Robert K. Smith and the Great War - A Veterans Day Remembrance

Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day, after the Armistice which ended the First World War. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front. This did not happen until the Great War had claimed the life of my great-uncle, Robert Kedzie Smith.

Robert was born 23 May 1898 to Thorn and Mertie Belle Smith. He was the oldest child in the family. (Our Pompo, Rossman, was not born until 1907. Pompo was the fifth child, preceded by Robert, Millard b. 1900, Thorn Jr. b. 1903, and Katherine b. 1905.)

Robert was the namesake of my Uncle Bob, and through him, my brother and cousin.

Robert's first and middle names came from Robert Kedzie, who was GGrandpa Thorn's professor and mentor at the school now known as Michigan State University. Prof. Kedzie was unusually lettered (both an MD and an LLD) and accomplished.

Robert Kedzie Smith

Robert was a Bugler (which was an Army rank during WW I) with the U.S. 32nd Infantry Div., 3rd Battalion. The division fought with great valor, and was given the nickname Les Terrible.

Our Robert was killed in action on 4 Aug 1917, during the Argonne offensive. On the day he was killed,

[t]he authorized strength of the 3rd battalion was 20 officers and 1,000 men, but by 4 August it had only 12 officers and 350 men on the line. As they advanced over 2,100 yards (1,900 m) of mostly open ground, the Germans targeted them with intense artillery and machine gun fire.

The division later penetrated the Hindenburg Line, and became the first Allied unit to reach German soil during the war.

Robert was nineteen when he was killed. His remains are interred at Fere-en-Tardenois, Departement de l'Aisne, Picardie, France. It is a beautiful, green place, born of great tragedy and sadness.

The American Cemetery, Picardie, France

RIP, Uncle Robert.

The Pump-house Project

Photo courtesy Tom Lewis

The Freeland property at Omena - called "Freeland's" during its days as a summer resort - was a property that bound together five generations of my family on my mother's side. The first Omena property owned by our family was several dozen acres acquired by Thomas Edward Hart McLean, who was the uncle of Mary (McLean) Frazier. This Mary was the mother of Mary (Frazier) Freeland, who was the mother of my Nana, Mary (Freeland) Smith.