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Pages of History
Carl Lange of Hartington is said to be Nebraska’s most decorated veteran of the first World War.
Lange’s other claim to fame is that he helped recover the body of one of the first three American soldiers to die in that war. It happened near Bathelemont, France, on the night of Nov. 2-3, 1917. That was the night that American troops went into action for the first time.
Merle Hay of Glidden, Iowa, was a member of the First Infantry Division. On the evening of Nov. 2, 1917, Hay’s unit — Company F — took up positions in a trench about 500 yards from the German lines. At 2:30 a.m. the next morning the Germans launched a surprise attack.
After 15 minutes of hand-to-hand combat, the Germans withdrew taking 12 American prisoners and leaving three men dead and five wounded. The dead, in addition to Hay, were James Gresham of Evansville, Ind., and Thomas Enright of Pittsburgh, Pa.
Lange told the Cedar County News he, together with Oran Mayes, also of Hartington, and two unidentified soldiers, found Hay’s body and carried it back to American lines. Hay’s body was returned to Iowa in 1921 and buried in the Glidden cemetery. Shortly after the war, the road running from what was then the west edge of Des Moines to Camp Dodge was renamed Merle Hay Road. Today “Merle Hay” is better known as the name of a Des Moines shopping mall.
In July 1930, Carl Lange traveled to Glidden, Iowa, where he met Hay’s mother for the first time. She and Lange visited the Glidden cemetery where the fallen soldier had been buried beneath a massive concrete monument.
While visiting with Mrs. Hay, Lange learned of another Cedar County connection to this historic incident. It seems that around 1890, Mrs. Hay — then Miss Carrie Carter — had taught in a rural school between Hartington and Wausa.
Notes: There is some uncertainty as to whether Hay or Gresham was the first American soldier to die in World War I. Lange’s story appeared in the Cedar County News of July 10, 1930. A search of the Internet failed to discover independent corroboration. Lange’s claim to be Nebraska’s most decorated World War One veteran, however, appears on page 268 of James C. Olson’s “History of Nebraska” (1966 edition). In addition to the Distinguished Service Cross, Lange received four French awards including the “Medaille Militaire,” the highest honor France could bestow on an enlisted man.
In other news of July 1930: Nebraskans consumed a total of 209,949,522 gallons of gasoline at an average cost of $0.17 per gallon during the previous year. The tax was $0.04 per gallon.
A delegation from the U.S. Federal Highway Association met with the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to secure gravel for a stretch of Highway 20 between Laurel and Allen.
“In the course of the next two years, it is believed that No. 20 will become the most prominent east to west trunk line from Boston to the Black Hills, Yellowstone National Park, and beyond to Spokane, Wash.,” said a Laurel Advocate editorial.
Obituary notices were mostly confined to human residents but, on July 24, the Cedar County News reported the death of one of Wynot’s pioneer dray horses. “ Tom” and “Chief ” had been delivering the goods in Wynot for 20 years. But July had been an exceptionally hot month and the heat proved too much for Chief. The old gray horse dropped dead. Drayman R.C. Brunick brought in a big black to take Chief’s place but Tom continued to grieve for his deceased companion. One week to the day after Chief ’s death, Tom went to the place where his partner died, laid down on the same spot, and took his last breath. This was not an unusual occurrence among horses that had been together a long time.
An article in the Cedar County News explained how fast steamships and low fares had made it possible for a person to travel to Europe and back during the span of a typical two-week vacation. According to the article a person living in New York City could sail at noon on a Saturday, arrive at Cherbourg, France, the following Tuesday, spend a week touring France, Italy and Switzerland, and then sail from Cherbourg the following Wednesday, returning to New York in time for work on Monday morning.
