards, one for the city of Racine, and one for the county outside the city. The members of the city board took the oath of office and organized for business on May 28, 1917, about six weeks af- ter the declaration of a state of war between the Imperial Government of Germany and the United States. The board was composed of three members:

E. W. Leach, Chairman.

E. R. Burgess.

F. W. Pope, Jr.

Charles A. Ryba, city clerk, was elected to act as secretary of the board.

At this meeting Mayor T. W. Thiesen, ten- dered to the board for the transaction of its business, the use of his offices in the city hall, which offer was promptly accepted and these rooms were the headquarters of the registra- tion board, and of Local Board for Division Number One, during the entire period of the war, from May 28, 1917 to March 31, 1919, when the work of the local boards was officially ended.

The uniform courtesy of the city officials in granting us also at all times the free use of offices, committee rooms and the council cham- ber, frequently at inconvenience to themselves,

is entitled to public acknowledgment; without this co-operation the work of the board would have been much more arduous and difficult.

The Racine Registration Board had charge of the registration in the city on June 5, 1917, of all men of the ages of 21 to 30 inclusive, of whom there were 6,461 who reported, (includ- ing late registrants). The regular polling booths were used, and the work was accomp- lished without cost to the government, by the voluntary assistance of 114 registrars, under the supervision of the board.

The mayor and city council very generously provided the funds necessary to employ clerks to copy the registration cards, and to publish complete lists of the names and addresses of the registrants in the Journal-News and the Times-Call, the total appropriation being $450.50.

The registration in the county was accomp- lished under the supervision of the County Registration Board, composed of the sheriff, Peter Breckenfeld, executive officer, and the county clerk, Joseph Patrick, clerk, with headquarters in the office of the latter in the courthouse. There were registered in this jurisdiction, on June 5, 1917, 1,930 men of the ages of 21 to 30 inclusive.

The work of the registration boards was finished in June, and they were superseded, early in July, by three local boards in Racine county which were designated as follows :-- Local Boards for Division Number One and Number Two for Racine City, and Local Board for Racine County, Burlington, Wis.

Local Board for Division Number One Ra- cine had jurisdiction over the following wards:

First, second, fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth and fifteenth.

Local Board for Division Number two had jurisdiction over the third, sixth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth wards.

The jurisdiction of Local Board for Racine County included the entire county outside the City of Racine.

Local Board for Division Number One, City of Racine was organized June 30, 1917, as follows:

H. J. Smith, Chairman; E. W. Leach, Secre- tary; F. H. Schulz, J. C. Hamata, E. R. Bur- gess, J. B. Simmons, F. W. Pope, Jr.

Dr. Pope, however, did not qualify on ac- count of his enlistment at this juncture in the Medical Department of the army, and R. C. Thackeray was appointed physician member of the board on July 6, 1917.

There was appointed for each local board a government appeal agent whose chief duty it

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

PHOTOS BY BILLINGS

Top Row-Harvey Piette, R. V. Davis, Arthur Wm. Fox, Joseph Fiore, Alex Hansen, James H. Garrick. Second-Sophus Hansen, Axel Hansen, Walter Hansen, Har ry Hansen, Harold Helding, Wm. J. Houston. Third-Erwin Juedes, J. C. Jacobsen, Arthur Rattle, Lester Jirucha, Ben Kolander, Paul Kamien. Fourth-George Kroes, L. P. Lalonde, Albert Lindeman, Lo uis Lorum, Ed. Lord, Ernest Malmquist. Fifth-Frank F. Martin, E. G. Nelson, Edward Peters, I. Reiff, C. J. Salak, Oscar C. Smith. Bottom-Kenneth Collier, B. Sharkey, Jake Ulger, W. H. Watson, Wm. Clayton Dow, John Charmock.

RACINE COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

was to safe-guard the interests of the govern- ment in the classification of the registrants. When in his judgment an exemption was im- properly granted, or secured, it was his duty to appeal the case to the district board in an effort to hold the man for service. John H. Liegler was government appeal agent for local board number one.

Each local and district board was authorized to appoint a chief clerk, whose duties were those which would naturally devolve upon such an officer. Miss Muriel Fischer was chief clerk of Local Board Number One, and it is a notable fact in connection with her service that from July 31, 1917, when it began, until April 1, 1919, when it ended, she was not absent from duty for one hour, except to attend the funeral of an uncle during the afternoon.

Local Board for Division Number Two, City of Racine, was organized, June 30, 1917 as follows:

W. W. Storms, Chairman; W. S. McCaughey, Secretary; Geo. Porter, Ward Gittings, I. O. Mann, C. H. Krogh, Wm. C. Hanson.

Dr. Hanson served as a member of the board until Nov. 1, 1917, when he entered the Medical Department of the army, and E. A. Taylor was appointed physician member in his stead on the same day. W. S. McCaughey resigned as secretary on November 20, 1917, and George Porter was elected secretary the same date, and served until March 31, 1919.

Board Number Two was located first in rooms at the branch library, corner of Wash- ington and Hamilton Avenues, but these soon proved unsuitable, and on July 16, 1917 a suite of rooms on the second floor of a new store building at 1508 Washington Avenue was leas- ed which was thereafter continuously occupied until the close of the war.

Milton Knoblock was government appeal agent for board number two. The board had two chief clerks as follows:

Emil White from December 6, 1917 to March 15, 1918, and James Peterson from March 15, 1918 to March 31, 1919.

Emil White entered the military service of the United States in March 1918.

Local Board for Racine County, City of Bur- lington, was organized July 2, 1917 as follows:

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Racine county in the world war, Part 4

Author: Haight, Walter L Publication date: c1920] Publisher: [Racine, Western Prtg. & Lithographing Co. Number of Pages: 612

Author: Haight, Walter L
Publication date: c1920]
Publisher: [Racine, Western Prtg. & Lithographing Co.
Number of Pages: 612