The Front Line

Map of the Western Front. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

Approximately two million American soldiers fought in the trenches of the Western Front which ran from Belgium to the Swiss border, totaling 435 miles.
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Each side dug a system of trenches. Machine gun nests, barbed wire, and mines held the enemy at bay. Artillery shells, mortars, flame throwers, and poison gas were employed with little effect. Soldiers would go “over the top” to toss grenades or gas into no man’s land, trying to reach the enemy’s trench. This maneuver resulted in almost certain death and gained very little ground.  

Life in the Trench

Trench warfare was nasty. Tear gas attacks made life difficult and could cause blindness. Mustard gas produced skin blistering, terrible damage to the lungs if inhaled, or lead to a horrible death. The biggest impact of gas attacks was the terror it caused.

The muddy trenches were home to frogs, rats, lice and other pests. The wet ground and cramped quarters caused “trench foot,” a hard to heal infection, sometimes requiring amputation.  Bites from lice could cause a painful disease known as trench fever. 
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The constant stress, noise, shock, hunger, and smells associated with trench warfare caused shellshock—now known as post traumatic stress disorder. Many soldiers returned home deeply affected by what they had witnessed or taken part in and didn’t know how to adjust back to civilian life.  

Meuse-Argonne Offensive

Company M, along with the 35th Infantry Division, moved to the Meuse-Argonne front on September 15. At 5:00 pm on September 24, the 35th Division issued field orders for an attack on Vauquois Hill. The 69th Infantry Brigade led the attack.  For six days and nights, Company M engaged in their most intense battle. Relief came on October 1, when the First Division took over for the 35th.​
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After 10 days for rest and replacements, the division was moved to trenches near Verdun. It spent three weeks in raids and gas attacks and was relieved November 4. On November 9 the division was ready to join the drive on Metz, but the armistice of November 11 cancelled that operation.

                  Hear Col. Browne’s vivid description of the 137th Infantry’s role in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive:

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Company M Casualties

Earlier in September, Hickman Hite suffered injury to his left arm. Hite, with Joseph Dencil Musser (Salina Company M) and R.J. Rummell (Lawrence Company M) seated beside him, were resting in the trenches when a German explosive hit. Musser and Rummell were the first soldiers killed in action for Company M. Through the war a total of three Salina Company M men were reported killed in action – Joseph Dencil Musser, Lauren Manning and Leslie Kreps.

Some suffered gas poisoning. Salina’s Traer Wilson and Eugene Thompson were discharged in March 1919. While they were in a partly covered trench with standing water and tins of calcium carbide, explosives hit the carbide cans and gas permeated the trench.