History Matters: Book Recommendations for November 2024

ARLINGTON, Va. - Nov. 13, 2024 - PRLog -- by  Michael F. Bishop for David Bruce Smith's Grateful American Book Prize

The Last Casualty of World War I

Henry Gunther, a grandson of German immigrants to the United States, was an unassuming bank clerk in Baltimore when—at President Woodrow Wilson's request—the United States Congress declared war on Germany in April of 1917. It was an uncomfortable time to be an American of German descent because his loyalty to America—and that of his family—were considered suspect.

Gunther was drafted in 1918 and sent to France. He held the rank of sergeant; he tried to do fulfill his duties, but the harsh conditions on the Western Front induced him to write to a hometown friend, gripe about the miserable wartime conditions, and urge him not to join up. Gunther's letter was intercepted by Army censors who demoted him to a private, while his fiancée advised him by post that their relationship was over.

In 1918 the Battle of the Argonne Forest unfolded north of Verdun, and on November 11, Gunther's unit—Alpha Company, 313th Regiment, 79th Infantry Division—encountered German troops. A nasty firefight followed, but then a message arrived; an armistice had been signed, and the war would end at 11 AM, just minutes away.

Seemingly determined to prove his grit, and redeem his earlier humiliation, Gunther charged the German machine gun nest. Knowing the fighting was about to end, they fired warning shots over Gunther's head, shouting at him to stop. Their blood lust was spent, and it was time to go home; Gunther would not be deterred. He kept charging forward, but the Germans had no choice but to fire. At 10:59—one minute before the guns went silent, he was struck in the head and fell dead upon the churned and icy mud.

He was buried at the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Baltimore, with a plaque at his grave that reads, "Highly Decorated for Exceptional Bravery and Heroic Action that Resulted in His Death One Minute Before the Armistice." His rank as sergeant was posthumously reinstated.

For more information about the American experience in World War I, the Grateful American Foundation recommends Ed Lengel's No Finer Company: The Men of the Great War's Last Battalion.

History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize. For more book recommendations and information about the annual award visit https://gratefulamericanbookprize.org/.