WWI
Todd Rost was our speaker and had a story to tell. Todd was part of the group from Faribault that visited France last year, which was something we heard about from Nort in the spring. Todd’s grandfather was George Asial Morris. George was a solider from Faribault that served during WW1.
On the one side of an Indiana War Memorial there is a statement that rang true when understanding George Morris, “The true patriot best supports his government by creating friendliness through kindness and generosity wherever fate may carry him”
You can find a record of soldiers in World War I from Rice County, Minnesota, through the Rice County Historical Society. The pages include details on family history, enlistment and service, and other miscellaneous records. George‘s entry only tells part of the story. George traveled with the 136th Regimental Infantry which was made up of men and boys from Faribault and surrounding Midwest. George was actually part of the Minnesota Guard and had to been discharged when he was drafted for service. After leaving Faribault, in September 1917 with a grand farewell by the city and community, they traveled to Camp Cody, New Mexico for training.
George’s family was able to stay in touch with him because during this time the postal service made it a priority to get the letters thru for the soldiers. George wrote plenty of letters and there are also plenty of pictures because at the camps there were professional photographers taking stock of what was going on.
After completing their training at Camp Cody, the 136th Infantry was shipped overseas. There they suffered the frustration of having members dispersed to other units. Many saw combat, but much of it was as replacements for other regiments.
On July 10th 1918, George and the 136th landed in Europe and by July 15th, they were in France. July 18th marks when they were first in the battlefield. George wrote in a diary during his time overseas. It was a line or two about where they were at or what they were doing. Todd was giving the diary as a present and it took his sister and him over twenty hours to decipher his grandfather’s handwriting.
On July 26th George was moved to the 163rd division where he spent much of his time hiking, as it was with most soldiers during this time frame. Battles took place in and out of the woods and were a frequent part of their daily routines. November 8th 1918, they were relieved on the front line by the French. In the months to come many of the men were shipped home. George spent the end part of his service in the hospital for illnesses including dysentery and rheumatoid arthritis. In his letters and diary, he speaks of everyone being able to leave but those that were still healing.
April 11th, 1919 saw George leaving for the United States on the ship, Mauritania. Back in the states George was discharged at Fort Dodge located in Iowa. George’s time in World War 1 was brief but important none the less. Todd has much more information on his grandfather and is far from done on researching his grandfather’s time during the war. If you want to know more, Todd would enjoy sharing more of the story.