WORLD WAR I FIRST CONTINGENT

In less than two years we will be commemorating the centennial of the entry of the United States into World War I.  The U.S. declared war on Germany on April 16, 1917, and later that year, Kossuth County began drafting some of their eligible young men into service.

The first contingent to go consisted of ten men from various parts of the county.  They included Elmer C. Ziegler and Earl Willson from Algona; Charles M. Cawley of Bancroft; Ralph Alden Smith, Robert Axel Haglund, John Sundven, Albert N. Carlson, and Charles Hart of Swea City; and Adam Richard Schimmel and Michael Anton Goetz of Wesley.

All of the men were American citizens with the exception of John Sundven who was Norwegian, but who had applied for citizenship.  He was an experienced soldier however, since he had served two years in the Norwegian infantry.

The men were sent off in style.  Reporting to the courthouse in the forenoon, they were taken for a tour of Algona by car and were admitted to the fair free of charge.  At noon they were taken to the New Algona hotel where they were served lunch at a special table decorated with flags of the allied nations.  Several speeches were given by notable local citizens and many other dignitaries were there to see them off including Algona’s mayor and the Kossuth County Sheriff.  Robert Haglund was put in charge of the group until their arrival at Camp Dodge.  Following the lunch, he lined up the group in front of the courthouse and, led by the band and a group of old soldiers, they marched to the train depot where there was a large crowd gathered to send them off.

A few days after arrival at Camp Dodge, Mr. Haglund wrote about their trip and first few days in camp.  The letter was published in the Upper Des Moines – Republican September 19, 1917.  Here is his story, in his own words:

Camp Dodge, Iowa, Sept. 14, 1917—Mr. Claude Samson, Algona, Iowa,

Dear friend:  I should have written you sooner but it seems like I can never get around to it.  We have been very busy since we arrived and when we do have any leisure time there is so much going on around that you can hardly think.  This certainly is a live bunch of engineers.

Well, we arrived here o.k., but were about two hours late, so I had to feed the boys a couple of times.  It cost me $1.55 at Jewel Junction and $1.95 at Des Moines.  I got bills for both but lost them somewhere in the shuffle.  Some of the boys who were in command had their local board’s meal ticket books with them and returned them after arriving at Camp Dodge, which seems to be a pretty good system.

Cawley was assigned to the Signal Corps; Sundven, Olson and Smith to the infantry supply train, and the rest to infantry.  I was assigned to Co. C, 313^th engineers.

We were put to work Thursday morning, and have been hitting the ball ever since, doing police duty, in the kitchen, inside and around the kitchen, inside and around the barracks. We have been out on two hikes, Monday and Tuesday.  Tuesday’s hike was about seven or eight miles long.   Also drilling in the school of soldier’s squad.  We were examined and mustered in on Friday, the 7^th and vaccinated and inoculated last Wednesday.  I got through in fine shape, but some of the boys got pretty sore, and several got quite sick and fainted.

Camp Dodge

This certainly is some camp.  I will send you a picture of it as soon as I can get one, which you can have framed and hang up in your office.  We have good quarters, and are well fed, so if anybody is worrying about that part they can rest easy.  We have been issued the following equipment so far:  cot, two pair blankets, meat can, knife, fork, spoon, coffee cup, shoes, shirt, hat, four pair socks, overcoat, barrack bag, gloves, hat cord and underwear.

Here are some things that the boys ought to bring with them:  Suit case to put things in, bath towels, hand towels, neckless sweater, shaving articles, tooth brush, clothes brush, hair brush and comb, tooth paste, hand and laundry soap, soap box and some clothes to knock around in that aren’t much good, as a good suit of clothes won’t last very long around the kitchen or coal wagon.  Also a pair of easy shoes.  It is mess, so will have to close.  Again thanking you for the honor conferred upon me as commander of Kossuth county’s first quota, I remain, very sincerely, your friend,

PRIVATE ROBT. A. HAGLUND

Co. C, 313^th Engineers,

Camp Dodge, Iowa.

P. S.  Would like to see a copy of this week’s Algona papers.

As time allows, we will follow several of these soldiers from the first quota to see what happened to them.  It would be wonderful to track down individual photos of these brave soldiers.  If you can share any leads as to how to obtain photos of them, please let me know.

Until next time,

Jean (a/k/a KC History Buff)

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