Oise Aisne American Cemetery
Lying 1.5 miles east of Fere en Tardenois (Aisne), France, and 14 miles northeast of Chateau-Thierry, this 36.5-acre cemetery contains 6,012 American graves, most of whom died in the area in 1918. The chapel walls contain the names of 241 missing.
In memoriam Mario Ruconich, Fere en Tardenois, WW I American cemetery
A view of the American WW I cemetery in Fere en Tardenois, France. Taken on 1st July 2018, centennial of our great-uncle Mario Ruconich's death at the battlefront with the US Army 23rd Infantry Regiment.
PFCShawvid.AVI
My great-grandfather's name on the Wall of Missing in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in Fère-en-Tardenois, France.
Les Hauts-de-France / Aisne (Seringes-et-Nesles)
Fère en Tardenois délivré
Documentaire sur Fère en Tardenois pendant la grande Guerre
réalisé par notre association Rétro Vision en Tardenois
Inauguration du monument dédié à la 42e div. Rainbow US, à Fère-en-Tardenois...
Fère-en-Tardenois, le 12 novembre 2011 / HD
For / plus d' information :
Neuilly-Saint Front Cemetery
The Neuilly-Saint Front Cemetery (Aisne, France) is found on the D4 road 2.5 kilometres southwest of the Town which the cemetery is named after. Unlike other WW1 cemeteries it is not specific to a particular battle in the local area. It contains the bodies of soldiers from the first few months of the war in 1914 and again at the end of the war in 1918. Some bodies were recovered from other cemeteries which are no longer in being (Fère-en-Tardenois and Breny).
In all there are 2,072 bodies (239 of which are in ossuaries). The vast majority are French but there are a small handful of British soldiers. It is one of the 265 nécropole nationale in France
The Fighting 69th Rouge Bouquet clip
This is a clip from the 1940 James Cagney film The Fighting 69th depicting an actual event which (sadly) inspired the poem Rouge Bouquet by Sgt. Joyce Kilmer, also a member of the 69th (known in WW1 as the 165th Regiment, 42nd Rainbow Division). On March 7, 1918, a German artillery shell struck a dugout shelter and buried 22 members of E Company. Two men were rescued, five bodies were recovered during the rescue work, but fifteen remained entombed, including 1st Lt. John Norman. Steven L. Harris' book Duffy's War ( includes an excellent (and highly recommended!) account by 21-year old dugout survivor Corporal Alf Helmer.
The film and this clip is somewhat fictionalized with additional characters such as James Cagney's composite role and the additional drama with someone's brother trapped in the dugout, but the film's spirit remains true to the events of that day.
After additional rescue efforts failed, Sgt. Joyce Kilmer wrote his poem Rouge Bouquet, and it was first read 10 days later on St. Patrick's Day (the Fighting 69th was a mostly Irish National Guard unit from New York) by regimental chaplain Father Francis Duffy, whose memoirs of the event are recorded in his autobiography Father Duffy's Story (
Here is a Google Maplink of Bois de Rouge Bouquet: ...
...more info about the 69th's action that day: ...
...and a link to the poem itself:
Four months after the events of March 1918, Sgt. Joyce Kilmer was killed by a German sniper on July 30th, 1918. His is buried overseas at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery
in Fere-en-Tardenois, France (
After the war, USA's Graves Registration Service exhumed all known burials and concentrated them in nearby American cemetaries or returned remains to the USA for family burial. Of the 22 killed in this event, 9 were returned to the USA, and 12 (including Lt. Norman) were re-interred at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, France ( One body was never found, that of PFC Edward A. McCormack -- he is listed at Meuse-Argonne among the Tablets of the Missing there.
MEMORIAL DAY 2012
Extraits de la cérémonie au cimetière américain de Seringe et Nesles /
Images de Jacques Gille pour ACTU 02 TV
Les hymnes nationaux - Commémoration du centenaire de la Grande Guerre
Cérémonie du centenaire de la Grande Guerre au mémorial de la 42e Division US à la Ferme de la Croix Rouge , les hymnes : allemand - américain - français - chantés par Dalida Chaïr. Le 28 juillet 2018 - Fère-en-Tardenois
Le débarquement américain à Château-Thierry
Les soldats de la 2ème division US, principalement composée de vétérans d’autres campagnes militaires mais aussi de Marines redoutables et très bon tireurs, reçoivent l’ordre de tenir la ligne dans le secteur du bois Belleau, alors aux mains des allemands. Après avoir repoussé les attaques pendant des jours, les Marines recoivent l’ordre de reprendre le bois Belleau le 6 juin 1918.
Avec la participation de Guile 93 !
Un grand merci à la maison du tourisme Les Portes de la Champagne et au département de l'Aisne pour ce partenariat ! Opération soutenue par l’Etat Fonds National d’Aménagement et de Développement du Territoire de l’Aisne.
Pour découvrir le département et les lieux visités :
Le site de la maison du tourisme :
lesportesdelachampagne.com
Remerciements au Musée de la mémoire de Belleau : musee-memoire-souvenir-belleau.com
Remerciement à l'American Battle Monuments Commission abmc.gov
Merci aux passeurs de mémoire pour leur temps et leur soutien, plus d'infos par ici :
Images d'archives : Archives départementales
Vidéos d'archives :
Abonnez-vous à ma chaine :
Soutenez moi sur Tipeee :
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NotaBeneShop :
Pour en savoir plus :
Bibliographie
- Guy Marival, Février-mars 1918 : les américains au Chemin des Dames, La Lettre du Chemin des Dames n°13, juin 2008, p 4-5 /
- Sur les sentiers de la Grande guerre : les Indiens des tranchées, 1914-1918 / Jacques Rouzet. - OD éditions-[Indiens de tous pays], impr. 2015
- Voix américaines sur la guerre de 1914-1915 / articles traduits ou analysés par S. R. [Salomon Reinach] /
- L'intégration des soldats noirs américains de la 93e division d'infanterie dans l'armée française en 1918 /
Château Thierry and Belleau wood 1918, David Bonk, 2007, Editions Osprey Publishing
Combats du chemin des dames (de l'ailette à Belleau), Pierre Drémont, 2016, Editions Carrefour du Net
Château-Thierry et ses environs dans la tourmente, Pierre Drémont, 1918, Editions Ysec
La carte Ign de la Grande Guerre :
Web
-Musée national des Indiens d'Amérique
La maison de l’Amitié France-Amérique :
American Battle Monuments Commission :
museefrancoamericain.fr
Sites plus généraux :
Vidéo
- France 2 - Première Guerre Mondiale : Quand les noirs débarquent en France /
Ressources vidéo :
What do Bergdahl AND Eddie Slovik have in Common - Desertion ? Death By Firing Squad ?
I have not taken a stand on this matter yet I lost many friends in Vietnam - The problem I see with the Bergdahl case is 6 soldiers were killed during the search for Sgt Bergdahl
Jan 31st 1945: Private Eddie Slovik, born 1920 in Detroit Michigan is the last American shot for desertion. Is Bowe Bergdahl Next 6 of his brother soldiers were killed in the search for him after he went missing On January 31, 1945, Private Edward Donald Eddie Slovik became a curious
statistic of World War II: he was executed by a Military Firing squad for desertion. He is the only person to have been so punished for that crime since the Civil War.A movie was made about this event
Will Bowe Bergdahl be Next ?
Once again there will be many who think Bowe Bergdahl Should be shot I think it enough to convict him, sentence him to death IF he is found to have done the things now being disclosed, then suspend that sentence BUT strip him of his military benefits
and and order him to live in the U.S. and NOT change his name OR THE ORIGINAL sentence will be activated.
The Execution of Eddie Slovik
The execution by firing squad was carried out at 10:04 a.m. on 31 January 1945, near the village of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. The unrepentant Slovik said to the soldiers whose duty it was to prepare him for the firing squad before they led him to the place of execution, They're not shooting me for deserting the United States Army, thousands of guys have done that. They just need to make an example out of somebody and I'm it because I'm an ex-con. I used to steal things when I was a kid, and that's what they are shooting me for. They're shooting me for the bread and chewing gum I stole when I was 12 years old.
Slovik, wearing a uniform stripped of all insignia with a GI blanket across his shoulders against the cold, was led into the courtyard of a house chosen for the execution because it had a high masonry wall. The commanders did not want the local French civilians to witness the proceedings. Soldiers stood him against a six inch by six inch post. The soldiers strapped him to the post using web belts. One went around and under his arms and hung on a spike on the back side of the post to prevent his body from slumping following the volley. The others went around his knees and ankles. Just before a soldier placed a black hood over his head, the attending chaplain said to Slovik, Eddie, when you get up there, say a little prayer for me. Slovik answered, Okay, Father. I'll pray that you don't follow me too soon. Those were his last words.
Twelve picked soldiers were detailed for the firing squad from the 109th Regiment. The weapons used were standard issue M-1 rifles with just one bullet for each rifle. One rifle was loaded with a blank. On the command of Fire, Slovik was hit by eleven bullets, at least four of them being fatal. The wounds ranged from high in the neck region out to the left shoulder, over the left chest, and under the heart. One bullet was in the left upper arm. An Army physician quickly determined Slovik had not been immediately killed. The firing squad's rifles were reloaded in preparation for another volley. But before the reloading of the rifles was complete, Private Slovik died. He was 24 years of age. The whole process took 15 minutes.
The military service record of Eddie Slovik, which is now a public archival record available from the Military Personnel Records Center, provides a detailed account of the actual execution of Slovik which took place in 1945 and it was upon this that most of the film The Execution of Private Slovik was based. Some dramatic license occurs, including during the execution. There is no evidence, for example, that the priest attending Slovik's execution shouted Give it another volley if you like it so much after the doctor indicated Slovik was still alive.[citation needed]
Burial[edit]
Slovik was buried in Plot E of Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial in Fère-en-Tardenois, alongside 95 American soldiers executed for rape and/or murder. Their grave markers are hidden from view by shrubbery and bear sequential numbers instead of names, making it impossible to identify them individually without knowing the key. Antoinette Slovik unsuccessfully petitioned the Army for her husband's remains and his pension until her death in 1979. Slovik's case was taken up in 1981 by former Macomb County Commissioner Bernard V. Calka, a Polish-American World War II veteran, who continued to petition the Army to return Slovik's remains to the USA. In 1987, he succeeded in convincing President Ronald Reagan to order their return.[10] Calka raised $8,000 to pay for the exhumation of Slovik's remains from Row 3, Grave 65 of Plot E and their transfer to Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery, where Slovik was reburied next to his wife.
Although Antoinette Slovik and others petitioned seven U.S. presidents for a pardon, none was granted.
Bowe Bergdahl Not a Deserter ? Eddie Slovik only soldiers shot for desertion since Civil War
I have not taken a stand on this matter suffice it to say I lost many friends in Vietnam - The problem I see with the Bergdahl case is: as many as 8 soldiers were killed during the search for Sgt Bergdahl
Jan 31st 1945: Private Eddie Slovik, born 1920 in Detroit Michigan is the last American shot for desertion. Is Bowe Bergdahl Next 6 of his brother soldiers were killed in the search for him after he went missing On January 31, 1945, Private Edward Donald Eddie Slovik became a curious
statistic of World War II: he was executed by a Military Firing squad for desertion. He is the only person to have been so punished for that crime since the Civil War.A movie was made about this event
Will Bowe Bergdahl be Next ?
Once again there will be many who think Bowe Bergdahl Should be shot I think it enough to convict him, sentence him to death IF he is found to have done the things now being disclosed, then suspend that sentence BUT strip him of his military benefits and social security pittance
and and order him to live in the U.S. and NOT change his name OR THE ORIGINAL sentence will be enforced.
The Execution of Eddie Slovik
The execution by firing squad was carried out at 10:04 a.m. on 31 January 1945, near the village of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. The unrepentant Slovik said to the soldiers whose duty it was to prepare him for the firing squad before they led him to the place of execution, They're not shooting me for deserting the United States Army, thousands of guys have done that. They just need to make an example out of somebody and I'm it because I'm an ex-con. I used to steal things when I was a kid, and that's what they are shooting me for. They're shooting me for the bread and chewing gum I stole when I was 12 years old.
Slovik, wearing a uniform stripped of all insignia with a GI blanket across his shoulders against the cold, was led into the courtyard of a house chosen for the execution because it had a high masonry wall. The commanders did not want the local French civilians to witness the proceedings. Soldiers stood him against a six inch by six inch post. The soldiers strapped him to the post using web belts. One went around and under his arms and hung on a spike on the back side of the post to prevent his body from slumping following the volley. The others went around his knees and ankles. Just before a soldier placed a black hood over his head, the attending chaplain said to Slovik, Eddie, when you get up there, say a little prayer for me. Slovik answered, Okay, Father. I'll pray that you don't follow me too soon. Those were his last words.
Twelve picked soldiers were detailed for the firing squad from the 109th Regiment. The weapons used were standard issue M-1 rifles with just one bullet for each rifle. One rifle was loaded with a blank. On the command of Fire, Slovik was hit by eleven bullets, at least four of them being fatal. The wounds ranged from high in the neck region out to the left shoulder, over the left chest, and under the heart. One bullet was in the left upper arm. An Army physician quickly determined Slovik had not been immediately killed. The firing squad's rifles were reloaded in preparation for another volley. But before the reloading of the rifles was complete, Private Slovik died. He was 24 years of age. The whole process took 15 minutes.
The military service record of Eddie Slovik, which is now a public archival record available from the Military Personnel Records Center, provides a detailed account of the actual execution of Slovik which took place in 1945 and it was upon this that most of the film The Execution of Private Slovik was based. Some dramatic license occurs, including during the execution. There is no evidence, for example, that the priest attending Slovik's execution shouted Give it another volley if you like it so much after the doctor indicated Slovik was still alive.[citation needed]
Burial[edit]
Slovik was buried in Plot E of Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial in Fère-en-Tardenois, alongside 95 American soldiers executed for rape and/or murder. Their grave markers are hidden from view by shrubbery and bear sequential numbers instead of names, making it impossible to identify them individually without knowing the key. Antoinette Slovik unsuccessfully petitioned the Army for her husband's remains and his pension until her death in 1979. Slovik's case was taken up in 1981 by former Macomb County Commissioner Bernard V. Calka, a Polish-American World War II veteran, who continued to petition the Army to return Slovik's remains to the USA. In 1987, he succeeded in convincing President Ronald Reagan to order their return.[10] Calka raised $8,000 to pay for the exhumation of Slovik's remains from Row 3, Grave 65 and their transfer to Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery, where Slovik was reburied next to his wife.
Although Antoinette Slovik and others petitioned seven U.S. presidents for a pardon, none was granted.