Gone for Soldiers: Frederick Benjamin Webb (1890 - 1941), and Johnathan Wayne Webb (1894 - 1955)

Besides her brother-in-law Pete Slater, two of my maternal grandmother's brothers served in the military during World War I, perhaps inspired by a poster like this.

[Uphold our honor--Fight for us Join Army-Navy-Marines. New York : Hegeman Print[ing Company], [1917].

Forms part of: Willard and Dorothy Straight Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA]

According to his World War I Draft Registration Card, Frederick 27-year-old Benjamin Webb was still unmarried and working as a self-employed well-driller in Knox County, Nebraska, when he enlisted in Company D of the 109th Engineers* on September 22, 1917.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

The 109th was part of the 34th Army Division, nicknamed the Sandstone or Red Bull Division, and trained at Gila Forest Camp in New Mexico. The panoramic photography below shows how the camp looked in June of 1918 (horses and all). Since the division didn't arrive in France until October of 1918 it's possible that Fred is one of the soldiers pictured.

[Gila Forest Camp, N. Mex., 109th Engr's., 34th Div., June 1918, Col. F. E. Downing, C.O. Photographer: Almeron Newman.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA]

From the headstone application filed with the War Department after Fred's death in 1941 we learn that he made corporal during his time in the army.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92. National Archives at Washington, D.C.Applications for Headstones, compiled 01/01/1925 - 06/30/1970, documenting the period ca. 1776 - 1970 ARC: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.]

I haven't been able to find the military record for Johnathan Wayne Webb in the usual places, however we have photos of him in uniform and know what John's role was from the August 6, 1918, army casualty list as printed in that day's Wichita Beacon.**

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[The Wichita Beacon » 1918 » August » 6 Aug 1918, Tue. Newspapers.com]

John's registration card for the "old man's draft" in 1942 lists his injuries.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147. National Archives and Records Administration. Full Source Citation.]

*Composed of men from the Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota National Guards.
**Someone (perhaps my grandmother?) has written on the back of the first photo: "From Uncle John. Taken [during the] war of 1918. Was wounded July 14, 1918." Another note accompanying the photograph adds: "Killed car hit 1955 New York City."

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