06/03/2026
Join us at the Heritage Museum and learn about the first World War during the month of June beginning on Saturday, June 6th. Open 10:00 to 4:00.
World War One, Our Big Spring Soldiers
The statement ‘War is Hell’ has never been more true than during WW1, said to be the bloodiest war of all time. The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917, more than two and a half years after the war began in Austria-Hungary. America’s public opinion had generally reflected a desire to stay out of the war. Over time, especially after reports of German atrocities in Belgium in 1914 and after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in a torpedo attack by a German submarine Americans increasingly saw Germany as the aggressor in Europe.
February 1917, U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson was made aware of the Zimmermann Telegram, a coded message sent by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann. The telegram proposed that Mexico enter into an alliance with Germany against the United States, promising Mexico the return of its “lost provinces” of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The publication of the telegram caused an uproar and the majority of American opinion changed. At the same time, Germany resumed its practice of unrestricted submarine warfare and German U-boats began sinking American merchant ships in March. On April 2, 1917, Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress declaring that “The world must be made safe for democracy.” The U.S. Congress declared war on Germany April 6th.
Soldiers primarily tried to survive, maintain their weapons, and hide during the day. Nightfall offered cover for soldiers to repair defenses, lay barbed wire, and run patrols or raids. They were positioned in dug out trenches which would fill with water during the spring rains and snow in the winter. They lived with millions of rats that inhabited the trenches. The rats were eating the dead bodies while fighting over loose limbs. The unclean conditions caused soldiers to be covered in lice and swarms of flies causing what was known as trench fever. They also suffered from Trench foot. This was caused by continual immersion in water, unsanitary conditions, and cold, damp conditions. It was serious and left the soldier with severe nerve damage, blisters and tissue death leading to amputations in the most severe cases.
Bully beef" (derived from the French bouilli, meaning "boiled") was the infamous canned corned beef that served as a crucial but widely detested daily ration for soldiers in the trenches. Cheap, high-calorie, and nearly indestructible, it was a vital source of protein despite its slimy texture. Daily diets aimed at around 4,000 to 4,600 calories and heavily featured "bully beef" (canned corned beef), hard, dry biscuits, and canned stews, supplemented heavily by tea, jam, Worcestershire and sugar. Soldiers would pour on the Worcestershire sauce onto the canned meat to give it some sort of taste other than the cold greasy concoction served in a can.
The young soldiers lived in these trenches while avoiding belt fed machine gun fire, tanks, air warfare bullets and shells flying above them. The constant bombing showed fear in everyone’s eyes as they continued to endure and repeat each day. Most of these soldiers were in their early twenties. Young men that had never experienced anything like it. They did not want to go in and kill other human beings. Soldiers just as they were, out fighting a war that other men made. One soldier said, “In the future leave the soldiers and civilians out of it. Take the Kings and the Kaisers, put boxing gloves on them, put them in a ring, and let them sort it out between themselves. Why should the common man be killed and maimed for the likes of those who should know better how to conduct themselves?” World War 1 was started by Monarchs and Aristocrats that never experienced a battlefield. Once the soldiers arrived on the battlefield they realized there was no way out of this man-made hell. If the soldier refused to fight or run away, they were immediately court marshaled and shot. So, they continued their routine day by day. Sleeping and eating in filthy rat-infested water. The constant threat of sudden artillery bombardments, sniper fire, and the sight of casualties led to widespread psychological trauma known today as PTSD. They saw such atrocities that their mind shut down. Many of these men did make it home after the war ended however, they suffered from disease, amputations, and shock.
Chemical warfare was introduced in WW1 in 1915 when Germany successfully released lethal chlorine gas against Allied forces at the second battle of Ypres. German scientist Fritz Haber developed chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas as mass weapons. It escalated rapidly into a terrifying and brutal staple of trench warfare. This chemical warfare was banned in 1925 however, it did not stop the Germans from using chemicals to murder 1.1 million people in gas chambers at death camps during WW2.
Chlorine produced a highly visible greenish-yellow cloud that attacked the eyes, nose, and lungs, resulting in death by asphyxiation. Phosgene Gas was also introduced and was a colorless and nearly invisible. It was roughly six times more deadly than chlorine and accounted for about 85% of chemical-weapons fatalities in the war. Mainly because soldiers did not know they had inhaled it, Last was Mustard Gas introduced by Germany in 1917. It was a severe blistering agent that attacked exposed skin, causing temporary and permanent blindness and could linger in the soil and trenches for days.
Howard County lost seven soldiers to WW1.
Ben F. Amos (23) died in France. He was with Company A 315th Supply Train. He died in France on March 13, 1919. Joe C Barnett (27), son of Joseph Weir and Lillie Mae Barnett. He was injured in the Navy and was sent home. He died on June 10, 1923. It was listed on his death certificate that he died from paralysis. Leonard Fisher (25) son of William and Nettie Fisher was born February 1, 1897, and died Sept 10, 1922 from acute nephritis it was listed that it was caused by diphtheria. James H. Greer, William F. Martin departed France on April 6, 1920, he died of “disease.” Grover C Shaw St. Elmo Thomas died May 24, 1924 with gastric perforation. He was 34 and from Coahoma.
The seven soldiers that lost their lives were not part of the newly formed Company D, 117th Supply Train, 42nd Division. The Company was formed in 1917. James Brooks served as the commanding officer as lieutenant. Tom Helton was named First Sergeant. Soldiers from Company D drove the Liberty Truck to transport soldiers and supplies, and laundry to and from the safe zones. No men were lost in Company D.
Finally, the war ended with the signing of a Treaty between the Allies and Germany on November 11, 1918. Unfortunately, Company D had to remain in France for postwar duties such as clearing the mine fields of un-denotated shells, grenades and Mines. The Armistice was prolonged three times before peace was finally ratified. The First Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918-December 13, 1918. Peace was finally ratified at 4:15 p.m. on 10 January 1920.
During World War I, 116,516 Americans died in service. This total includes 53,402 battle deaths and combat-related missing, alongside 63,114 non-combat deaths, which were largely caused by accidents and the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic.
Germany suffered the highest number of military deaths in World War I, with an estimated 2 million soldiers killed in action, from disease, or while missing. Russia lost 1,700,000 to 1,811,000 soldiers, France 1,350,000 to 1,400,000, Austria-Hungary 1,100,000 to 1,200,000 and the British Empire lost 900,000. So many innocent lives and nationalities lost forever all in the name of Democracy.
