Monday September 1, 1930

The day finally arrived – the first visit to the cemetery.

The mothers and widows left Verdun to visit the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. The cemetery was approximately 150 miles by bus from Paris and about a half day’s drive from Verdun.

Over the next three days, the pilgrims would take different bus routes to the cemetery so that they could visit some of the battle sites in the vicinity of Verdun and the cemetery. Each bus had a nurse, an American guide, and an escort officer. The busses traveled through the very heart of the section which marked the most violent struggles of the war.

The Army officer pointed out to the pilgrims where their sons or husbands fought and died. The Army officer had the military record of each fallen soldier. He knew where the soldier came from, to what outfit he belonged, where he had served, where he had fought, where and when he died. The Army officer’s thorough knowledge of the soldiers’ careers immediately won him friends and admirers in the mothers and widows.

The pilgrims left Verdun for the cemetery at 9 am. They drove miles along side a beautiful tree-lined canal. Occasionally they would pass a German cemetery, with rows upon rows of black wooden crosses. Although the crosses were black, there were flowers and wreathes and beautiful trees there, the same as in the American cemeteries.

The pilgrims saw a monument depicting five French soldiers standing on a step that leads to a wall – this is Verdun’s children’s memorial. (1) They passed the military cemetery of Fanberg Pave, which has 4,000 graves. The busses wound through the crooked streets of villages, with the small American flag on the lead bus flapping in the breeze.

En route to the cemetery the pilgrims passed some battlefields of the war. There were pocked marked fields, grass covered but still unplowed – a war-torn land just twelve years ago. There were still great shell craters. There were blood-red poppies in shell holes and the remains of trenches zigzagging over gentle hills.

The pilgrims’ first view of the battlefields was about 20 miles from Verdun. They paused at Dead Man’s Land, so named because when one is looking from the mountain, the land resembles a dead man. This is the location where the French lost 400,000 men. Probably the Germans lost that many also. The number of dead and injured in World War I are staggering! This is the ground commonly referred to as the Battle of Verdun.

The pilgrims observed that trenches from the war had not been entirely filled in. There were not any full-grown trees – the shell holes were still there. Every once in a while the pilgrims spotted an old machine gun or a heavy piece of French artillery. Some pilgrims found the seeing of the actual battlefields, perhaps the ground where their sons died, to be a very emotional experience.

In many of the battlefields, nature had begun to reclaim these damaged areas. In other battlefields, however, the pilgrims found trenches and other wartime areas virtually unaltered since the armistice. Whenever the pilgrims were allowed to get out of the bus at a particular battlefield, they were warned not to touch any of the pieces lying about because they might be explosives.

I wonder if the bus passed the area wheJoseph had been killed. If so, what was Josephine thinking? How did she feel?

As Josephine’s bus rounded a hill, it passed a little village, Roumagne, and Josephine saw rows and rows of little white Italian crosses – she saw the Meuse Argonne American Military Cemetery. The crosses are on the site of Roumagne, the hottest place of the firing line of the Argonne. In this sacred spot lie the ones who fell in the Meuse Argonne offensive.

At the time of Josephine’s visit, the cemetery was not yet completed. In 1930, a stone wall was being built around the cemetery and a monument overlooking the crosses was being built, supervised by the battle monuments commissioner, General John J. Pershing.

Josephine and the other pilgrims on her bus observed the graves, most of them marked with Italian white marble crosses, 13,978 of them. The graves of Jewish soldiers are marked with marble Stars of David, 268 of them. The graves are on the southern slope of a hill, and opposite them was the caretaker’s house. They saw small trees lining the paths; it was a beautiful sight.

On and on the crosses stretched, all white and clean. Did the sheer number of crosses astonish them? Was there silence on the bus?

The pilgrims observed the chapel, high on a hill, a small building with a simple interior. It contains the names of all the unknown soldiers buried in the cemetery – there are 486 actual graves marking the remains of unknown soldiers; there are 954 names carved in the chapel.

After arriving at the cemetery, the pilgrims were met by the superintendent of the cemetery. They were led to the hostess house, where they were given lemonade and sandwiches. The hostess house had tables, comfortable chairs, and restrooms as well as kitchen facilities. The house had a shady porch for the hot weather and a large, open fireplace for the cooler days.

The mothers and widows were sorted into groups, according to the block in which their loved ones lay. Josephine and the other mothers and widows were given a grave locator card. Joseph's grave was located in Plot B, Row 37, Grave 39.

Mrs. Tillie Overstreet from Louisiana learned that her son, Robert Logran, is also buried in Plot B (Row 13, Grave 2). The other Louisiana mothers had sons in Plot E (Mrs. Callie Michael’s son, Martin) and Plot H (Mrs. Laura Neight’s son, John).

The staff of the cemetery presented maps of the cemetery to the pilgrims, indicating the location of their sons’ graves. The pilgrims were told that chairs were available throughout the cemetery for resting.

Almost all of the mothers carried small American flags and/or some memento from home – a faded flower, some soil, a photograph. Did Josephine carry anything from home to leave at Joseph's grave?

An officer gave Josephine and her companions a complimentary wreath, saying to them:

“I have the privilege of presenting you with this wreath in the name of the U.S. government in honor of the services of your son.”
The wreaths were a gift from the government so that every mother would have the same decorations for her son’s grave. Josephine and the others appreciated receiving these wreaths. They carried the wreaths to place on the grave of their sons, as no one but a mother could do.

There would be many tears shed this day. Did the first tears begin to flow with the presentation of these wreaths?

Josephine, Mrs.Tillie Overstreet, and the other mothers who had sons buried in the same plot arrived at Plot B. Then Josephine started to look for Joseph's grave. She looked for and found Row 37. Was grave number 39 up a hill? As she walked along Row 37, did Josephine count the graves, one by one? Did she hear other mothers, also counting?

Accompanied by a member of the cemetery staff, Josephine arrived at Joseph's grave, which had been decorated with French and American flags. Did the tears really begin to flow then? Josephine had achieved the goal of her trip to France – to be reunited with Joseph once again. She saw the cross with his name.

Joseph M. Blanchard
Pvt. 103 Inf. 26 Div.
Louisiana Oct. 26, 1918

She touched the cross, running her fingers through the letters of Joseph's name. Lovingly, she placed the wreath at the foot of Joseph's cross. Her grief was deeply felt. She cried for her son Joseph. She cried for all the dead buried at Meuse-Argonne.

Did the sound of other mothers weeping for their sons fill the air at the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery? Some knelt by the graves and wept. Some may even have lain across the graves of their sons.

Josephine, in searching for Joseph's grave, probably saw some crosses with the inscription:

“Here lies an honored American soldier, known but to God.” Josephine and other mothers would later take time to pause and pray at the graves of the unknown.

On this first visit (as well as subsequent ones), there was no pomp and spectacle. There was no ceremony, no speech making. The escorts, nurses, interpreters, and even any reporters present let the mothers experience their grief and loss with dignity and privacy. Josephine and her companions were left alone to pray and place treasured objects from home on the grave. They could stay at the grave site for as long as they wanted.

The scene of the mothers and widows at the graves of their loved ones sometimes brought the Army escorts to tears.

Josephine was photographed standing by Joseph's grave. (2) She was given a copy, perhaps two, of the picture. She may also have received a negative of the picture. I do have a digitized copy of this picture, but I do not know which child of Josephine’s inherited the actual physical copy of this picture.

The mothers and widows ate lunch at the cozy hostess house. The ladies especially enjoyed the American coffee that was served to them as well as such goodies as hot tea, chocolate, nourishing sandwiches, and hard boiled eggs. The nurses accompanying the group engaged the mothers and widows in cheerful conversation so as to buck up their morale.

The pilgrims left the cemetery to return to Verdun, their base of operation,  about 3 pm.  They made one stop along the way to see the statue of the “French Peasant Returning Home,” (3) located near the village of Samogneux.  The village of Samogneux was destroyed during the war.  As depicted in the statue, the peasant looks forlorn, tired, and hungry when he returns home and finds his home destroyed.

Traveling back to the hotel, the pilgrims passed the site where sections of the 39th division fought.  The last stop before returning to the hotel was the village of Bomberant, which represented the last American sector the American troops had near Verdun. 
Note:    The name of the town Bomberant is what was reported by Mrs Fannie Fine in her description of the itinerary for this day.  However, according to Josephine’s Journey follower and student of World War I, Nick Lieten, the name of the village probably should be Beaumont.  That is where the American sector in Verdun ended.

The group passed another monument that stands for the little village of Fleury, which was totally destroyed during the war and its land made uninhabitable to such an extent that a decision was made not to rebuild it. The site is maintained as a testimony to war and is officially designated as a “village that died for France.”

Josephine and the rest of the mothers and widows arrived at the hotel around 6 pm, tired, sad, and weary. According to Mrs. Fannie Fine of Missouri, one mother had gone to pieces at the cemetery. Mrs. Fine used the word dreadful to describe the experience at the cemetery today.

Would Josephine have used the same word – dreadful – to describe her visit to Meuse-Argonne this day? It must have been a very sad day.




Source: written by Carolyn Ourso