Andrew WHITTEN

WHITTEN, BRANDES

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/15/2007 at 10:39:54

[Andrew Whitten (3 FEB 1885 in Rowan, Wright, Iowa - 24 AUG 1919 in Coblenz, Germany; son of Daniel Whitten and Mina (Brandes) Whitten]

Andrew Whitten was killed in Germany at the age of thirty four and a half. He lived at home with his parents on the farm until he entered the railroad service in which he continued up to the time he enlisted in the Army. He enlisted at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on June 4, 1917. He served with the 1st Minnesota Infantry for about two months, and then he was sent to Camp Cody, New Mexico. Here he served nearly a year drilling new recruits and was attached to Company H, 135th Infantry, and was made a Corporal. He went overseas with the 135th Infantry, but was later transferred to the 259th P. W. E. (Prisoner of War Escorts). He arrived at Brest, France, on October 22, 1918. While in France he was stationed at Tours, guarding German prisoners, and later went into Germany with the Army of the Occupation.

After the Armistice was signed he received an Honorable Discharge on June 26, 1919. He than immediately re enlisted with the 18th Infantry, but was afterwards transferred to Company A, 8th Infantry, with which he was serving at the time of his death.

Men that were associated with him in the Army said that he was an exemplary soldier and unusually efficient as a drill master for new recruits. When he re enlisted he was reduced to the rank of Private. His commanding officer, upon learning of his extended service and his efficiency as a Corporal, was taking steps at the time of his death to have him restored to the rank of Corporal and then advanced to Sergant.

The following bits of correspondence, taken from his letters home, are of special interest. From the city of Toul, December 15, 1918, he wrote:

I have got settled down again, at least for a day, and will try to get a letter off to you. We have been going nearly all the time, seeing France and England on foot and in box cars. When we get a place to camp, it is liable to be a cow shed or horse barn. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get into some vacant house, but is seems more like a prison than a house, as all houses have a high stone wall around them. The public here are at least two hundred years behind the times. Nearly everybody wears wooden shoes and old fashioned clothes, and some parts use oxen in place of horses. At present we are in the city of Toul, which is a large place and a little more up to date. We are stationed here as Prisoner of War Escorts. There are about 17,000 German prisoners here, and soon we will be taking them all into Germany. I do not suppose that we will get back to America before May or June.

Later he wrote under the date of July 28, 1919, from Neuhausel, Germany:

I re enlisted for one more year. I have been on one big parade since I came into my new Company. We went to Belgium on Liberty Parade. We saw the King of Belgium, Marshall Foch of France, and General Parker of the U.S.A. We sure got some reception from the people up there. There were about six solid blocks that was a mass of roses just as thick as they could lay on the pavement. I was back about five rows from the band and I could not hear in on account of the cheering.

Andrew was the first soldier among those who were represented on the service flag of Rowan to give his life in the service of his country. His Star of Gold will ever shine with radiant effulgence in our memory of the heroes of the Nation. The local post of the American Legion has honored itself by the use of his name, it is known as the Andrew Whitten Post No 159.

We meet as a community today to pay tribute to the memory of Andrew Whitten. We seek to honor him but we are for more honored by his faithful service to his country, and by his untimely death at his post of duty. The first supposition was that he was killed instantaneously, but later reports brought the news that he lived for a short time and was taken to the American hospital where he died.

He leaves to mourn his departure his father, stepmother, three brothers and two sisters; his mother and two brothers having preceded him in death.

source unknown
ca. 1919