Grandpa Sandvig fought on the battlefields of France during World War I and received the Purple Heart medal for the wound in his leg. I know little of those experiences since he maintained the typical veteran's stoicism in relating the horrors of warfare. He did something, though, that speaks to me through almost a century of time and lets me share some of his thoughts; he carried a New Testament and wrote brief journal entries in the blank end pages.
His first entry: "Sept 20, 1918 - Today we are just a few miles from the Hun lines." He arrived in France on July 6 as a private in the 91st Division. History books told me they stood in reserve in the major offensive battle of St. Mihiel on September 11-13.
"Sept 21st..." He had started to write but no more words came that day. Was he thinking about the the wife and son left behind in North Dakota?
"Sept 26, 1918 - 6 in the morning. We started the Drive. About 20 km west of Verdun and we were in 17 days and lost have to..." He never finished his thought, but it was a drive, indeed. The famous soldier George C. Marshall wrote that on the morning of September 26, the attack was launched after a furious bombardment of more than three hours. Fighting continued without interruption through September 27 and 28. General of the Army Pershing wrote that the 91st Division overcame strong initial resistance and advanced rapidly and said the Meuse-Argonne battle was "the greatest, most prolonged in American history." Grandpa found himself in the middle of this.
"Oct 17, 1918 - I went to the hospital. was there but to Wed. and one week in the concourt...from there I went to Very to the Casul (most likely casualty) Camp. was there for 7 weeks. From there I went to my Co. Got back on 4 day, January, 1919."
The words in that Bible are fading fast; they seem harder to read each time I open it, but we have salvaged something of his wartime experiences. History books tell me the rest.
