U. S. Official Photo
La Forêt de Nesle, France. 307th Infantry in France

COMPANY B

307th INFANTRY

ITS
HISTORY
HONOR ROLL
COMPANY ROSTER

Sept., 1917

May, 1919

Compiled by
Julius Klausner, Jr.
1920

Upton * Flanders * Vosges * Lorraine * Vesle * Argonne * Home

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We Who Live Remember—

And remembering, we shall always seek to justify the self-sacrifice made by those companions who trained with us and fought with us but whom by virtue of their supreme service, we returned without.

They died, but being dead, live on, and their spirits beckon us to strive toward that for which they died.

The flag was their shrine—the fields of France their tomb—and they shall ever be wreathed with God's great glory.

© Underwood & Underwood
Major-General Robert Alexander
Commander of the Seventy-Seventh Division

Major-General Robert Alexander to Company B

Greetings!

I am very glad that Company B—307th Infantry is putting into this form the many memories of the Great War which remain with those of us who participated therein as bright spots in our path through life.

The work done by the 77th Division was most notable and in that work Company B—307th Infantry took full part and contributed its full share. The record of the Company is one of which any organization might well be extremely proud. It took part in the operations in the Vosges; on the line of the Vesle; and in the advance from the Vesle to the Aisne—the 77th Division being the only American division to reach the latter river. In the Argonne-Meuse Offensive which brought the war to a successful conclusion, the Company, with its Regiment, Brigade, and Division, played a noteworthy part. The battle losses incurred by Company B and the battle honors conferred upon members thereof speak for themselves.

Not the least of the Company's exploits was that which, culminating on the evening of October 7th, 1918, brought relief to the long-beleaguered Battalion under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey—the so-called "Lost" Battalion.

The officer to whom was granted the supreme honor of sharing with you as your Divisional Commander the toils, the dangers, and the honors of that supreme campaign salutes you! No Commander could ask more loyal support from his comrades of all ranks than was freely given me. For your future careers in civil life or wherever Fortune may lay your paths, you will carry with you my sincere best wishes and my affectionate regard. The qualities of courage, fidelity, and loyalty displayed by you during your service as soldiers will be, I am sure, at the disposal of your Country as well in Peace as they were in War.

Formerly Major-General in Command of the 77th Division.

November 19th, 1919.

Captain Blanton Barrett
Killed in Action, July 21st, 1918

THE HISTORY OF COMPANY B

307th INFANTRY

Camp Upton—September 10th to April 5th

NVITED—all of us. And we trooped down Yaphank-way, out on Long Island, as tho bound for a picnic. Which, for a week, it was. Then we were brought up short. On September 17, 1917, the 77th Division came to life. One of the first units to be organized within the division was Company B—307th Infantry, formed also on September 17th.

Immediately we were on paper as a regular unit, we quickly took semblance of a military organization. Under the leadership of Captain Blanton Barrett, 1st Lieutenant Alexander D. B. Pratt, and 2d Lieutenants Philip Cheney and Everett A. Butterfield, we were gradually whipped into an efficient machine. Corporals were made and unmade—sergeants came and went—and we were drilled, drilled, drilled.

We had exchanged our hair mattresses for straw, our china for tin, our homes for barracks, and they made us like it. At first we occupied but one building,—a rambling two-story affair having bunk rooms on all the upper floor. The lower floor was given over to kitchen, mess hall, and recreation room. The recreation room, however, was short lived, for as we grew in numbers it became necessary to fill it with bunks. And then, when we had grown to full strength—two hundred and fifty officers and men—we overflowed into another barracks of which we occupied half of both upper and lower floors.

The advantages of a billiard table, a piano, and a talking machine were ours. We supported a miniature barber shop and a tailor. Talent we had a-plenty, and we ran our own shows.

But we drilled, drilled, drilled. And we had schools—lots of 'em. When we were not doing the "school of the soldier", we attended bayonet school. The "school of the squad" divided time with gas instruction. The study of the automatic rifle was complicated, but so was the "school of the platoon". We practiced the manual of arms and learned how to