THE LOST BATTALION
Archives Page
THE LOST BATTALION ARCHIVES
Welcome to The Lost Battalion Archive. These pages contain documents, photos recollections, comments and memorabilia from many of the Survivors of The Lost Battalion, their families and admirers.
My dad, Walter J. Baldwin was a Corporal ( promoted in the "pocket to Battalion. Sargent Major ) in Hq. Company, 308th Infantry, 77th Division and aide to Colonel Charles Whittlesey. He subsequently served as Secretary of The Survivors of The Lost Battalion and organized the annual luncheon reunion of the Survivors, funded by Major George McMurtry. Both McMurtry and Whittlesey received Medals of Honor. Dad published a number of newsletters in the fifties and early sixties that contained letters from, or comments about the survivors, as well as articles about the activities in the pocket from October 2-7, 1918. They also contain several poems dad wrote about the activities of the 308th/77th from Camp Upton in Long Island, N.Y. to France, through Chateau Thierry, the Meuse-Argonne offensive, and of course the heroics of the men in the pocket below the Charlevaux Road.
Dad put together a rather hefty scrapbook that he gave to me to pass on to my oldest son, now 42. That scrapbook contains six or seven of the newsletters mentioned above, many letters from the men he served with, reunion photos, letters from dignitaries around the world commenting on the contribution the men of the beleaguered group played in breaking through the German defenses in France. Much of that material is included in the initial development of these pages. It is hoped that many more people will contribute to this site and enrich the educational and historical value of its contents.
Many thanks go to the faculty and students of Longwood School District who have worked so hard on the research and creation of this site. These pages contain some small part of the story of a diverse group of men of different cultural, ethnic, religious and geographical backgrounds, who came together under the leadership of men like, Whittlesey, McMurtry and Holderman to write one of the most meaningful and heroic chapters in American military history. As Whitllesey said to McMurtry during one of the final assaults by the enemy in the pocket, and as McMurtry repeated at every reunion, " As long as you and I live, we will never be in finer company".
Respectfully submitted
Thomas J. Baldwin
January, 2002
1. Reunion Newsletters
A Personal Memory of the Lost Battalion
by Private Ralph E. John, Company 'A' 308th
Pictures
Officers of the 308th Infantry
Mr. Baldwin's Trip to The Pocket
Lee McCollum's chapters from Our Son's At War
Letter from William Conklin-308th Medical Detachment
Diary of Paul Sluk, Pvt. 308th Infantry
Harold Spear Young - 308th Infantry