Henry G. Fix

As mentioned in an earlier article we want to feature the namesake of our post as we prepare to celebrate 100 years of Legion service. Thanks to those who responded, we now know more about who Henry G. Fix was. Back in 1919 our Legion Post #23 was named in honor of Henry G. Fix. The write up under his photo in the Dugout states “as he was the first serviceman from the Garretson Community to lose his life in World War I”. Historian Owen Wiese has a newspaper clipping with some photos on the North Wall that will give more information. However, we unfortunately do not know much more about this young man. I was unable to find very few written records and no longer many who can share memories or stories. I did visit with the oldest known relatives some time ago. Henrietta (who liked to be called Hank in honor of her Uncle) and her sister Ella Mae but they did not have any written documentation and said that back then their folks didn’t talk much about the war or about Henry. I was thinking this was going to be a short feature.

Thanks to what Reid Christopherson fond on Ancestory.com we know a bit more. Henry’s middle name was George and he was born on October 9, 1897 in Fremont, Benton Co. Iowa. He was the oldest son of Oliver Bruno Fix and Henrietta “Etta” Fix (Axelson) and had the same middle name of his grandfather Jacob George Fix. He had two younger sisters and one younger brother. Henry was 3 years older than Ada and 9 years older than Clarence (who some of the old timers may remember). His other sister Mathilda died at shortly after birth. It appears the family moved to Edison Township in Minnehaha Co. in 1903. Historian Owen Wise did not have much written information but suggested I visit with Marge Martins. Marge told me their farm was West of Garretson on 253^rd Ave. on the south side of road ¼ mile East of HYW 113 (for you long time residents that is 1 N and ¼ E of the Risty Corner). Charlie Holzapfel who now owns this land said there were very few buildings standing and now all that remains are some old trees where the farmstead would have been. Oliver and other family members are buried on Summit Hill Cemetery 1 mile west of Garretson.

As stated, I found very little information about his growing up years or military record. Then I was talking with Bob Sanders who told me ‘Sanders Printing” has papers going back before WW I from when the paper first started. (He gave me access to these fragile copies. As a side note, I found them most interesting and the 14x22 inch single sheet of each Garretson Weekly was full of war information. For example, in the same October 3 Garretson paper that had information about Henry’s death were other articles of men enlisting in the military. There were also articles about other soldiers who were killed. Henry Selvigs services were being held at Highland Church, Carl Hokanaon from Brandon was killed and William Gould who was MIA was found in a hospital. The school board announced ‘No School until further notice due to Spanish Flu’. There were many patriotic ads and an anti-Germany series that ran every week from someone who defected from Germany and now lived in the US. On the lighter side were complete sections on Sherman News or Edison News.)

Ok, back to the subject--from these records we know Henry George Fix attended rural country school and graduated from Garretson HS in 1916 with a class of 9. He was a bright athletic active student liked by all. He was involved with the ‘Evangelical League’ when it first started and continued until he left for the military. After graduation he worked on the family farm and in June of 1917 was one of the first from the Garretson area to enlist. He began his training in Sioux Falls assigned to Troop A with SD Cavalry. In September he was sent to Camp Cody near Deming NM and assigned to Company A of 126^th US Infantry. During that winter he became critically ill with Pneumonia. This must have been very serious as his dad came down to see him in Deming. Henry eventually recovered and was sent home on a month furlough before being sent overseas. He was given the honor of addressing the graduating class and it was reported that he gave a very “patriotic speech” and conducted a flag decoration ceremony at the school.

That June 20th he was transferred to Co 8th Infantry at Camp Merritt, NJ. From there he was sent overseas and I found very little about his military time. His headstone shows he served with Company C 165^th INF. 42 DIV. (the same unit that Martin Haugse served in and killed). One written record indicates he was killed by a sniper bullet on July 27, 1918 in France. In the Argus Leader Archives I found some photos but it is doubtful they were of Henry. The photos are graphic and give a sense of how brutal those battles must have been. Unfortunately space does not allow printing them or all the other Headlines that appeared in all papers at that time. We can almost imagine how Henry’s parents must have felt when they read the Argus Leader. Headlines on July 27, 1918, the day he was killed, state:

“First Photos of front line in Trenches in France” (photo we ran earlier).

We don’t know if Henry’s family even knew he was in France. They did likely know from news articles that the Germans were massing forces on the Western Front. One newspaper article stated “It is anticipated that a new and most ‘terrible engine of war’ then ever before used in war would be used by the German effort to break the allied lines. Another July 27^th article stated “The Germans poured through the old allied lines^”.

From the Garretson paper we learned that Henry’s family awaited word all summer and never received a letter from ‘over there’—an unknown place surrounded by unknown circumstances. Each week they would have awaited word from their son. They knew soldiers were constantly on the move and conditions made it impossible to write. As a parent, I suspect they were hoping for the best but at times were likely thinking the worst. It was not until a Tuesday on September 24, 1918 that they received a message from Western Union telling them their son had been killed in action on July 27, 1918.

His body was likely buried in France near the battlefield where he was killed. A memorial Service was held in Garretson on October 29, 1918. It was not until 1922 before his body was exhumed and shipped back home. On June 19, 1922 a funeral and committal was held in Garretson with full Color Guard Honors. On behalf of all of us we honor and recognize Henry George Fix who was willing to serve our country by giving the ultimate sacrifice. It is perhaps because of his and others willingness to serve that the first words of the American Legion are: ‘For God and Country’

Respectfully,

Marty Luebke

Post 23 member