(A TRUE STORY)
(Contains war violence & self-harm)
(PG-13)
October 2, 1918,
American forces get surrounded by German forces.
They are trapped on a hill, with no way out.
Rations are low.
With Major Charles Whittlesey at command, he demands no one to surrender to the Germans.
Major Whittlesey then takes out every white flag on the hill.
But the Germans see the white flags, so they sent a blindfolded American prisoner-of-war holding a note saying,
"The suffering of your wounded men can be heard over here in the German lines, and we are appealing to your humane sentiments to stop.
A white flag shown by one of your men will tell us that you agree to surrender.
Please treat Private Lowell R. Hollingshead [carrying the note] as an honorable man.
He is quite a soldier.
We envy you."
The American soldiers were
miserable.
The conditions were so bad, that they used bloodied bandages from fallen soldiers, and using the bandages as if they were new.
One soldier wrote,
Oh, the stark raving madness of it all,
The wails of the shells large and small,
Sun blotted out by their singing sorrow,
We are waiting here for another tommorrow."
Out of all 557 people in the division, 347 people were dead or missing.
5 people including Major Charles Whittlesey earned The Medal of Honor.
Numerous other soldiers earned the Distinguished Service Cross.
But sadly Major Charles Whittlesey, haunted with guilt because of not surrendering and endangering his men, committed suiсidе by jumping off a ship in November 26, 1921.
Note:
I was going to write Charles Whittlesey's last words but, I couldn't find any information on it.
The last thing he did though, was write letters to his mom and girlfriend.
The letters are private, sadly.
By @KoolyAid
