The end of the 'war to end all wars'

Nov. 11, 2018, marks the centennial of the end of World War I, the "war to end all wars." So much for grand promises...

It's an anniversary that shouldn't be forgotten.

Fifty years after the great event, reporters for the Southeast Missourian interviewed three men who were on European battlefields at the moment the war ended.

Published in the Southeast Missourian, Nov. 11, 1968:

Emotions of Relief, Joy Swept Muddy Trenches

Thousands of men at the American front in France 50 years ago today sweated out the final hours before the ceasefire which brought World War I to an end and then, having found they had survived the Great War, were swept up in a massive flood of relief and joy.

These were the two emotions recalled most by those who were in the muddy trenches at war's end, 11 o'clock in the morning, Nov. 11, 1918, 50 years ago today.

MEMORY ETCHED

Years perhaps have blotted out some memories of those veterans, most of them now in their 70s, but few will forget what they were doing and how they reacted when the Armistice was announced.

Cape Girardeau was well-represented on the front lines in 1918, and three of those veterans, representatives of the townsmen who fought, tell their story in the paragraphs that follow.

Their stories are similar -- all were joyous at the news -- and yet different.

For instance, John L. Penn, 506 Sunset Court, was wounded in the lip just about an hour before the firing stopped; S.D. Nunley, Gordonville Road, was nearly killed Nov. 12 in the wild celebration, and A.S. Reed, 124 South (West End) Boulevard, nearly didn't get the news of the ceasefire.

"We just went wild when it finally soaked in that 'it' had really happened -- that there was an armistice," Mr. Penn recalled.

Mr. Penn, serving with the 342nd Field Artillery, was in the front lines of battle in the Argonne when the ceasefire order came at 11 in the morning

"We hollered, we jumped up and down, we shot off our rifles and side arms -- we just made a little whoopee," he commented

SOLDIERS DOUBTFUL

He recalls that word had been passed about 30 or 40 minutes before the set hour that the firing would cease at 11, but nobody actually believed it.

"We were firing at the enemy right up to that moment. But exactly at 11 all firing did cease," he added. "The enemy honored the armistice and nothing was heard from either side excepting for the noise of the celebrations," he said.

Mr. Penn was especially glad to find the report of an armistice was true.

"It got a little shrapnel in the lip about an hour before the armistice. I thought my head was blown off," he said.

The World War I veteran remembers that it had rained every day "for weeks and weeks," and was raining Nov. 11, 1918.

"But the next day, Nov. 12, was beautiful. The sun shone brightly," Mr. Penn reminisced.

Mr. Penn had been overseas a year, in France six months and in the front lines 52 days when the armistice was signed. He served a year with the army in this country before going overseas.

WENT TO GERMANY

The veteran recalls that his outfit remained in the Argonne for two days after the armistice, then went to the Army of Occupation post in Germany. It was about six months later when he returned to the United States.

Mr. Penn, a retired cook of 20 years on a riverboat, is a past commander of both American Legion Post 63 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3838 here.

S.D. Nunley, a retired druggist, was with the American front on the Meuse-Argonne drive at the hour of the armistice.

"The French were on our left and next to the French were the British soldiers," he recollects."There were rumors circulating that we were going to win the war on this particular drive, but we didn't know an armistice was going to be signed," he said.

FIGHT AFTER TRUCE

"Where I was the Allies were still firing that morning and did not learn of the armistice until that night. That was as soon as the word could be passed to us. We had a signal corps, but the lines were always getting broken, Then we used what we called runners," he continued.

"If you ever had a bunch of kids and gave them something special and they wanted to rejoice, then you know what we were like when we heard the good news," Mr. Nunley said. "We rejoiced like kids."

The veteran continued, saying that on the next day, Nov. 12, he came as near to getting killed as he ever had in his life.

"The American boys were still celebrating, firing every piece of equipment the Germans had left behind and some of our own. My outfit was on one side of the hill and another American group on the other side of the hill. They didn't know we were over there and began firing like mad. I sure had a lot of shot burst around my feet. Some of the trucks were wrecked when hit by the flying shells," he added.

Mr. Nunley said he was a replacement with Co. B, 2nd Supply Train of the 2nd Division which consisted of the 5th and 6th Marines and the 9th and 23rd Regular Army Division.

He said it was the duty of the supply train to haul provisions wherever it could obtain them to the boys in the front lines.

He was in France seven months before the armistice and remained overseas until the next June.

After the armistice, the Allies followed the Germans to their county, crossing the Rhine River Dec. 13.

"We set up in a German city about the size of Cape Girardeau. It was beautiful. We remained there, policing the territory until returning to the states,"the veteran recalled.

He, too, very well remembers the rains that fell almost constantly.

MUD REMEMBERED

It was either raining or drizzling all the time, at the time of the armistice, we were in mud up to our knees," he commented.

A veteran of 13 months active duty, Mr. Nunley is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Veterans of World War I Barracks 1311.

On this 50th anniversary, he says, "You try to forget the war, just to live with it, but still you think of it sometimes."

Mr. Reed has clear recollection of the silencing of the guns on that eventful day. Mr. Reed was with the 350th Infantry, 88th Division, in the Thule section of France. He said the company had moved up to Mandres, France, on the eve of the Armistice and were to go to Metz the next day.

While the company was en route to Metz, a courier on a motorcycle overtook the men and ordered them back to headquarters, but the news failed to reach Mr. Reed, who was in the supply station ahead of the rest of the men.

The news of the Armistice did arrive, though, the next morning, Mr. Reed remembered. He said when he found out that the signing was to take place at 11, the old watch he wore became an item of great importance.

GUNS GET LOUDER

The guns in he area were pounding louder and harder than they ever had before, he recalled, adding that the guns kept on firing right up to and for a couple minutes past 11. He recalled that he was walking to a shed to get firewood a few minutes after 11, when the guns began to die out one by one.

Mr. Reed said that when the guns shut down, he took the long-billed cap he was wearing and threw it as high and as far as he could. He added that he never saw that cap again.

He and a friend then ran into the supply station, grabbed their rifles, and went out and shot five rounds in celebration. He said there was a lot of celebrating that night, and added that he could hear the company band playing till early in the hours of the next morning, even though the band was three kilometers away.

His company remained in the area until Thanksgiving, he said, before shipping home.

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While it's good to remember the day the guns fell silent, 100 years ago, it's also good to acknowledge those who gave their lives for their country during that conflict.

These Cape Girardeau County men -- and one woman -- didn't return to their families from military service in the Great War. (Source: "Heartland Heroes.")

Alt, George E.

Altenthal, Clarence G.

Baker, Florence

Baker, Ivy H. "Cleveland"

Bridges, Harry W.

Caldwell, Ellis

Coleman, James M.

Crader, Ray T.

Crass, Charles A.

Crumb, Harry

Davidson, Wilton W.

Dearmont, Julien S.

Eggers, Ben

Estes, Cephas

Fitzgerald, Jesse W.

Friedhoff, Louis

Graden, Arthur F.

Hovis Henry L.

Joerns, Clark A.

Jones, Delphonia

Jones, Harry J.

Juden, Louis K.

King, Roy U.

Knight, Robert W.

Koch, Joseph F.

Lacy, George W.

Mattingly, Randall

Meader, Ruel C.

Medley, Ralph G. "Ray"

Neal, John E.

Pearson, John R.

Poe, Charley H.

Rasico, Paul E.

Reed, Charles

Smith, Fred G.

Snider, William B.

Spradling, Thomas "Frank"

Stidham, William "Henry"

Tucker, Richard

Tyler, Ezra

Underwood, Clyde S.

Walker, Birtie R. "Bird"

Wasem, Louise J.

Winter, Arthur

Wunderlich, Ben C.