Uncle Jerry, Earnest Herndon & their war

Pvt. Jeremiah Miller

Jeremiah Miller

I've written quite a lot during the last year or two about World War I in relationship to Lucas County and think it appropriate this morning, the centennial of war's end, to revisit my Great-uncle Jerry's experience during that great conflict.

Uncle Jerry was Jeremiah Miller, born April 30, 1892, on the family farm just west of Williamson Pond in English Township, always a familiar figure to me because that family farm eventually was divided, my grandparents occupying the western part, Uncle Jerry and his family, the original homestead to the east.

Jerry was about 25 when he went off to war and 94 when he died during 1986 --- among the last survivors --- but of course it never occurred to me to ask about his wartime experience when I could have.

Fortunately, Uncle Jerry visited not long after he returned home during the spring of 1919 with Henry Gittinger, editor of The Chariton Leader, and Henry published what he had to say in his edition of May 15 as follows:

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"Jerry Miller, of English township, has been at home several weeks. He was in the 30th division of our army which went overseas a year ago, and was in the hostile zone from the time they landed until the armistice was signed. The 27th and 30th divisions were on the Hindenburg line. Jerry was on the firing line continuously from Sept. 27th until Oct. 20th, when they were relieved for rest and recuperation, and were just ready to return when the armistice was signed and hostilities ceased.

"In their company there were 240 men and only 40 got back to camp --- balance either captured or killed. Even in their training and recruiting camp they were constantly subject to German shell fire.

"There were five Lucas county boys in his division, himself, Ernest Herndon, Ambrose Taylor, ( ) McNay and Arthur Johnson. However, only Ernest Herndon remained with him, the others being transferred to different service. He was with Ernest Herndon when he was shot, but he did not learn of the fatal results until he heard from home weeks later. After the day's battle he went back to look for Ernest but could learn nothing of him. He says that during the time he was on the line it was almost a constant shell fire day and night. Jerry says he shot no Germans --- all he had to do was feed the machine gun --- and the other fellows did the shooting."

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Records show that Pvt. Earnest Herndon, 24, a machine gunner in Company A, 118th Infantry, was wounded critically on Oct. 9, 1918, and evacuated to a field hospital in nearby Roisel --- a small town in the Somme. He died there the next day, on Oct. 10, and was buried in a cemetery established at Roisel for the burial of British war dead, which remains.

Earnest's family in Lucas County did not learn of his death, however, until a cablegram reached them in early December. Uncle Jerry learned of his friend's fate after that, in a letter from home.

Earnest, born July 22, 1894, in western Lucas County's Jackson Township, was a son of James and Elizabeth Herndon and a farm boy. He graduated from high school at Lucas, then --- hoping to pursue a career in the new field of electrical engineering --- enrolled at Highland Park College in Des Moines.

He couldn't afford to continue his education for more than a year, however, so returned home and used his parents' farm as home base while teaching rural schools and helping with farm work on the side in order to accumulate enough money to continue his education. When war was declared, he enlisted.

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After the war, the survivors of those who had died in Europe were offered three options --- permanent burial in an American cemetery there, return to a national cemetery in the United States, or repatriation home. Earnest's parents chose to have his remains returned to Iowa.

Earnest's remains were removed from the cemetery at Roisel on Dec. 14, 1920, and prepared for the transfer home. His body reached Calais on the 31st of January, 1921, and was placed aboard the ship Somme on the 27th of February. It reached Hoboken, New Jersey, on March 14 and was placed aboard a train for the final leg of the journey home on March 29.

Family and friends were waiting at the depot in Woodburn, just west of Lucas in Clarke County, when Earnest's body arrived there late Friday night, April 1, on the No. 2. The casket was taken to the family farm in Lucas County where it remained until Sunday afternoon, April 3, when funeral services were held at the Woodburn Christian Church. Burial in the Woodburn Cemetery followed. I think it likely that Uncle Jerry was among the mourners, but of course can't prove that.

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My Uncle Jerry had wasted little time after returning home, and on June 4, 1919, had married Miss Fern Alice Griffis. By 1921, they had a daughter --- Velma. 

Their first son was born on Sept. 26, 1923. They named him Earnest.